Unlike in Star Wars Battlefront II, where the First Order honestly seems more competent and appealing than the Resistance (you know, the heroes of the story), Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens portrays the villains as villains. Understand, even the campier parts that lean into the Lego humor exist to hammer home the right sort of messages. Part of this is definitely the benefit of hindsight, patching up a fair number of narrative holes, but it also highlights how Star Wars often works better in media where it has time to breathe, games especially. It’s kind of surreal to say, but while it has a more upbeat tone, Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes its storytelling far more seriously than the movie. Even Han’s fate isn’t sidestepped - something that can’t be said of the Disney Infinity play set based on The Force Awakens. They balance most of the jokes into slapstick and visual gags, while the storytelling takes center stage. Yes, you’ll have absurd moments, like Harrison Ford clearly gritting his teeth as he has to recite the phrase “Wookiee cookie” with a straight face, but a lot of it is earnest and sincere. That warrants noting - the additional conversations and voice acting are top-notch. Finn’s secret past as a stormtrooper gets alluded to several times, and his struggle between becoming “a big deal” or embracing cowardice is carried throughout all his dialogue. Rey’s journey is fleshed out over the course of discovering that Maz’s Castle is actually built on an ancient Jedi temple and having to practice her use of the Force for mind tricks to ensure her escape from Starkiller Base. In fact, every one of the new leads has to prove themselves. Some of the best jokes are thanks to his struggles to emulate Vader, and it works so much better.
It’s also satisfying seeing at least one piece of Star Wars media not treating Kylo Ren like he’s the ultimate villain of all time. Even the late Carrie Fisher gets a starring level as she and the heroes get the Resistance ready for battle, clearly amused with every punchline she’s given. He’s less a crazy, grumpy old coot and more a begrudging former hero who knows what he’s doing. Han boasts a ton more dialogue with the entire cast and is in general far more pleasantly portrayed.
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Phasma gets a full boss fight and serves as a genuine challenge for Finn to overcome rather than just a chrome armored, useless middle manager stormtrooper. Poe Dameron has a full story, including an explanation as to how the kriff he got off Jakku, and he has a few chances to display that his heroism extends beyond the ability to fly well. This even applies to less critical characters. In essence, everything The Rise of Skywalker couldn’t be bothered– Hell, just about everyone gets more time together to talk and grow while solving problems like a team, expositing on the world and their motivations.
You want to see Rey and BB-8 actually interact for more than a handful of scenes? They have to work together to get to Rey’s home. Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens essentially takes every plot hole and absent moment from the story and sees an opportunity to improve the narrative. That’s the Star Wars world we’re living in - where it comes down to a kids game to properly tell a story. They even got the entire cast of the film to come back and record for this game not even Battlefront got that star treatment. You think I’m joking, but some of this game is considered official, if loosely canonical, tie-in material. Because somehow, a kids’ game actually has more character development and plot than the movie it’s based upon.
In fact, if anyone’s been capitalizing on the new era with gusto, it’s Lego and TT Games with Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It’s definitely rubbed me the wrong way a few times. Now, I’m sure it comes as a shock, but I’ve been known to be critical of the new era of Star Wars. Star Wars month begins for Second Look, and we’re starting with an unusual choice.