15 reasons why Star Wars is a perfect family holiday movie

It’s universally funny

“It’s hilarious” is not the first thing that people usually say when they talk about Star Wars, but it’s probably somewhere in the top five. Because it’s true: Star Wars is really very funny.

Take, for example, absolutely any interaction between Han and Leia (who’s scruffy looking?). For one scene, try the short but sweet conversation between Han and the control room in A New Hope. Of course, any conversation between C-3PO and the filthy sequence of beeps that is R2-D2 also merits a mention.

Plus, we don’t know if you’ve watched A New Hope recently, in light of what happened in the Han prequel, Solo: A Star Wars Story, but it’s genuinely added new depth to it. For example, it’s now even funnier that Han gets offended by Luke’s less-than-flattering estimation of the Millennium Falcon, because Han, honey, we know that the Falcon used to be white. All accusations of garbage are on you.

Of course, sometimes it’s not intentionally funny too. For instance, Anakin Skywalker finding out what happened to his beloved Padmé and becoming Darth Vader should really not be funny at all, but it’s hanging up in the hilarious scenes in cinematic history hall of fame regardless. It, as with many Anakin moments, puts the laugh in laughable. It is one of the few saving graces of the prequels, the very reason we watch them until the end.

Either way, the holidays are a time of joy to the world, and Star Wars certainly brings that, through Anakin’s overacting (not his fault really given the lines he had to work with) or through Han’s inability to lie soundly. These are not the extremely serious films you’re looking for.