The people of the planet At Attin are carrying out a Great Work for the Galactic Republic, which requires their planet to be sealed off from the rest of the galaxy by an unbreachable barrier. The children of At Attin are encouraged to study hard to get great jobs to carry out the Work, with only ancient stories of Jedi percolating through to reach those with imagination. When four children stumble across a buried starship which inadvertently carries them far from At Attin, they have to use all their resourcefulness to get home, through a galaxy decidedly less civilised than they were led to believe.
Skeleton Crew is yet another Star Wars TV show from the Lucasfilm/Disney+ production line. Since The Mandalorian debuted five years ago, the production line has pushed out a whole raft of Star Wars projects, which have all looked fantastic but, to varying degrees, struggled to hit the high notes of the franchise. The first season of Andor and the first two seasons of The Mandalorian were very good, but its third season, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka were all patchy, The Acolyte flawed and The Book of Boba Fett bafflingly structured.
Combined with the well-documented struggles in getting a new movie in the franchise off the ground, this has led to the conclusion that Star Wars, at least as a live-action concern, was in trouble under Disney's stewardship.
Fortunately, and most unexpectedly, Skeleton Crew didn't get that memo. Jon Watts, who masterminded Marvel's take on Spider-Man, rocked up with a mission: to make the Star Wars / 1980s kids' movie crossover event that we never knew we wanted, but it turns out was a great idea all along. Taking inspiration from the likes of The Goonies and Flight of the Navigator, the film jettisons almost all the baggage of the extended Star Wars canon that has been weighing down the rest of the franchise for a near-stand-alone adventure in which some kids find a spaceship and get into hijinks.
You might think that sounds fair enough but maybe not enough to sustain eight episodes, but Watts and his team expand the storyline to incorporate subplots revolving around the kids' families trying to work out how to find them from back home, as well as expanding on Jod, the mentor character they encounter along the way who agrees to be their guide through the dangerous galaxy beyond At Attin. Jude Law plays Jod with absolutely maximum relish, turning in a great performance that mixes humour and roguery in classic Star Wars fashion. The kids are all fine (due to their age, the occasional scene where they mistake enthusiasm for skill can be overlooked), and many of the other adult actors are great, though Kerry Condon (Rome, Better Call Saul) feels under-utilised.
The episode count allows our characters to visit several planets (all new) and learn more about the galaxy and its recent past, meaning that total Star Wars novices should be at home here. The impressive action set-pieces come thick and fast, and the lighter tone is mostly successful after too many Star Wars projects that feel weighed down by the need to be serious. But, like the best 1980s kids' movies, the show also knows it won't work without some darker moments and real jeopardy, and a late-series shakeup to its format is highly effective at darkening the show without making it unsuitable for its audience.
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (****) is not high art but it achieves its objective of being breezy fun for kids and adults alike. Easily the best Star Wars TV project after Andor and the early part of The Mandalorian, it's almost a relief to find an adventure in the Galaxy Far Far Away that can simply be enjoyed and not merely tolerated. The show is airing now on Disney+ worldwide.
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