The Acolyte

The Acolyte isn’t an out-of-the-gate triumph — that barely-a-twist is a little clunky in the execution, and it remains to be seen how many more surprises might be left in the season. However, watching this show, I felt years of that aforementioned frustration floating away, to be replaced by pure possibility. Even if the remaining four episodes of the series don’t live up to this potential, we at least have proof of how big the galaxy can really be.

What perhaps makes The Acolyte such an engaging and addictive watch (over the first four episodes screened for critics, at least) is its commitment to not treating the Jedi (or the Star Wars franchise writ large) as untouchable.

Most of The Acolyte’s innovations are good — not because they might make people mad, though that’s an added bonus, but because they open up exciting possibilities for the Star Wars universe. Also, because The Acolyte is just plain fun, in the mode of a pulpy adventure novel or an open-world video game.

Based on watching half the season, I can’t say if The Acolyte will evolve into a classic. But it’s clear that Headland has set the show off on a unique path that is immensely watchable—and could open up a thoughtful new direction for the Star Wars universe.

“The Acolyte” delivers plenty of grim fun — and some witches, and more than one delightful, thoroughly soapy trope, having carved out a space and time where a murder mystery can movingly riff on some classic Star Wars hero’s quest silliness.

The Acolyte‘s first four episodes are a brilliant addition to the larger Star Wars universe. By looking backwards to the waning days of the Jedi Order, Leslye Headland has pushed the franchise further into the future than ever before.

There are worse qualities for a new series to have than an overabundance of potential — and wherever this one ends up, it’s got enough on its mind to make the journey worthwhile.

It's pacy but still takes the time to beautifully flesh out each of our leading characters. It's serialised but doesn't feel formulaic. It can be enjoyed as a standalone series for newcomers to Star Wars but still has plenty to enjoy for die-hards.

There’s much to appreciate about a show that cunningly strives not only to be deemed good but to make us redefine what that means. And it only took looking farther into this saga’s distant past to move ahead in ways its storytelling can challenge us.

“The Acolyte” combines the classical elements that give “Star Wars” an evergreen appeal with new additions to the canon, a strong core cast and a brisk pace. The show also underscores a lesson “Star Wars” has taught itself in the past, though hasn’t quite taken to heart: you don’t need to recycle elements from the master narrative to make its offshoots compelling. In fact, the opposite approach is often more rewarding.

"The Acolyte" is a thrilling new addition to "Star Wars," a series that reliably looks and acts the part while also genuinely attempting to explore new corners of this galaxy. It's a must-see for any "Star Wars" fan, of course, but it'll also make for great thriller viewing even if you barely know what "Star Wars" is.

The first two episodes hum with life and new ideas, but also challenge our understanding of good and evil, right and wrong, and the age-old conflict between Jedi and Sith.

Leslye Headland brings an entirely fresh approach to the franchise by allowing her characters to be imperfect. It helps that these first four episodes of The Acolyte range from 32 to 42 minutes, giving the characters a chance to breathe and feel settled within the fast-paced plots.

The four episodes screened for critics flew by and showed promise. The final verdict hinges upon the villain of the series, thus far a faceless figure with an unrecognizable voice whose followers share his disdain for Jedi.

[The third episode is] such a brilliant hour that the rest of "The Acolyte" suffers a bit alongside; it's hard to return to the main story's comparatively more wooden characters in the fourth episode after getting such a satisfying, self-contained tale. Even so, there's potential in this series and its slower, more contemplative direction

Like the prequels, “The Acolyte” ponders many dark and complex subjects but, so far, lacks proper depth in this consideration. Still, “Star Wars” has always felt too torn to cast its White Knight heroes in too negative a light and thus has never quite committed to what could be much more morally damming parables. Nonetheless, “The Acolyte” feels like it’s going there. Now, it’s a matter of whether they’ll probe past the surface.

What it's yet to find — unlike the similarly morally ambiguous Andor — is a way to convert the boldness of [its] ambitions into storytelling that's just as bold.

The final episodes will ultimately determine whether this amounts to a significant and perhaps fertile new avenue for “Star Wars,” or merely an interesting detour. Until then, this tale of the Jedi is entertaining and mildly promising. Whether that opens new doors for Disney/Lucasfilm or leads to a dead end, as a wise little green fellow once said, always in motion is the future.

Episode four ends on a promising cliffhanger, which makes it too soon to pass final judgment but “The Acolyte” gets off to a rocky start.

Things may skew a little familiar in the early running but the subversive Headland surely has some more sneaky rug-pulls up her sleeve, a tantalising prospect that makes The Acolyte worth sticking with.

So far, The Acolyte is a couple of rungs below the best Star Wars live action series – Andor and The Mandalorian deserve that accolade – but it’s on the right trajectory. Our new hope is that the back half of the season sticks the landing.

It’s a spirited effort, but in the continuum of Disney’s Star Wars hits and misses, The Acolyte lands bang in the middle.

A Star Wars mystery that interests rather than intrigues, this is spiced up nonetheless by a brand-new setting, some arresting Force-fu and a Wookiee with a lightsaber.

Unlike Andor – easily the best of the Star Wars spin-offs – The Acolyte is a pulled punch, too eager to play the story out in a series of five-minute jeopardy riffs rather than trust that the audience might have an attention span. There are teasing hints of what it could be.

Taken on its own terms, The Acolyte does offer some enjoyable character dynamics and an enticing mystery, but its first four episodes fail to coalesce into something that truly shines. But look, it does have a wookiee Jedi, and that’s always a plus.

The umpteenth example of the fact that not all sagas need go on indefinitely—and especially not via formulaic prequels.

The various plot mechanisms take about one and a half episodes to fully build up momentum, but once that happens, “The Acolyte” becomes a lot more intriguing. Still, the question remains: Do fans have the appetite for yet another “Star Wars” spinoff only fleetingly connected to the galaxy they know?

Beneath the familiar trappings, the visceral pull that “Star Wars” can summon in its best moments — “The Empire Strikes Back,” “The Last Jedi,” parts of “Andor” and “The Mandalorian” — doesn’t manifest itself. Characters speak in platitudes about loss, grief, loyalty and revenge, and the cast mostly works down to the level of the dialogue.

Most of the pieces are uneven at best, if not simply underwhelming. Carrie-Anne Moss is used well in an opening action set piece (once again getting to work with bullet-time effects, 25 years after the first Matrix) but is otherwise wasted, and the later fight scenes aren’t as dynamic.

"Acolyte" has a great deal of potential. "The Mandalorian" made "Star Wars" a Western. "Andor" made it a revolution. "Acolyte" could have made it a great work of fantasy and mystery. But mostly it's a great big sigh.

On the evidence of the four episodes handed out to reviewers the latest effort on Disney’s Star Wars treadmill is a commendably different but uneven addition to the saga.