Lego® Star Wars: The Padawan Menace is a great animated short and spoof, rivaling that of even “Robot Chicken” which in itself was funny as hell. The animation itself I didn’t find particularly special but on Blu-ray at least it shines while the audio also produces an in-depth aural experience.
Lego Star Wars: The Padawan Menace (2011)
REVIEW NAVIGATION
The Movie | Special Features | Video Quality | Audio Quality | Overall
Genre(s): Animation, Science Fiction, Comedy
Fox | NR – 22 min. – $19.99 | September 16, 2011
MOVIE INFO:
Directed by: David Scott
Writer(s): Michael Price (written by)
Cast: Anthony Daniels, Tom Kane, Phil LaMarr
DISC INFO:
Features: Star Wars Spoofs, DVD Copy
Number of Discs: 2
Audio: English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
Video: 1080p/Widescreen 1.78
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
Codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Region(s): A
THE MOVIE – 4.0/5
Plot: Tour guide Master Yoda leads a group of rambunctious Jedi younglings through Senate chambers when he senses a disturbance in the Force. Summoned to help save the Republic, he discovers that one of the younglings, Ian, has secretly boarded his ship…and young Ian has a taste for adventure! Meanwhile, C-3PO and R2-D2 are put in charge of the boisterous group and find themselves in over their heads. As the evil Sith prepare to wreak havoc, it’s up to Yoda and the Droids to ensure that their young charges aren’t torn to bricks!
Whenever I go to Costco, Wal-Mart, Target, etc., I always saw these Lego® Video Games from different franchises including “Batman”, Harry Potter, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and, of course, Star Wars. And now the classic toy – and doing my research, fairly expensive – comes to the small screen with a short yet still funny spoof on the Star Wars franchise with The Padawan Menace.
There’s really not a whole lot to say about the animated short except that it is very funny with most of the jokes actually hitting the right note and the animation itself isn’t half bad either. If you want a comparison, it’s similar to the “Robot Chicken” spoofs but less vulgar and appropriate for all audiences, kids and adults alike (and I’m sure Star Wars fanatics will get a kick out of it as well).
At a retail price of $20, Lego® Star Wars: The Padawan Menace is pricey and even at the $13 price point at Wal-Mart (where this is an exclusive), it’s still a bit much for a 20-minute feature, although looking at the prices of some Lego® sets, not surprising… wow. However, setting aside the price, it’s still a fun short with a cool twist (though even that is spoiled on the front cover) and if you can nab this for under $8, then it’s worth it.
SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5
The Quest for R2-D2 (5:46; HD) – This is a short animated episode showing off some of R2-D2’s adventures with a humorous touch. There’s also a fun cameo by Lego® Indiana Jones.
Bombad Bounty (5:15; HD) is another short episode with more comedy-centric adventures and appearances by some of our favorite characters including Darth Vader and other not so faves like Jar Jar Binks.
Star Wars in 2 Minutes Parts 1 & 2 (TRT 4:39; HD) – A boy quickly narrates the entire franchise in 2 minutes (in two parts).
The Clone Wars Animated Comic (12:40; SD) are a collection of animated short comics focusing on the Clones and the Droids.
VIDEO – 4.0/5
Lego® Star Wars: The Padawan Menace comes to Blu-ray with a good looking 1080p high-def transfer, though when it comes to animation I expect nothing short of amazing. Colors are of course bright and I didn’t notice any instance of pixilation or artifacting.
AUDIO – 4.0/5
The DTS-HD MA 5.1 track also sounds really good showing off both the clear dialogue levels to go along with the action sequences which provide the depth for this lossless track. I can’t say its incredible or anything, but it’s more than suitable and I’m glad Fox didn’t take the cheap route by just slapping a standard Dolby Digital encoding on the disc…
OVERALL – 3.5/5
Overall, Lego® Star Wars: The Padawan Menace is a great animated short and spoof, rivaling that of even “Robot Chicken” which in itself was funny as hell. The animation itself I didn’t find particularly special but on Blu-ray at least it shines while the audio also produces an in-depth aural experience. For what this is, the price point is still high but if you can nab it for around $8, then I’d say it’s well worth it.
Brian Oliver, The Movieman
Published: 09/21/2011