A breath of fresh air for the franchise
It’s no secret that Star Wars stories have been floundering of late. There’s been a lot of hyperbole out there regarding the quality of some of these stories—and indeed, the fanbase is too broad to appeal to everyone anymore—but the franchise hasn’t had a big hit on their hands since the early days of The Mandalorian.
I like some of the Disney+ shows, but, for me, Andor has been the only truly brilliant one. A lot of Star Wars fans agree, but thing about Andor is that it is, somewhat bizarrely, not for kids.
It’s not explicit or anything, but it’s a show that is overtly dealing with the realities of living in a fascist state and the moral compromises necessary to create, fund, and maintain a rebellion. So, when Disney announced that their latest show, Skeleton Crew, was going to be a coming-of-age story that younger viewers would be able to enjoy, I was glad, but I pretty much wrote the thing off.
Not every Star Wars story has to cater to me, after all, and focusing on a younger audience again seems like a smart move for the franchise. However, I figured that I would give the two-episode series premiere a watch anyway, just to see what it was like.
A Real Adventure
When Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) is forced to take a shortcut on his way to school, he discovers what he believes to be a secret Jedi temple buried in a forest. With his friend Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), he seeks to excavate it, but not before the rebellious Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and KB (Kyriana Kratter) catch wind of the operation and wedge themselves into the operation. But the ‘temple’ is not what it seems, and neither is their home planet…
You might be thinking, ‘Wait, isn’t Jude Law in this? He’s all over the marketing.’ You’re right, but he’s nowhere close to being a lead—in the first two episodes, anyway. Instead, his brief appearances serve as mouth-watering appetisers for greater things to come.
The cold open to the first episode is an exciting action set-piece of space-piracy that will really have you wondering how it could possibly tie into a coming-of-age story. It's a great hook, and I really enjoyed the hard cut from the piracy to the familiar suburbia of At Attin.
This is a side of the Star Wars universe that we have never seen before, and I am all for it. Not only are the aesthetics of At Attin unique, but this is a new flavour of protagonist, and one that I think many—if not most—fans will be able to relate to.
A Long Time Ago…
Wim is obsessed with stories of the Jedi in a way I’m sure many of us were as kids. He possesses an infectious sense of adventure, and I found it hard not to grin at some of his behaviours, like playing with action figures and staying up late reading stories. His best friend Neel acts a comic relief, and all together, the band of kids function like something you might see in E.T., The Goonies, IT, or any other 80’s kid-focused story.
The dynamic amongst the children is really great. They bicker about all the kind of nonsense kids that age would actually bicker about, which, impressively, manages to come across as funny instead of annoying. The young actors are great, too. A poor child actor has the potential to break the reality of a story, but all of these kids come across as extremely natural.
Also, a huge shout-out to whoever was designing the creatures on his show because episode two has some of the most visually interesting and well-crafted creatures I have ever seen in Star Wars. It also has a badass fight scene and a goosebump-inducing final beat.
In A Galaxy Far, Far Away...
Really, this is the most fun I’ve had with a Star Wars show in years. I was consistently laughing and smiling, be it at the antics of the kids or the sheer level of creativity in the sets and small details.
I really wasn't expecting to enjoy this story as much as I did given the audience the story seemed to be catering to. In reality, all Skeleton Crew really did was manage to recapture some of long-missing magic that made the original Star Wars movies so special to so many of us.
If you're a Star Wars fan, but thought that this show wasn't going to be for you, I urge you to give it a try.
Episode three can't arrive soon enough.
Thanks for reading my Skeleton Crew review. If you liked it, consider checking out my wishlist or buying me a cup of coffee at https://ko-fi.com/kieranobrien or below.
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