Review by C.J. Bunce
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew has arrived on Disney+ with its first two episodes now streaming, and it’s off to a good start. For all but the youngest viewers, this series will be about the ways creator-writers Christopher Ford and Jon Watts tap your personal nostalgia buttons. For all the talk from early industry reviews that the series was influenced by The Goonies, those reviewers missed the mark–this is a closer adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island with bits from Barry’s Peter Pan. From pirates and pirate betrayal to characters based on Long John Silver, Captain Hook, and Smee, to desperate situations (pirate encounters! the brig!) out of those novels, these are good, established components to tap for a space fantasy.
But that’s not all. The design influences in Skeleton Crew are Earth Midcentury Modern. A girl named Fern has a droid right out of The Jetsons. Midcentury Modern chair designs can be found everywhere. Then there are the 1980s influences–the young protagonist’s home looks just like Elliott’s house and suburban neighborhood from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. The forest nearby looks like the forest where E.T. phoned home. The setup mimics the Ethan Hawke adventure The Explorers, too, and the silhouette of four kids in the woods (before they encounter a dead body) is Stand By Me. And yes, there is even that single coin like the one that sets Sean Astin off on his adventure in The Goonies. That and a spaceship crew consisting of skeletons? Who’s ready for Episode 3?
So what’s it about? Skeleton Crew is a look at the Star Wars galaxy from a suburban junior high point of view. The ordinary lives of two boys, one a diligent student, the other not, collide with the lives of two girls, one the cocky and disinterested daughter of an educator, the other her tech savvy friend. Something is buried and hidden in the woods. A spaceship with a dead crew? How’d it get there? And why is it jettisoning them across the galaxy?
Ravi Cabot-Conyers plays Wim, a boy who is failing at school and yearns for adventure. On career day he’s the only one who wants to be a Jedi (opening printed narration indicates the story takes place sometime after the Empire falls, so sometime after Return of the Jedi). Dear Santa’s Robert Timothy Smith plays his pal Neel, who looks like he’s related to keyboardist Max Rebo in Return of the Jedi–but the creators say he’s not the same species. The big coming of age story component is a discussion of their career goals in the classroom and an impending important test. When Wim sleeps in, it sets off a chain of events where he misses the test and ends up outside the principal’s office, next to a cocky girl.
That girl is the crafty Fern, a liar who gets her way more often than not, played by Ryan Kiera Armstrong. When the rest of the kids are in class, she’s found zooming along on speeder bikes with Kyriana Kratter’s character, known only as K.B. K.B. is an update to The Goonies’ young inventor Data–she sometimes wears a Geordi LaForge-inspired visor, and is the character the quickest to use technology to get out of a jam. In the second episode they meet Smee–actually a droid called SM-33–voiced to scalawag pirate-droid perfection by Nick Frost.
The designs, the spaceships–especially in the opening scene–CGI and practical visual effects, and throwbacks to aliens from the Mos Eisley cantina–Star Wars’ original pirate denizens–and fashions that reflect the style of that other space pirate, Han Solo, are enough to keep Star Wars’s fans constantly looking at every corner for the next Easter egg (you will go back and watch it again). More than any series yet, this is the most like the two “Star Wars Story” movies: Solo and Rogue One. Does this show have the most aliens since the original trilogy? It feels like it. We even see a spacesuit that looks like a 20th century Earth spacesuit complete with clear helmet–is that the same type worn by the pilot in the Star Wars cantina scene, also worn by Bossk in The Empire Strikes Back? So many Easter eggs, so little time.
Some more fun for fans of 1990s TV: That’s Urkel actor Jaleel White as Gunter, one of the pirates who appears to sport some borg tech. Note that Marti Matulis reprises his character from The Mandalorian.
More than the look or story, it’s probably the ear that composer Michael Giacchino tugs on for nostalgia the most. He must have spent some time studying David Grusin’s score from The Goonies, because around every corner it truly sounds like the quieter piano notes from that film are pushing the young adventurers along. This isn’t a memorable Star Wars score yet, but hopefully some pronounced adventure themes will develop as we move through more episodes.
But hey Disney, how about setting a good example and showing the kids on motorcycles wearing helmets? And why does every Star Wars show need to be so derivative of past shows? The introduction scene is such a copy of the opening battle in the original Star Wars that someone watching with you will be reciting the old dialogue over the new. It’s harmless as used here, but sure is a curiosity of this franchise.
The kids are likeable, especially sidekicks Neel and K.B. SM-33 gets a great scene in the second episode. And we get an introduction to Jude Law’s character, who appears to be one of those Treasure Island characters we discussed above. Secrets of the ship, secrets of the pirates, secrets of Jude Law’s character–is the biggest secret the one behind the kids’ home planet of At Attin?
This isn’t The Mandalorian or The Book of Boba Fett, but so far it looks and feels more Star Wars-y than the other series. It has promise–enough to get us looking forward to the next episode, something that didn’t happen with recent entries in the franchise. Star Wars: Skeleton Crew delivers new episodes each week on Mondays through January 13, 2025, streaming on Disney+.
