Skeleton Crew — A rousing space adventure that is startlingly different to all its predecessors

The first two episodes of Skeleton Crew will air on 3 December 2024. (Poster: Supplied / Disney+)

10 Dec 2024

New Disney+ series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is a Galaxy Far Far Away with a wholly different, and refreshing, perspective. It’s a rousing space adventure featuring the sensibilities of classic Eighties coming-of-age movies. Noelle Adams gives her first spoiler-free impressions of the show.

If you have Star Wars fatigue, it’s perfectly understandable.

Following the most recent film trilogy, over the past five years home audiences have been presented with multiple seasons of The Mandalorian, as well as The Book of Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Ahsoka, and, most recently, The Acolyte. That is a lot of A Galaxy Far Far Away, and this selection doesn’t include the various animated offerings for viewers of all ages.

So, if you’re struggling to generate any excitement for the latest live-action series, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which premiered on 2 December 2024 on Disney+, perhaps this phrase will change things: space pirates.

https://youtu.be/f19gfOMZTtg?si=x6__FiC_bfFzzFM9

If that doesn’t pique your interest, perhaps there’s the fact that Skeleton Crew is inspired by Eighties coming-of-age movies like The Goonies, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and even a dash of Empire of the Sun.

Skeleton Crew showrunners Christopher Ford and Jon Watts, with the latter responsible for the Tom Holland trilogy of Spider-Man films, are of the generation that grew up with those adolescent adventures out of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin stable. The same goes for the directors they have recruited for their eight-part series, including The Green Knight’s David Lowery; Daniels, the duo behind Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once; Star Wars series veteran Bryce Dallas Howard; and Minari and Twisters’ Lee Isaac Chung.

There is some serious pedigree behind the camera for Skeleton Crew, but what sets the show apart is how it takes to heart the idea that the Star Wars universe is just as large, large as it is far, far away.

The franchise has so many interesting stories to tell that aren’t just about the Skywalkers and their supporting cast. Skeleton Crew gives the impression that while it connects with the wider Star Wars universe, it’s beyond the typical tales that get told, focusing on ordinary people instead of layering on fan service moments and figures (at least so far). In this sense, Skeleton Crew is similar to Rogue One and Andor, although with less tonal heaviness as it’s a family-orientated series.

In Skeleton Crew, four kids make a startling discovery in the woods behind their home, and before they know it, they’re lost deep in space with just a rodent-infested droid (growled by Nick Frost) and Jude Law’s roguish Jod Na Nawood to help them return to their planet.

Except, Skeleton Crew is set during an especially lawless period, with the Empire fallen and the New Republic yet to begin restoring order, and there are various unsavoury figures after our young heroes. Said heroes are not only naively flashing a fortune in shiny Credits, but are part of a bigger mystery: a legendary treasure hunt.

Once again, The Goonies influence comes through strongest in Skeleton Crew, right down to the enigmatic main theme consisting of less than 10 notes. Plus, as with Stranger Things, just because the main characters are children doesn’t mean there won’t be darker moments or high-stakes peril.

The beauty of Skeleton Crew is that viewers can watch it without a deep knowledge of Star Wars lore.

In fact, that may be better as the first episode is startlingly different to anything audiences have seen in the franchise before. Specifically, after years of revisiting rugged Outer Rim planets like Tatooine and Blade Runner-esque city worlds like Coruscant, viewers are treated to something far more relatable; something that should exist in the universe, logically, but which has probably been considered too mundane to show before now.

Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), Wim (Ravi-Cabot Conyers), KB (Kyriana Kratter), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and Jod (Jude Law) in Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. (Photo: Matt Kennedy / ©2024 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM)

It will be interesting to see how Star Wars fans react to the first episode. If there is any backlash it can probably be expected from the same faction who railed against the cyborg speeder gang in The Book of Boba Fett, or were rattled by divisive The Acolyte. That said, anyone ready to rage quit the show after Episode 1 should know that Skeleton Crew’s set-up has major narrative significance. Stick with it… for reasons.

Read more: Star Wars Outlaws – a rip-roaring transgalactic adventure

From Episode 2, Skeleton Crew starts feeling more conventionally Star Wars-y, but it’s always the franchise depicted from a different perspective, namely that of its likeable and diverse young leads. And it’s refreshing.

The show goes back to what captivated kids of the 1970s and 80s – fans of the Ewoks movies, raise your hand – and reinforces that sense at a production level with liberal use of set-building, matte painted backdrops and puppetry alongside the expected StageCraft Volume technology, which creates a scruffier, but more tangible universe.

And that is the essence of Skeleton Crew: its marriage of modern and throwback sensibilities.

Much as the holiday season is best enjoyed through the eyes of children, this is the long-overdue Star Wars equivalent. It’s a rousing space adventure that grown-up Eighties kids can enjoy alongside their padawans this holiday season. DM

The first two episodes of Skeleton Crew will air on 3 December 2024. (Poster: Supplied / Disney+)

This review is based on early access to the first three episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew. The first two episodes premiere on Disney+ on Tuesday, 3 December 2024, after which the remaining six episodes of the season will release weekly.

This article was first published on PFangirl.

Categories:

Tags:

DM is much better if you are signed in...

Maverick Life