Star Wars: Skeleton Crew: Series 1 - Review

Rating: 4 out of 5

THE sprawling TV and cinematic empire that is Star Wars is never more enjoyable than when it is trying to freshen up the format or place interesting spins on events of the past. Andor, for instance, was as grown-up and intellectual as it gets, in the way that its first season went more political and blurred the lines between right and wrong.

And the recent, unfairly maligned The Acolyte, also thrived (in my opinion) because it shook things up, introduced new worlds and characters, while again blurring the distinction between good and evil to often surprising effect.

Having got a lot more serious, however, with those recent shows, it was also refreshing to find that the brain trust behind Star Wars can still tap into their inner child and revel in a sense of fun - something that made the first season of Skeleton Crew such a welcome addition.

It takes an old genre favourite, plucky kids in peril, and sends them out into the galaxy, where they discover that life and adventure is far more dangerous and complex than they ever dare dream or imagine. It also landed them with a memorable villain (as is the benchmark for any successful Star Wars venture).

In doing so, it also indulged a creative passion between co-creators Jon Watts and Christopher Ford, the writers and showrunners for the season. As the quality of the material helped them to attract some top quality filmmakers to each episode, thereby giving them the opportunity to work with some of their favourite directors.

Watts is no stranger to franchises himself, having successfully overseen three hugely enjoyable Spider-Man movies (Homecoming, Far From Home and No Way Home), as well as the recent TV series, The Old Man (with Jeff Bridges). But also included in the director line-up were David Lowery (of Pete's Dragon and Aint Them Bodies Saints fame), Jake Shreier (of Robot & Frank, Beef and the forthcoming Thunderbolts movie), Bryce Dallas Howard (who has helmed instalments of The Mandalorian, as well as starring in the Jurassic World movies), Lee Isaac Chung (Twisters), and Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinart (the Oscar-winning directors of Everything Everywhere All At Once).

Quite frankly, if Skeleton Crew had sucked, it would have been a colossal disappointment.

Yet by surrounding himself with some high quality talent, and poaching from the likes of other coming-of-age, kids-in-peril movies such as The Goonies, Stand By Me, ET, Super 8, Stranger Things and even Peter Pan, Watts and Ford really felt like they were kids in a candy shop. Skeleton Crew had that sense of wide-eyed adventure those other movies had - as well as a little peril.

The story focused on four kids - Jedi dreaming Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), the blue elephant nerd Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), bomber jacket wearing 'cool girl' Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and her techy sidekick KB (Kyriana Kratter) - who happen about something strange in the woods near to their suburban homes in At Attin, which in turn catapults them on an adventure to the outer reaches of the galaxy.

Set during the same time period as The Mandalorian (but with no direct references to that show), this finds the galaxy in a much more unsettled period, with the Empire having fallen, yet pirates running amok. One such pirate is Jod Na Nawood, or Crimson Jack (Jude Law), who happens upon the kids during an impromptu prison stay.

Initially serving as their guide and mentor, and exhibiting Jedi-like powers of his own, Jod Na soon unveils himself to be an unscrupulous gold-digger and thief, whose real purpose in 'helping' the kids get back home is to uncover the mysterious location of their planet and steal the vast fortunes it has been hiding for years.

And so the scene is set for all manner of escapades, many of which draw from classic Star Wars iconography, without referencing them directly. There is a sparsity of Stormtroopers, for instance, and very few flashes of light-sabre. But there are droids aplenty, including one voiced by Nick Frost who is a genuine ally of the kids, as well as an astronomer owl, various vagabonds and bounty hunters and some 'scary' creatures, such as man-eating, over-sized crabs, which recall the beasts from The Empire Strikes Back and The Mandalorian.

It makes for a colourful rogues gallery, while giving kids the adventure they're undoubtedly craving.

The young cast are an amiable bunch - often bickering among themselves, yet endearing enough to be well worth rooting for when things start to go from bad to worse and the possibility looms that not all of them will make it. There's a genuine sense of loyalty between them, as well as a plucky resolve that's reserved for the best movie kids. I particularly liked Cabot-Conyers and Kratter, both of whom also display a certain innocence and vulnerability that makes them more interesting.

But the real ace in the pack is Jude Law, whose Crimson Jack is a real slippery delight. He's charismatic, enigmatic and terrifying: someone you will be probably rooting for more than you should, given his propensity for back-stabbing and his lack of morality when it comes to placing the kids in harm's way.

He isn't an out and out villain the Darth Vader sense, carefully toying with your allegiances during the early episodes, but there's a magnetism about him that makes every scene he's in come alive. Law clearly has the measure of the material and is having fun without over-egging it or descending into pantomime-style villainy. If anything, there's even a sense of internal conflict - as though his life story could have gone another way, but for circumstance and bad decision making.

If there is to be a second season, then I would hope that Law is somehow a part of it. His performance here undoubtedly rates among the great Star Wars villains.

As befits a series of this nature, too, there's a keen sense of tension building that comes to a head during the final three episodes: all of which are expertly executed to keep viewers (especially the youngest ones) on the edge of their seat, but which also draws from that Spielberg ability to mix puzzle solving, race-against time scenarios with visual flair and harder action elements.

It makes for a potent combination, thereby ensuring that Skeleton Crew lives long in the memory as a masterful romp and a damn fine entry into the ever-expanding Star Wars universe... one that proudly maintains its own sense of identity.