‘Skeleton Crew’: A Fun Show That Actually Feels Like Star Wars [Mid-Season Review]

If you ask the majority of Star Wars fans, they’ll say that things have been…interesting since Disney acquired the Star Wars IP. While shows like Rebels and The Bad Batch are widely well-received, the sequel trilogy was largely disappointing. And recently, Disney released The Acolyte, a show that was supposed to be about Sith, but ended up being a disjointed mess that did more harm than good to the wider Star Wars canon.

So, fans were hesitant to even consider watching Skeleton Crew – a new live-action Star Wars show starring Jude Law. After the disappointment that was The Acolyte (did we mention it was canceled after one season, soon after the season ended?), fans were simply exhausted. Would this be yet another live-action show that failed to feel like anything akin to the Star Wars we know and love?

A Breath of Fresh Air

Luckily, yes! What made The Mandalorian’s first season great? A small part of it was that it took a break from lightsabers and Skywalkers to explore a different pocket of the Star Wars ethos. We got to explore Mandalorians and the bounty-hunting culture that is prominent within that world. Just as The Mandalorian did, Skeleton Crew takes a break from Jedi and Sith and instead explores one of my favorite aspects of the Star Wars world – pirates!

We’ll get back to that in just a second. Skeleton Crew is adorably infectious. The cast primarily is made up of children and the beginning of the show starts on the new planet of At Attin. At first, you wonder if you’re watching Star Wars – it’s fairly real-world adjacent. Children are having cereal with their parents, they’re waiting for the bus to take them to school, and they’re pretending to have lightsaber fights, as all us children have done once in our lives. But, that’s what makes this show adorable – what does the normal citizens of the greater galaxy do with themselves? Especially in the time of the New Republic? Well, they live their lives.

A Fun Adventure

Don’t worry, though; this show isn’t just everyday life with the Star Wars brand slapped on it, our adventurous children soon find themselves in the midst of a pirate haven and it becomes very apparent that they’ve become targets. Our little heroes are out of their depths and as we all know, it is very dangerous out there.

Unlike The Acolyte, which really didn’t throw a lot of non-human characters in it, we see an abundance of non-human characters in Skeleton Crew. One of the children is a part of the Ortolans species; little blue elephant people. We especially saw a variety of aliens on the pirate world and it was just refreshing to see this and personally, the costume, VFX, and makeup departments did a great job.

Jude Law stars in the show and think Han Solo, but more of an emphasis on scoundrel instead of a hero. Law’s character Jod (this show does keep within modern Star Wars’ trend of single-syllable names) does claim to be a Jedi, but there’s definitely something suspicious about him. Either way, Law works well with the children, and there’s just something about the characters coming together that feels natural and is certainly an adventure worth exploring.

Definitely a Must-Watch

There are four more episodes to Skeleton Crew, but it’s already become one of the most enjoyable Star Wars shows to watch in a while. At least, on the live-action side of things – if you know me, I’ve loved the animated shows, even in the Disney era.

What’d you think of Skeleton Crew?