The first two episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew stream on Disney+ in the UK from December 3, 2024. New episodes will premiere weekly on Wednesdays through January 15, 2025.
Synopsis
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew follows the journey of four kids who make a mysterious discovery on their seemingly safe home planet, then get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy. Finding their way home—and meeting unlikely allies and enemies—will be a greater adventure than they ever imagined.
Review
Thinking back to my childhood, having been born in 1985, my earliest film memories are Indiana Jones, E.T., Gremlins, The Goonies and, of course, the OG Star Wars trilogy. Those Amblin-era movies left a lasting impression on a generation of families who would crowd about the TV to re-live the nostalgia and excitement of these coming-of-age adventures.
Those are the exact feelings conjured up by watching the first two episodes of the latest Disney+ series set in the Star Wars universe. Skeleton Crew, which begins today with a two-episode premiere, skews younger in its audience appeal. But in doing so also happens to be one of the most and carefree series to come from Lucasfilm in the era of streaming.
Joining franchise legends Dave Filon and Jon Favreau as a producer on Skeleton Crew is Jon Watts, the mastermind behind Tom Holland’s incredible Spider-Man trilogy. Watts, who also directs episode one, brings with him a youthful energy which permeates through the entire of the first two episodes. I was lucky enough to catch these two episodes on the big screen which felt like a fitting way to experience the scale of its story.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew shares some familiar sensibilities with its recent cousin The Acolyte. Like that short-lived series, Skeleton Crew attempts to explore a story far-removed from any of the Star Wars films. Whilst it takes place around a similar time to The Mandalorian, the series bares absolutely no connection to any of its storylines. It seems, at least from these first two episodes, that Skeleton Crew is an entirely unique and standalone story which simply exists in the larger Star Wars universe. Its isolation is quickly electrifying. A fun realisation that whilst the ideas of the Republic and the spectre of the Empire loom in the background, everything else in Skeleton Crew is allowed to stand on its own.
The series opens on the California-like planet of At Attin. The planets existence itself seems to be an important plot point in the series overarching narrative. A mystery within a Stand By Me like jaunt across the stars for the series young leads. The first episode, which clocks in around 50 minutes, goes to great lengths to depict life on the planet. We get to see the home lives of three out of four lead characters. We also spend time with them in school. All aspects of everyday life in the Star Wars universe which, whilst potentially a little mundane, we haven’t seen before. Both of the episodes I saw were written by Christopher Ford & Jon Watts who write all but two of the eight-episode season. But all the regularity serves a simple and deftly executed purpose. It dutifully welcomes a young audience in to the Star Wars universe through familiarity and association.
Our entry point is Wim, played by Ravi Cabot-Conyers (Encanto), who lives with his workaholic father (Tunde Adebimpe, Twisters). The two have a typically strained father-son relationship with Wim clearly struggling with the off-screen loss of his mother. Cabot-Conyers with a warmth to Wim which makes him instantly likeable. He’s not the cool kid in school and is often caught daydreaming about the legend of the Jedi. His head-in-the-clouds nature is easily identifiable and is further enriched by the pure joy of his friendship with Neel (Robert Timothy Smith, Mythic Quest). Though he might look a bit like an Ortolan from Return of the Jedi, Neel and his INCREDIBLY cute family are a new race invented for Skeleton Crew. Smith, who performs with a mix of practical suit augmented with visual effects, has a really heartwarming connection with Cabot-Conyers. Their bond is really at the core of what makes these first episodes so fun to watch.
Making up the rest of the core cast are Ryan Kiera Armstrong (Firestarter) as Fern, daughter of Kerry Condon’s (Night Swim) Fara who serves as governor on At Attin, and Kyriana Kratter (United Sates of Al) as her best friend and tech-expert KB. Skeleton Crew gleefully upsets the balance of traditional storytelling, giving Fern the role of the strong-willed rebel a la Han Solo. Meanwhile the typical boys versus girls dynamic is given a contemporary coat of paint which feels refreshing from every angle. Watts and co. are clearly wedded to allowing these kids to be just that. That is until they’re piled in to a hidden ship and sent across the galaxy at hyperspace…
Despite a somewhat slow start with plenty of setup, Skeleton Crew is still able to pack in plenty of adventure. After stumbling over what they think may be a Jedi temple, the four kids fall foul to a kidnap of their own making. Discovering the temple is in fact a discarded pirate ship, Wim, Fern, KB and Neel are thrust out in to space far beyond any of their wildest imaginations. It spins the series on its axis setting up a fun first contact mission to a space station in episode two. Though the second episode is a hastily short 29 minutes it still offers up plenty of insight in two what the series has in store. Arguably the two-episode premiere could easily have been one extended episode bringing us to the introduction of Jude Law’s (Captain Marvel) Nawood.
Bubbling under the surface of Skeleton Crew’s kid-friendly cast is a subplot around a group of space-pirates. Their hooded leader – presumably Law – is introduced in a short prologue of episode one before being unceremoniously removed from his post. Rather than have our gang of kids coming up against the remnants of the Empire, Watts’ & Ford’s script sets up an adventure which will see them tussling with space pirates. The concept leans in even further to the Amblin-aesthetic. Perhaps in this were still the 1980’s our kids could come up against this group on some kind of jungle-like planet hunting treasure. Well treasure may still be involved but that’s a story for another day as Skeleton Crew is still holding tightly to several of is key plot points.
From these first episodes the series appears to be one of Star Wars’ more expensive productions. At Attin is a visual effects heavy landscape which takes heavy inspiration from nuclear-era USA. Its floating vehicles and space-age structures are almost entirely created in visual effects, all of which are on par with other Disney+ shows. Whilst the interiors of the ship and the space station in episode two lean in heavily to classic Star Wars production design and practical set-building. Older fans in the audience will recognise all of the design language of the show whilst younger fans will find plenty to grab their attention and introduce them to the world many of us love for decades.
Verdict
The first two episodes of Star Wars: Skeleton Crew offer up a glimpse at something magical. Lucasfilm is fully embracing an era of magical, coming-of-age stories with an Amblin-like adventure. Though it continues the streamer’s wildly unpredictable approach to runtimes, the premiere episodes are an encouraging first step towards a captivating, family-friendly experience.
⭐⭐⭐⭐
