User reviews

People have been saying this show is the worst thing to happen to Star Wars for a year but it's actually pretty good (outside of episode 3 which is a major dud).

The action scenes are amazing, many of the characters are interesting and the plot is super unique. Sure it has some poor, very Disney dialogue at times but that doesn't ruin the show.

The only thing truly horrific about the show is the editing, its cuts off too soon, comes in too early and clearly has no idea how to use the iconic wipes which it massively over uses but that doesn't ruin the whole show.

It's a shame we won't see a second season as the show definitely seems like it had a plan for the future but instead it has been killed by reactionary hate and poor media literacy as people refuse to see the Jedi as flawed, despite the fact that their flaws were a fundamental part of the prequels already.

The first and as it turns out only season of The Acolyte has an interesting premise but suffers a familiar pitfall of streaming shows and never realises its potential.

When I first heard the pitch of "Frozen meets Kill Bill" I had my doubts, but acknowledged the potential to make a very interesting prequel to the Star Wars movies. An older era backstory set within the Galactic Republic is worth exploring. The concepts are good, particularly the emergence of the Sith, plus the force from multiple perspectives and cultural practices, such as recruiting younglings to the Jedi order.

Unfortunately I think the pacing of the story and characters let it down. Personally I do not find the plight of Mae and Osha compelling enough to justify the amount of screen time. There are several mysteries that take too long to resolve with not enough interesting subject matter to sustain the episodes as they unfold. Also, when certain reveals happen they are quite predictable. For me the strongest episodes are 'Lost/Found' and 'Night', which for me are both enjoyable. Most others are okay, but less interesting. Some episodes should be combined as one by cutting certain scenes. All the flashback related material does not need to be strung out over two perspectives.

Another struggle is the quality of the dialogue, which at times is notably flat. The writers mostly opt for functional, humourless dialogue that over explains every aspect of what has happened, is happening, or how characters feel to the point of distraction.

Performances are a mixed bag. Lee Jung-Jae stands out for me. It is very impressive that he learned English for the part and can still make the above mentioned dialogue sound relatively convincing. He conveys emotions brilliantly via body language, tone of voice and facial expressions, which is a major strength. I think Carrie-Ann Moss is also good, but some actors struggle to lift the material in certain scenes. I do not blame them as the writing and direction of certain characters (particularly those associated with the dark side of the force) is questionable at times.

Visually it is as strong as you would expect from a Star Wars production. Most of the environments and lightsaber spectacle are done very well. Plus the cinematography, editing and sound is very good.

As you can imagine the review bombing and extreme negativity of the toxics is particularly prevalent in The Acolyte. To a lesser extent there are also those who try to counterbalance it be being overly positive. IMDB entries rarely contain actual reviews anymore. Most are social media type comments stretched out to fit the 600 word limit, usually stating it's either the worst atrocity ever committed to celluloid or a contemporary work of genius. In reality the truth is somewhere in the middle. Be suspicious of the opinions of onetime reviewers and do not place much value in reviews posted before all episodes were released.

I consider myself to be a balanced fan of Star Wars content. I love the original trilogy, Rogue One and Andor. For me the prequels are a mixed bag, along with Solo, The Mandalorian, The Book of Bob Fett and Kenobi. The sequel trilogy for me is a disappointment, likewise Ahsoka.

The Acolyte is an okay show based on its only season. I *thought it deserved to be renewed and given a chance to be overall a strong entry in the Star Wars universe, albeit with a slightly shaky start. The writers could have focussed future seasons on lore like Darth Plagueis, using great established characters like a young Palpatine and Yoda prominently in the background. By all means they could have included new protagonists that appeal to a younger generation, but would have needed to give the dark side characters more passion, aggression and charisma than was shown during season one. Also they should have trusted the audience to interpret stories without so much clunky exposition and not dragged out limited material over too many episodes just to meet an agreed quota.

Meesa no lika dis doodoo.

I mean seriously what were they thinking? Have they even watched what they produced?? The acting and writing are horrible they have completed destroyed this franchise! I mean come on it isnt hard to make entertaining star wars there are 1000's of stories surrounding this universe..

They could just copy the story of The Old Republic and have the most successful modern day star wars story with this production budget. But Nope. Seems they think they can do better with some teenage soap opera. Do they even have a passion for Star Wars? And even if its to recover the cost of purchasing the license, you can't even milk the franchise with such low quality efforts...

I do not recommend watching this, you will have a much better time putting Jar jar binks scenes on loop for 3 hours instead of watching the 3 currently released episodes...

I just finished watching The Acolyte, and I sat there, wondering: "Why did people hate this so much?" Was it a masterpiece? No. Not by a long shot. Was it terrible? Not at all. A little shaky at times, but overall enjoyable.

Some of the actors needed better coaching/directing, the storytelling was a bit slow and I don't necessarily agree with all the choices made - I for one don't agree with Disney's Dark-side bleeding crystals idea, for example.

But the show was gorgeous. Beautiful sets and costumes, amazing fight choreography, great sound. They explored some sides and uses of the Force that have gone sadly unnoticed forever - and now likely won't ever be touched again, because of the online regurgitations of innumerable angry trolls. Might a season 2 have improved on some of the less than amazing aspects? Almost certainly, but we will mever know.

Shame on you, online collective, for having the first truly creative approach to Star Wars in years shot down. Disney may have done some weird things with the franchise but... Disney didn't ruin SW... Trolls did.

I went in with low expectations mostly due to the bad reviews I read, however this show exceeded my expectations and dare I say I even enjoyed it. I liked the characters. Though it felt a bit off brand at time from other Star Wars series and shows I loved the seeing the Jedi in their prime, the foundation and the witches. It answered a lot of questions I never ask but a few that I did. Not really much more to say than that. Actors served their roles well, a few good surprises along the way, the biggest regret for this show is that due to the lacklustre ratings we probably will not see the series continue.

Take one of the most exciting and expansive fictional universes with iconic characters and storylines... then just tear it up without respect to its original mythos, lore, etc. That's the path of destruction that Disney has been on, save Andor, Rogue One, and to an extent, the Mandalorian.

It's sad because I'm sure lots of talented professionals worked on this. Tragically, the writing and acting is truly terrible. Special effects are great, but that's not enough to compensate for all its other flaws.

As a fan, I want to give it zero stars. Out of respect for the special effects artists, I'm giving 3.

Title says it all. But I think a lot of Star Wars fans today approach Disney's Star Wars films and series with way too much bias.

It's honestly a bit ridiculous, because I think The Acolyte is actually a refreshing and solid addition to the Star Wars universe.

Sure, the first few episodes are a bit slow and hard to get through, but the series really starts to develop well with each new episode.

The fight scenes are finally something worth watching - they're genuinely fun and have great choreography. It's nothing like Episodes 7-9; the action here actually feels well thought out and engaging.

And let's talk about the characters: I have to say, I really love the villain. He has so much potential to become one of the best in the entire Star Wars universe. But it's not just him - even the Jedi characters are enjoyable to watch. Maybe not quite as exciting as the villain, but still solid and interesting.

Sure, some of the dialogue falls flat at times, but overall it's okay - and it doesn't ruin the experience.

I tried to give this series a chance but after 3 episodes, I'm done. It's absolute hot garbage. I love Star Wars but Disney is ruining the franchise. The producer should never get another gig after this. What made anybody think people would want to watch this? Horrible acting, horrible plot that nobody will care about unless you like after school specials. So much material they could choose from and they choose to make a WB type TV show. This could be the breaking point for many Star Wars fans. I can't believe they spent 180 million on this series that only a small percentage of fans will even finish. I would give it zero stars if I could.

I pre-judged this after hearing all the negative stuff about it and memes online, disregarded it as another Disney trash not worthy of my time. I was recently bored there was nothing good to watch lately on Disney+ and played it just to pass time... Honestly it wasn't that bad as I was led to believe, and I don't mind watching season 2, I really hate starting a series and finding out it's turned into an unfinished project like Jericho season 3 and all the sci-fi series out there that never get proper endings.

My advice is watch it and judge for yourselves, don't let others make that decision for you.

Everyone is so mad at this show for "ruining canon". This is my least favorite criticism of this series, as the canon is consistently changing between any and all Star Wars projects. Why does nobody believe in the Jedi or the Force in the OT when 19 years beforehand there was a war where Jedi were literal generals? Where are the Bothans in Rogue One? Why has all of Han's character progression reverted by The Force Awakens.

The acting is wooden at points, and the script is not amazing. But the environments are gorgeous and the sets are well designed. Don't believe the review bombers, try it out for yourself. Make up your own mind.

Episode 1 was hard to watch. Writing on this series so far is at the CW level, and toward the low end of that. The casting, or miscasting perhaps, is baffling. The lead looks too young for the character she portrays, and lacks seriously in presence. The character isn't interesting to boot. What was the thinking behind assigning her this acting task? Other characters suffer from the same mismatch problems. It's as if the characters and their actors were drawn out of a hat.

Onto other issues. Dialog is clunky. As an example during a fight, one character asks another why they are there. Answer: to kill you. If killing with excess cringe were STAR WARS canon, this would be a dangerous weapon for THE ACOLYTE.

Kung-fu action is another main theme for this series. Why? It doesn't look like STAR WARS. Could we get some explanation why the fighting style is suddenly front and center?

In sum, THE ACOLYTE is a poorly written mess out the gate, and it suffers from an apparent general lack of understanding in regard to the STAR WARS universe. Overall showrunning on this one is poor.

Then I've seen episode one and two of The Acolyte.

Eight episodes at $180 million or $22.5 million per episode. In terms of production, I get the impression of a cheap 80s science fiction, there was nothing here that would indicate $22.5 million per episode.

Roger Corman could have made both of these episodes in the 80s for less than $100,000 each. When I have seen the first two episodes of The Acolyte, I get a cheap feeling of a bad and cheap CW production which in recent years has often had a bad script, bad actors and a low budget.

Among the actors, Lee Jung-jae was in a class of his own, otherwise there was a lot of stiff and poor acting from some of the actors, which can often be caused by bad directing.

Plot, script and dialogue were often unforgivably bad and stupid and are totally illogical. I don't understand how it is possible to write such bad scripts as we see in some TV series and movies nowadays. Has anyone at Disney approved the script before it goes into production?

I wasn't a big fan of Ahsoka, all the senators and generals were stupid and inept to such an extent that I sided with the Empire.

However, Ahsoka was much better with better actors and it was more grandiose and magnificent with many more and better effects and seemed like a much more expensive production.

To sum it up: GOOD: VFX, photography, acting in general BAD: story, agenda.

Photography is amazing, planets, cities, ships. And acting in general isn't bad, but you can tell they struggle in a way they don't understand the characters or the Star Wars universe, because it seems producers and directors don't understand either.

I read about some criticism to male fans, about not liking strong female characters. So other Star Wars female characters were not strong? Such us Padme, Ahsoka, Leia, Hera, Mon Mothma, Jyn Erso, Sabine Wren, Bo-Katan, even Rey at moments. At least they didn't need to wield that 'The Thread' power by sewing in the air with their hands (seriously, sewing?). Back in the day, perhaps 10 years ago, not just in Star Wars but in general TV shows and movies, there were just strong well-written characters, regardless of gender. And plain good stories. I miss those times.

Episode 4: pronouns. And that's it, I stopped watching. I studied and respect languages enough to let that one pass.

The show is ok, good action scenes, acting was ok but the story did not grip me at all, I had to force myself through the last two episodes but I'm glad I did.

I will confess I'm an old school Star Wars fan and I like things to have some link to the originals. They don't need to about the Skywalker family but I do like a link to characters i know.

I think this show should have shown us Darth Plageious luring in Palpatine in to the Sith it could easily have been in the background of the story, but I think that would have kept a lot of die hard fans invested. I certainly would have been more interested.

I'm a huge star wars fan and I can already tell whoever created this has no respect for the Star Wars Universe. Who said the Jedi only pull their weapons when ready to kill ? And if this girl is Sith than she is dumb to just approach one on a bar. This director us obviously misinformed and doesn't know anything about Star Wars. This show will ruin everything if it continues. It needs to be canceled. I have to write so many words to explain my distaste for this show so I will provide more. The characters are weak and none of them show Jedi traits. Let's just bring back the cartoons so we can see how Star Wars is supposed to be done.

I have never left a one star review for anything before. I always think the writing and production are never bad enough to be one star.

This series completely warrants a one star.

The writing is awful. Wooden dialogue, boring characters and so far a terrible plot. The whole production looks naff.

I am open to change and new concepts. The franchise can't grow with the same stories and ideas being replayed. The Mandolorian, Ahsoka and Andor have demonstrated that you can come up with new ideas, characters and plot lines that enhance the franchise. What the producers of this series have managed to do is spend an ungodly amount of money on producing utter garbage. Episode 3 is the worst episode of any show I have ever watched. D&D must be relieved that their butchery of Game of Thrones ending is nothing compared to this.

We all want new Star Wars material. But we want it done in a way that honours the original films and captures the essence of what makes the franchise so great.

Anyone who signed off on this project should be sacked with immediate effect.

I started watching this with the hope to be entertained. I was disappointed. When the Jedi said to a complete stranger "yes my child?" I knew the writing was going to be bad. The characters are forgettable and unlikable which causes me to have no interest in any of the actions of plots of the show. Only two episodes in and I decided to look at the reviews and saw 10s...these are obviously fake and it's just pathetic to see people doing this. This is horrible entertainment. The effects should definitely be better since it's easy to tell they put a lot of money into it. Instead they should've put more money into a neutral and invested writer to lead the writing department. Extreme HARD PASS. Watched the latest...wow how these horrible writers and set designers getting these jobs?

After three episodes I really don't know where to start. Good things: it's in Star Wars Universe (at least it should be) Carrie-Anne Moss was also very classy in the beginning and I was glad to see her performing so well. But that's it then about the good things. It went so quickly for the 5 star dinner into the fast food department. The story is just childish and makes not much sense. Actors mediocre at their best. Nothing new nor interesting aspects in the show. I don't know what's the target audience, at least it's not made for the Star Wars fans at all. Light years behind Andor, Mandalorian and others.

As others have said, Star Wars fans are going to be the ones to tragically kill their own beloved franchise with all the "cancel culture hate" they're throwing at this show.

I never write reviews, but felt this one needed a supporting one so that Disney understands they didn't go down the wrong path. It's seriously not bad. I've watched plenty of stuff to know what "unwatchable" truly is. This isn't it. Is it perfect? No. But tell me what the last perfectly produced show / movie was and we'll sit down and hash that out.

Were there better character choices or plot moves that could've happened? Probably; granted, everyone is going to have a different opinion as to where the story should go. One can at least appreciate they were trying to convey a different story here. They did NOT give us another rehash of the Skywalker storyline, like they did with the movies, isn't that supposed to be a good thing?!

And for those who are criticising "bad acting". Bad acting where?! Does Amandla has room for improvement? Absolutely. I think that will come with time. For the more experienced actors, however, they did a marvellous job. Both Lee and Manny were great. Even the child actors, which are notoriously difficult to watch as an adult, can be applauded for their efforts.

The best parts about this show? The fight scenes. The entire wonder of SW is the force and use of lightsabers, right?! Isn't that why fans fell in love with the original concept of this world? They FINALLY gave us all of that and yet, these "hardcore fans" just have nothing good to say about it. Seriously? Come on... do we genuinely want to watch more politicians stand there and argue? Do we want to keep watching nameless stormtroopers die? (Short answer: no) I'd much rather see a cool choreographed Jedi fight scene! And this show certainly delivered on that.

To keep the review simple, the characters' behavior and the story they try to tell in these first two episodes feel bland. It feels as if it would be a sketch done by a pre-teen redrawn together by great visual artists.

The show does look and feel great. The environment is well put together as is the CGI.

Events seem to happen somewhat randomly only to forcefully push the story forward or to trigger some sort of emotion without any particular setup or explanation.

The characters feel like they would be part of the Jedi world, but they behave so poorly as trained Jedi masters.

On the other hand, it could be a story about how the Jedi order has been slacking and degrading due to them having taken over the galaxy and being in control for so long at the point in time where the show takes place.

But I doubt they thought so far considering what we've seen in these first two episodes. Let's see the rest of the show.

I actually really enjoyed this show. It was a lot different than your sort-of run of the mill newer Star Wars shows.

There is action throughout. The main character is actually pretty good. The action scenes are really good and the plot of the show is quite interesting.

I'm not sure why it's not getting higher reviews, but I put it up there with some of the other Star Wars series. It's not at the very top, but it's definitely not as bad as some of the low reviews that people were saying.

It's worth giving it a chance but temper your expectations because it's not one of the best but it's mid range and there's enough action to keep you interested.

Quite literally the worst Star Wars project since the Holiday Special. It actively changes the Star Wars universe, the nature of the Force, and all of the canon that has come before. It's straight garbage, written by people with no respect for the franchise, and directed by people with no capability of creating a TV show. It's profoundly senseless.

Poorly written, poorly acted, poorly edited, and poorly paced. The entire show appears to be little more than a vanity project full of self-inserts rather than real characters. The decisions made by the characters don't make sense and break immersion constantly. The concepts introduced seem to be little more than whims, with no reasoning behind them and no explanation as to why they don't line up with franchise canon.

The idea behind the story may be decent, but the writer/showrunner is far too vain and inept to give it a proper attempt.