Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures Complete Season One (Blu-Ray)
Blu-Ray Reviews | Dec 20th, 2016
Starring: Vanessa Lengies, Grey DeLisle, Nicolas Cantu, Matthew Wood, Eugene Byrd
Created By: Bill Motz, Bob Roth
Written By: Various Writers
Studio: Disney, Lucasfilm Ltd
Buy On Amazon
“Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures” follows a family of siblings who are scrappers and scavengers and always seem down on their luck that is, until one day when they learn of an ancient Jedi artifact known as the Kyber Saber. The saber was broken into fragments and scattered throughout the galaxy. Hilarious adventures ensue in typical Lego fashion.
Fans of the Star Wars franchise will obviously recognize the name Kyber, which is the name of the crystals that give lightsabers their power as well as help a force-wielder focus their powers. Kyber crystals are also what powered the planet-destroying thing called the Death Star’s planet-destroying laser beam. The Kyber Saber plays an important role in the plot for the first season of the Freemaker Adventures. The youngest of the siblings, Rowan discovers that he is force-sensitive and manages to stumble upon the hilt of the Kyber Sabre which puts a target on his and his family’s back. Emperor Palpatine learns of the Kyber Sabre and obviously wants it in his arsenal.
Along the way, the Freemakers get the help of a surviving Jedi named Naare who offers her help with training Rowan as well as helping him to discover the fragments. But things aren’t as they seem with Naare, who has other plans for the Kyber Saber.
While “The Freemaker Adventures” is geared more towards kids, it has much more going for it to appease adult viewers. Even though there are typical goofy Lego-esque moments, the overall story and the various intertwining plotlines involving Graballa the Hutt, the Emperor and other supporting characters reaches deep into Star Wars lore and weaves very well together. There are some scenes that may actually be somewhat frightening for younger viewers. The show also makes great use of the various cameos from other shows and movies since it happens to take place between the events of “The Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi”. I was excited to see Hondo Ohnaka up to no good once again as well as Lando Calrissian (voiced by Billy Dee Williams!) trying to get back a treasure that was left in Cloud City.
With the oversaturation of certain characters in the Star Wars franchise for the past 20 years, the insurgence of fresh new shows and new faces, “Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures” is another welcome addition to the franchise. The Freemaker family, who are most likely orphans since they are working to keep their parents shop up and running in their absence, have a strong family bond but act like any siblings would with in-fighting, tattle-tales and little white lies. No matter what though…if you mess with one you’re messing with them all. A close-knit family is somewhat of a different idea in the Star Wars franchise considering the franchise revolves around one of the most dysfunctional families in that particular galaxy far, far away.
One thing of importance that I want to point out is that you shouldn’t be turned off by the show being a Lego series, it is much more than whimsical and zany slapstick with weird mumbles abound. It follows closer to the style of “Star Wars: Rebels” with light humor but high drama…well, the humor does appear a lot more than in Rebels but it does have a younger demographic. It is definitely kid and parent-friendly.
I didn’t know what to initially expect from “The Freemaker Adventures”, honestly having no prior knowledge of the show. Upon finishing the 13 episodes of season one, I found myself invested in the characters and the plotlines that were intentionally left unfinished. There is a lot that the shows’ writers can delve into with season two and beyond. You have a good clue as to what you’ll see right off the bat with the last few minutes of the final episode and I already find myself anxiously awaiting more of the Lego Freemaker’s excellent adventures.
Features:
Freemaker Salvage and Repair Commercial
The Freemaker Adventures: Meet the Freemaker Family
Audio:
English and Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital; French 2.0 Dolby Digital
English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles (Applies to feature content only)
Video:
1080p High Definition Widescreen (1.78:1)
Bottom Line: “Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures” is a different kind of Lego addition to the Star Wars universe in a very good way. If you threw in the CGI of the other Star Wars shows like Clone Wars or Rebels, the show would not be out of place because the writing and drama are great and you get the usual Lego fun and zaniness on occasion. It’s the best of both worlds.
Running Time: 299 Mins
Rating: TV Y7
Extras Rating:
Overall Rating:
