Skeleton Crew

As most children of the Eighties I have fond memories of The Goonies, but I would be lying if I said that's the direction I desperately wanted for new Star Wars content.

I mean, after the disappointment of the sequel trilogy and many others - all Disney live-action content except Andor, Rogue One and the first two seasons of Mando I'd rate between mediocre and bad - I'm just starving for good mature, epic Star Wars content. Give me an Andor-like show set in the Old Republic with Jedi, Sith and Nick Gillard as stunt coordinator for the lightsaber battles.

HOWEVER... to be fair I will say that Skeleton Crew is okay. It's not offensive or poorly made; not obviously cheap like The Book of Boba Fett; not aimless like Season 3 of Mando; not lore-breaking like the sequels and Kenobi; not tone-deaf like the Acolyte.

Hooray?

This is basically Star Wars Goonies, a neat little story of a bunch of kids having an adventure in the Star Wars universe. The writing is decent: effects, costumes and locations look great: the whole thing has a certain charm.

I'm guessing this, similar to Andor, is a passion project for its creators and was seen as a minor side-project by the higher-ups, who did not therefore bother to get involved, which nowadays in Lucasfilm is a blessing.

So far, so good.

7,5/10.

From the previews I thought this was going to be terrible. I have only watched the first episode and was amazed at how enjoyable it was. I have high hopes for this one. Sort of Star Wars in the style of Spielberg. It might be intended for kids, but I still enjoy this style of story telling at my advanced age. The first episode was fun and engaging, and flowed well, and it didn't take itself too seriously. There is even a little social commentary. So far it's the second best series behind Endor, but that might change upon watching more episodes. I think this series is a good direction for the Disney/Star Wars combo.

I cannot for the life of me understand why Obi Wan and The Acolyte look cheaper than this show. From a production standpoint Skeleton Crew has been the first Star Wars show in a while that feels expansive, full and fun.

For all the lack of passion that's been felt as an audience member of Star Wars for some time, the last place I'd expect to feel this IP redeem itself was a kids series. My favourite Star Wars films/shows have always been the darker ones, Episode 5, 3, Andor, some parts of Rogue One and the Mandalorian. But Skeleton Crew captures a perspective that's been sorely missed from Star Wars - kids.

I feel a sense of wonder, adventure and stakes I've not enjoyed from this universe in some time. It's also, rather exhaustingly, the only thoughtfully directed show they've put out besides Andor and a decent handful of The Mandalorian. There's actual scenes, actual character growth, mis en scene that's telling story instead of just looking 'Star Wars.' Star Wars has always been for kids as much as adults - the irony is it took them to make a kids show remind us that basic story telling craft still exists as Disney. Please keep making shows like this for kids, and please keep making shows like Andor for adults. It's the riding the middle that's continuously tanked the tone of other entries - Obi Wan is a perfect example. It had no idea who its audience was, and committed poorly to trying to fit in everyone. Boba Fett is another example that springs to mind.

Kudos to the showrunners for bringing something fresh to Star Wars. Sure, heavily influenced by the kids on bikes era - but a fresh take in this universe joyfully received by myself and my partner.

I think the series is great so far, but there is one problem that really annoys me: the running time. When I saw the first episode, I was so happy that it was about 40 minutes long. Then came episode two: if you include the flashback and the credits, it's not even 25 minutes. If I get 25 minutes of the series every week, I have to watch what happened the week before last. As soon as you can't really lose yourself in the universe, you've warmed up to it, it's already over. Incredibly unsatisfying! I'm probably not going to watch it for months and try to avoid all spoilers so that I can see the whole thing next year. As for the actors: my God, they're children. It's clear that they didn't have years of acting training. Nevertheless, the protagonists are likeable, the music fits and the action isn't too child-friendly. After two episodes, I'm excited to see what happens next, but unfortunately I won't find out until next year.

I can imagine how the initial pitch went like: "It'll be like The Goonies but in the Star Wars universe! We'll take the angle of kids to look into the concept, while making it interesting via elements from The Treasure Island with a visual touch of Pirates of the Carribean. Think of how Super 8 worked - a Spielberg-ish childhood fantasy!"

So much effort, so many visual details and trivia, yet, you can get bored along the way. Because Star Wars stuff is no longer being "created". It's simply being "generated" the way AI generates images. I'll be glad if this one manages to attract today's kids into the original Star Wars stories but if the question at hand is whether adults would be on board this pirate ship, not so sure here.

The Mandalorian rocks as the unique SW series that had gravitas of sort, leaning more towards Sergio Leone westerns than to cheaper space operas. The Acolyte was a betrayal to SW at the very least. Skeleton Crew is, well, neither so bright nor so demented. I don't feel like glorifying or trashing it.

But I do have some resentment with Disney's treatment of SW... They never even tried to respect and explore the essence of the concept... Rather, they turned it into a "setting" for whatever series they felt like doing. It was wrong. SW is, in and of itself, a dynamic network of valuable ideas and stories to communicate. What Disney+ had been doing is to utilise it for external agendas, concerns and pushes.

Anyways... Unlike The Acolyte, Skeleton Crew is at the very least not toxic - so far. (And I'm waiting for the great explanation to why a Jedi would need to wait for some kids to be thrown in his jail cell in order to perform his most simple trick and make the key come to him!)