Star Wars: Skeleton Crew

For a tale where four children have to learn to protect themselves in an outsize version of the confusing, dangerous adult world, this show’s universe is nicely pitched, its perils just unsafe enough to be gently thrilling. When the kids find themselves manning laser blasters and fending off bad guys in aerial combat, they’re playing the ultimate video game, and it makes total sense.

There’s a ceiling on the ambitions of a show that sticks to its “Goonies”-esque playbook and keeps things so light; “Skeleton Crew” takes “Star Wars” to new places only in the literal sense. But the show is able to nail its limited brief, and make a “Star Wars” show that’s actually rooted in childhood rather than evoking memories of one’s own.

Writers/showrunners Christopher Ford and Jon Watts have successfully captured the classic Amblin Entertainment aesthetic as the storytelling and childlike whimsy evoke an atmosphere akin to that of "The Goonies".

With a collection of assured directors, a cast of fine young actors, and Jude Law as the material’s untrustworthy swashbuckler, it’s a family affair which captures some of that old far, far away magic.

A solidly-crafted piece of all-ages entertainment, with good direction from Watts (Spider-Man: Homecoming) and David Lowery (The Green Knight), and some fun set pieces. It’s telling an actual story, and telling it well enough that it doesn’t feel like a glorified version of a Star Wars theme park ride. You just have to be prepared going in for things like Sam and Neel’s neighborhood being blatantly modeled on the one from E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial; for there to be various early scenes of kids on bikes in the woods (a la E.T. and The Goonies); and even for the title font to, like the one from the similarly Eighties-obsessed Stranger Things, evoke the books of Stephen King. It wears its influences with obvious pride, hearkening back to a slightly less long time ago, and a cul-de-sac within fairly close proximity.

The creators have described this coming-of-age tale as their love letter to Eighties adventure films, citing those by Steven Spielberg’s production company Amblin (such as The Goonies, Gremlins and ET: the Extra-Terrestrial) as their inspiration. This series captures the same spirit and, in that sense, it represents more than Star Wars. It’s an adventure centred on kids but not exclusively for them, something of a rarity in the schedules. It deserves to be celebrated, especially when the thrills are this good.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is beautifully-made and sweetly innocent, making it a radically rebellious take on a franchise that sometimes seems lost in its own lore.

If you want an adventure to take you back to childhood, something that feels a bit nostalgic and a bit of escapism amid the general state of the world in the lead-up to Christmas, give it a go...After all, the show does the job and does it well. Is it perfect? Nah. Is it the best Star Wars show of all time? Nope! But is it a lot of fun? Absolutely.

Although its coming-of-age narrative is far less boundary-breaking than Watts and Ford’s pitch seems to suggest — hugely powerful juvenile heroes and their gruff babysitters were already the backbone of the Disney+/Lucasfilm brand — the series is lively and fun. The generally low-stakes, thematically light, young-skewing romp takes us into under-explored corners of the seemingly boundless galaxy while feeling pleasantly familiar.

Jon Watts’ Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is exactly what the franchise needed.

It's a series trying very hard to walk the line between good old-fashioned kid movie fun and genuine "Star Wars" galaxy-building, and so far at least, it's doing it quite well.

While originality is at a premium, Skeleton Crew has enough charm to skate by on.

Even though its influences are obvious and it all feels a bit like a Hollywood exec’s formula, Skeleton Crew takes a new, unchallenging angle on a beloved entertainment institution, and does it well enough that it could easily become the most universally popular Star Wars product since The Mandalorian.

Balancing the thrill of the new and the comfort of the familiar, it’s a love letter to the kind of “kid gang” movies of the ’80s that Watts & Co. clearly grew up on. More importantly, it’s a love letter to our collective memories of being kids who loved “Star Wars"...For anyone who says the House That Lucas Built is out of ideas and has been picked clean, “Skeleton Crew” proves there’s still meat left on those bones.

The journey to whatever destination remains in store has already earned the benefit of the doubt. In the meantime, "Skeleton Crew" is a breath of fresh air, thanks to the kids leading the way.

The way it stands now, after these first two episodes, there’s a lot of good momentum carrying Star Wars: Skeleton Crew forward after it’s set up its “Goonies in Space” cast of kids who escape the suburban doldrums and find themselves hurtling toward adventure and conflict with cartoonish space pirates. This show will actually have to pay off its foreshadowed mysteries in a satisfying way if it hopes to leave us with something half as memorable as its inspiration, but the fact that there seems to be a story justification for the ‘80s nostalgia bait aesthetics it slathers on is a good sign for things to come.

What stands out most when watching the series is that it feels so very influenced; it's not just a "Star Wars" series, it's "Star Wars" plus something. It's gimmicky and not just a little cookie-cutter in its expansion of the sci-fi franchise, which gets diluted the more shows Disney+ cranks out.

This is a perfectly fun entry in the ever-expanding Star Wars canon: light and frothy by design, driven by a genuinely sweet cast of younglings at the fore. After three episodes, it’s still finding its footing, but there’s promise here. 

It’s a “Star Wars” show about pirates — explorers tied to nothing and reporting to no one, their ship not even restricted by gravity. Its proverbial mainsail should be untethered, and this “Skeleton Crew” should be free to explore unseen, unheard of, and unimaginable new worlds.

Aside from the prevailing “toys are for babies” opinion of Wim’s father and peers, Skeleton Crew hasn’t fully fleshed out exactly why Wim’s Jedi adoration is seen as so uncool. .... Regardless, that approach is at least a change of pace from the rest of Skeleton Crew, which with its by-the-numbers scenes of kids riding bikes, bickering, and growing together feels derivative of the similarly Amblin-influenced Stranger Things a little too often.

There are some plot ideas that could pay off in interesting ways, and while Jedi are, as always, a reference point, there’s a refreshing lack of Skywalkers or overt references to anything else from the films outside the setting. But all of these assets are buried under one problem: this is a premise that doesn’t know how to be a TV show yet.