Star Wars: Skeleton Crew hyperspaces to an optimistic two-episode start with an unabashed emulation of sci-fi and ’80s era children’s classics. Series creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford borrow liberally from Lost in Space, The Goonies, and Explorers for a scrappy kids’ adventure with heavy pirate themes. The premiere’s first act has an intriguing depiction of an alien suburb a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but it doesn’t offer much story-wise after introducing the primary cast. The trailers sum up exactly what happens. That said, several tantalizing clues point to a bigger mystery that may be pretty cool. We’ll have to see how everything pans out at the season’s conclusion, but most fans should be along for the entire ride.
A violent raid establishes the state of the galaxy after the Empire’s fall. The New Republic struggles to maintain order in remote regions. Pirates are the biggest scourge in an era that’s likely around the time period of The Mandalorian. Eyes will admittedly roll as the action-packed opening is something we’ve seen before in A New Hope and Rogue One. It’s awesome, but it’s the first glaring sign Watts and Ford aren’t aiming for originality.
Space Goonies
The setting then changes to the pristine suburbs of a new planet markedly different from the grimy dust bowls of Tatooine and Jakku or the endless city of Coruscant. The elementary-aged Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) daydreams about swashbuckling Jedi while running late to school. Wendle (Tunde Adebimpe), his stern single father, warns him that he won’t be around much this week. The show establishes early that Wim is a latchkey kid and his father is perennially busy.
We meet Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), Wim’s absolutely adorable blue-skinned bestie with an elephant trunk, on the droid-driven school bus. Watts has publicly stated that Neel isn’t an Ortolan like Max Rebo, the keyboardist at Jabba’s palace. Wim and Neel watch with envy as cool kid rebels, Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and her visor-wearing pal KB (Kyriana Kratter), take a shortcut through the woods on their badass speeder.
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The plot kicks into high gear the following morning. Wim predictably misses the bus and decides to ride his lame speeder, basically a Walmart bicycle with tassels, along Fern’s dangerous forest route. Where he discovers a buried ship that will soon accidentally send all four children hurtling into the void with a one-eyed droid, SM-33 (Nick Frost), in tow.
A Good Group of Young Characters
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew hits the right marks using known commodities. Audiences will sense a familiar Spielberg and Zemeckis vibe from the plucky little rascal kids. Armstrong’s Fern stands out as tough and capable when the Bantha poo hits the fan. Wim, the primary protagonist, serves as the error-prone troublemaker who presses every button when he should know better. KB’s the smarty-pants, obviously because she’s wearing tech, and Neel, so darn cute, is scared out of his mind and always skittish. There may be a cross-species romance brewing as he’s got a crush on Fern. The good news is that the child actors play well together. They fit expected character archetypes like a glove and have solid cast chemistry. Let’s just hope that holds true as the narrative develops.
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Jude Law co-stars as Jod Na Nawood. He’s impossible to discuss without spoilers, but let’s just say his intentions are clear. There’s a cliffhanger aspect to his character as Watts and Ford breadcrumb his abilities. Jod Na can use the Force, but the premiere doesn’t reveal the extent of his power. We also don’t know whether he’s a Jedi. The rub is that’s what some of the more gullible kids believe. This subplot will undoubtedly be vital to the overall series arc.
Star Wars: Familiar to a Fault?
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has an impressive production design. The first episode hints that the suburban planet has been unscathed by conflict, and it looks like a futuristic Denver. The children are part of a secluded society that seems to be collectively working on something important. Everyone, except for Neel, has zero interest in whatever their parents are doing. Watts and Ford capture the mundanity of school and being trained for dull 9-to-5 desk jobs. Kids would rather be a Jedi than a computer analyst. It’s logical that Wim and Fern embrace danger with a reluctant KB and Neel supporting them.
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Watts and Ford straddle the line with age-specific content. They’re bloody and guns-blazing in an action-packed intro, then taper down the violence with the children’s exposition. They’re akin to suburban kids playing hooky in the big city with no real knowledge of the outside world’s ugliness. The second episode shatters that naïveté by raising the stakes. The children quickly realize they’re not safe and have to be careful about whom to trust. It’ll be interesting to see how involved they’ll be in actual combat. Vivien Lyra Blair, who played the young Leia in Obi-Wan Kenobi, never fired a blaster.
The premiere has a cheese factor that hopefully doesn’t get worse. Nick Frost’s SM-33 sounds and looks like a robot from Disney World’s Pirates of the Caribbean theme park ride. He better not say “shiver me timbers” at any point. It also doesn’t help that Star Wars: Skeleton Crew comes on the heels of Star Trek: Prodigy’s superb second season. That animated series has a similar premise but is brilliantly creative and unpredictable. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew will undoubtedly be compared to it for better or worse. The first episodes hold promise for the fandom. At least it’s a mile better than the dreadful and divisive The Acolyte so far.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is a Lucasfilm production. The first two of an eight-episode season premieres December 2nd exclusively on Disney+. You can watch through the link below.
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