Star Wars has been a bit disjointed in the last few years ever since the end of the Skywalker Saga.  Shows like The Mandalorian Ahsoka and Andor have given fans hope things will be great moving forward, but then Boba Fett, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and The Acolyte have not given fans much hope because they weren’t that good to fans and critics’ expectations.  The latest Star Wars show hoping to garner fans and critics’ support is Skeleton Crew. It stars a big-name actor and has a different approach to Star Wars than anything before it.

Jod Na Nawood (Jude Law) is the captain of a pirate ship who is about to do a big score by robbing a bulk cruiser. The problem is when he and his crew of pirates open the vault there is nothing in it. His crew turns on him and puts him in the brig. Unbeknownst to him a group of kids across the galaxy find a ship in the woods on their planet. They activate the ship and blast off using the hyperspace drive. They end up outside the pirate spaceport and get captured and in prison with Law’s character. Along with SM-33, an android on the ship they activate, they agree with him to help each other get what they want. The kids go back home and he gets a ship and goes on his way.

The cast is full of unknown actors who play the kids. Wim (Ravi-Cabot Conyers), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), Neel (Robert Timothy Smith) KB (Kyriana Kratter) along with one actor playing the voice of SM33 (Nick Frost).  and Kerry Condon who plays the mother of one of the kids. I like a good kid actor more often than not. They can pull you in as a viewer of a film or television series like this one. These kids grew on me as the show progressed. There is a Stranger Things vibe to these kids, the story, Law’s character, and the series in general. I liked that about the show.

Kids on bikes is a good subgenre of action/adventure or sci-fi. It’s kids getting into larger-than-life situations. More often than not they get in way over their heads and need an adult to bail them out. That’s where the Law character comes in. The kids think they don’t need the adult characters’ help, but they do. Skeleton Crew is the Star Wars version of kids on bikes. It’s just set in the Star Wars Universe around the New Republic era. A happier time in a galaxy far far away if you will. Like any film or series dealing with Star Wars, you know you’re in that galaxy by many of the things you see and hear as a viewer. I was instantly sucked into this show once it started. Even though it had a kids-on-bikes feel as well. I’m excited to see where this show goes from here. I’ve seen three episodes so far.

The showrunners Jon Watts of the MCU Spiderman fame and Christopher Ford infuse this series with a lot of things I like about Star Wars. The first is seediness. I have always been a fan of the seedy side of Star Wars. Such as a pirate spaceport with cutthroat and wild & crazy alien characters out to kill or make the main characters who are mostly kids. The spaceport reminded me of The Mos Eisley Cantina in A New Hope and Jababba’s Palace in Return of the Jedi. These are some of my favorite locations in the Star Wars Galaxy.  Also, they use a rusty old bucket of bolts as a ship with a Krusty android as a part of the crew. This is another fun part of Star Wars I loved. The Millennium Falcon is an iconic ship every Star Wars fan is familiar with. It was not without its problems though. These are things that instantly endeared me to this show right off the bat.

This is the third time I’ve seen Jude Law in something this year. First, he was the foul king in Firebrand then he played the tired yet relentless FBI Agent in The Order. The latter was much better than the former. Playing a mentor to a bunch of kids is a bit different for him in his career, but the cranky yet aloof side of his character plays off of the curious nature of the kids perfectly. He’s a father figure, but not the kind of father you want if you’re these kids. He makes them want to be back home with their overbearing parents and back in school. Law embraces the mysterious side of his character but also leans into the mentor side as well. The character was well written in this regard. I’m curious to see where Law takes this character in future episodes of the series. I’m sure it’ll be a good place and I’ll be happy with it. I like him so far, from what I’ve seen.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is a mix of things I love about Star Wars and pop culture. It’s kids on bikes meets the seedy underbelly of the Star Wars galaxy. It also has a krusty android character SM-33 along with a mysterious stranger played by Law. The locations are terrific and the story thus far after three episodes had me intrigued about where this show is going. I like a Star Wars series where we haven’t gotten anything familiar like the Empire or familiar characters we’ve seen so many times before. I’m glad this show is set in the New Republic era of Star Wars because that is relatively unexplored so far in film or television/streaming. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen thus far after three episodes. Here’s hoping Watts and Ford and company bring the series home literally and figuratively speaking.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen