Light spoilers follow for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew.
The year 2024 has been another mixed bag for Star Wars. Ever since Lucasfilm temporarily pivoted away from movies to tell stories on Disney Plus, the legendary sci-fi franchise has experienced critical and commercial turbulence with its expanding TV lineup. Indeed, for every acclaimed series like The Mandalorian, a less successful or unpopular one like The Book of Boba Fett has subsequently followed.
This year has been no different. While animated projects like Visions season 2 and Tales of the Empire have earned acclaim, The Acolyte, Star Wars’ only live-action show of 2024, failed to capture viewers’ imagination. The Acolyte‘s cancellation just one month after The Acolyte‘s season 1 finale, then, was announced to little surprise.
The inconsistent reception that have accompanied Star Wars shows since 2019 means Skeleton Crew should be another dud, right? Not so. In fact, I’d wager the last of 2024’s new Star Wars shows is the best of this year’s graduates, with Skeleton Crew delivering a swashbuckling, intergalactic misadventure that’s tailor-made to enjoy with the whole family during the festive season.
Lost in space
Set during the post-Return of the Jedi era alongside The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Star Wars: Ahsoka, Lucasfilm’s latest TV project takes a break from the tried-and-tested formulae of lightsaber-wielding individuals and bounty hunters seeking redemption.
Instead, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew tells the tale of four kids who discover a star ship buried on their home world of At Attin. Predictably, their curiosity gets the better of them and, after accidentally rebooting the long-dormant vessel’s system, and with its hyperdrive and autopilot re-engaged, the quartet are transported halfway across the known galaxy. With little money to their name and no parents to turn to, the group are forced to rely on their wits, plus the aid of the mysterious Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) and the ship’s cantankerous, decrepit android SM-33 (voiced by Nick Frost), to get back home.
The biggest compliment I can pay Skeleton Crew is that it doesn’t feel like a typical Star Wars story
Having watched Skeleton Crew‘s first three episodes, the biggest compliment I can pay is that, like Andor, it doesn’t feel like a typical Star Wars story. Sure, Law’s self-professed ‘Force wielder’ (more on him later) and wider Star Wars references and Easter eggs, including a few to the original movie trilogy, tether it to Lucasfilm’s universally popular franchise, but Skeleton Crew possesses an unmistakeable individuality that other Star Wars series – some of which feature on our best Disney Plus shows list – lack.
Indeed, whether it’s centering its plot around four adorable kids – Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), K.B. (Kyriana Kratter), and Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) – or the nostalgic 80s movie feel running through its veins, Skeleton Crew distances itself from Star Wars’ much weightier material. I wouldn’t belittle Skeleton Crew by calling it a low-stakes adventure compared with its peers, who focus on galactic defenders of the peace, Jedi or otherwise, and those who wish to rule the known universe with an iron fist, but it’s certainly more charming and sincere in its storytelling approach.
It’s the freedom afforded by the general absence of Star Wars’ imposing mythology that allows Skeleton Crew to prioritize its primary objective: being and having fun. Yes, its story is fraught with danger for Wim and company, and the threats posed by Star Wars’ criminal underworld solidify the show’s position as a borderline child-friendly series that some parents may still deem inappropriate for their kids. An Amblin-esque production along the lines of E.T, The Goonies, and Indiana Jones that’s atmospheric, eerily thrilling, and occasionally dips its toe into horror genre territory, this most certainly is.
That said, there’s ample whimsy, slapstick humor, and quick-witted rhetoric to balance things out. I’ll admit that a lot of Skeleton Crew‘s comedy is telegraphed; its one-liners and clownish moments more likely to raise a smile or illicit a snigger than trigger a belly laugh. Nevertheless, the facial expressions and deadpan line delivery, especially from its young cast, are on-point throughout its early chapters.
The camaraderie born out of their shared experience feels as natural as the initial conflicts
Speaking of Skeleton Crew‘s child actors, there isn’t a weak link in the group. The archetypal characters they portray aren’t original – Wim is the wide-eyed daydreamer, Neel the loyal best friend-cum-bookworm, Fern assuming the role of the smart-mouthed rebel, and K.B. installed as the gang’s earnest tech wizard. Nonetheless, it’s enthralling to see their personalities clash early on, especially once they realize they’ll have to co-operate after their ill-fated trip across the cosmos.
Once they do, though, the camaraderie born out of their shared experience feels as natural as the initial conflicts that arise between them. In that respect, the gang’s burgeoning companionship is tonally similar – and stick with me here – to Stranger Things; the hugely popular Netflix show’s collection of kids and young adults from different walks of life also collaborating to overcome a unifying threat. Considering Stranger Things was also influenced by films and TV shows from the 1980s, I don’t consider that comparison to be too farfetched.
Artful allies and storytelling snags
Skeleton Crew doesn’t solely rely on its young cast to energize its narrative. While SM-33 plays to Frost’s strengths as a talented comedian, the dilapidated automaton is more than just comic relief amid the series’ galaxy-trotting adventure. Indeed, until Law’s enigmatic Jod makes his eagerly anticipated debut in episode 2, SM-33 is the kids’ primary protector-in-chief – a role he fulfils with aplomb when rescuing them from some rancorous individuals on the Outer Rim space pirate haven known as Port Borgo.
Lucasfilm’s latest TV offering is disappointingly light on action
Entertaining as that backwater fracas is, it’s something of an anomaly in Skeleton Crew‘s early entries. Three episodes into its eight-part story, Lucasfilm’s latest TV offering is disappointingly light on action. I acknowledge that shows of this ilk won’t be littered with wall-to-wall action but, with Star Wars: Skeleton Crew‘s official trailer and various TV spots teasing more from a spectacle standpoint, I expected one or two extra set-pieces. I’m sure Skeleton Crew will rectify one of its two biggest issues (I’ll get to the other later) in later episodes.
It’s not until the multifaceted Jod’s arrival that Skeleton Crew truly catches fire – and not just as a bona fide sci-fi adventure. Indeed, Law, a self-confessed Star Wars fan, is in scintillating form as the unpredictable-yet-charismatic Jod, who surprisingly wasn’t inspired by legendary Star Wars outlaw Han Solo. Bringing equal parts levity and gravitas to the role, Law has the time of his life playing such an enigmatic and mischievous individual, whose character complexities and motives rub up against Wim and company’s naive and idealistic views, as well as their mission to head home. Expect plenty of melodrama, suspense-filled moments, and amusing incidents – the latter increasingly comes into play as Jod tries and fails to cajole the kids into doing his bidding – once Law’s roguish and mysterious stranger has made his grand entrance.
Law has the time of his life playing such an enigmatic and mischievous individual
Another of Skeleton Crew‘s positives lies in its multi-genre appeal. Once Jod teams up with his young cohorts, it becomes as much a pirate-based mystery as it does a sci-fi misadventure, with two big puzzles woven into its narrative fabric. I won’t spoil too much about its primary mystery because, well, spoilers. Its secondary brain-teaser, though, concerns Jod, whose duplicitous nature and various aliases will have you second-guessing his true intentions. My own attitude towards Jod changed three times in Skeleton Crew‘s third episode alone and, after coming up with my own wild theory about his true identity, I’m eager to see if I’m not only right in my assumptions, but also to find out if I was correct to be sceptical about him.
As for the other problem I alluded to, Skeleton Crew falls foul of an increasingly perplexing issue that’s plagued numerous Disney Plus TV shows: episode runtimes. Like its predecessors and Marvel cousins, the newest Star Wars series preserves the maddeningly inconsistent nature of Disney-developed shows with an inconsistent approach to episodic length.
Yes, some instances are valid, such as a season finale needing more time to wrap up multiple plot points. Or, in the case of Skeleton Crew‘s first chapter, additional time is needed to establish its core characters, new locations, and overarching story. Even so, the fact that the first three installments (including their end credits) clock in at 46, 29, and 37 minutes apiece irritated me, and will likely do so to others left exasperated by incongruent episodic runtimes on one of the world’s best streaming services.
My verdict
Its runtime and action-light early entries notwithstanding, Skeleton Crew is a finely balanced show that pays homage to classic 80s adventure films and feels distinct within the Star Wars universe by putting a fresh spin on the franchise’s established formula.
Ahead of Star Wars Day 2024, one of my colleagues opined that Skeleton Crew had a lot of convincing to do ahead of its release. Three episodes in, this coming-of-age, pirate genre-enriched Star Wars series has assured me it’ll have the stamina to serve up a tale, albeit one with sci-fi sensibilities, worthy of being told during the Golden Age of Piracy. If its remaining episodes are as strong as what I’ve seen and its finale sticks the landing, Skeleton Crew will be a Star Wars show worth treasuring for a long time to come.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew’s two-episode premiere are out now. New episodes air weekly.
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tom.power@futurenet.com (Tom Power)
