Review: Star Wars Skeleton Crew is a blast for fans of 1980s YA movies

The new Star Wars series Skeleton Crew has more of the vibe of 1980s movies and that's a great start for the show!

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Wim, Neel, Jod Na Nawood, Fern, and KB. Image Source: StarWars.com
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Wim, Neel, Jod Na Nawood, Fern, and KB. Image Source: StarWars.com

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew is off to a great start for a love letter for fans of 1980s YA movies!

Caution: This article contains mild SPOILERS for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew Episodes 1&2

The opening of this new series is pure Star Wars, with an opening crawl explaining this is the period of The Mandalorian and other shows as the New Republic is rebuilding the galaxy. However, with the Empire still out there and worlds in chaos, piracy reigns. We see a terrific pirate raid on a ship, an epic battle only for the pirates to turn on their masked captain when they discover their “treasure” is a measly single credit.

From that action-packed opening, we cut to At Attin, a quiet world with a neighborhood straight out of a 1980s suburb. In swift order, we meet the main characters: Wim (Ravi Cabot-Conyers), a kid with big dreams beyond following in the footsteps of his accountant dad; his best friend, the alien Neel (Robert Timothy Smith); Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), daughter of planet’s main teacher (Kerry Condon) and KB (Kyriana Kratter), a nerdy type who wears a high-tech headset.

In classic Star Wars fashion, it’s a twist of fate that kicks the plot off as Wim oversleeps to miss the school tram and, taking a shortcut, he stumbles onto what he thinks is a Jedi temple. He drags Neel there with Fern and KB showing up on their own. They explore only to hit the wrong buttons as the “temple” is really a spaceship and blasts them off just as Wim’s dad shows up to see them go. 

Episode 2 amps things up more as the team wakes up SM-33 (voiced by Nick Frost) with Fern pulling a scam to make him accept her as the captain, much to Wim’s annoyance. They want to go back, but the first big problem is they’re so far gone, and none of them have been in space before, so they have no clue where they are. 

SM-33 takes them to a pirate planet (since, to him, they’re now pirates), where we get another unique turn. Whenever the kids try to tell people they’re from At Attin, they’re not believed as “you’re from the lost planet of eternal treasure?” There’s also how their attempt to pay with their home world’s currency has them chased by folks for owning priceless materials. 

The episode ends with the quartet thrown into a cell where a man named Jord (Jude Law) seems to use the Force to levitate keys to his hand and tells them, “Can you keep a secret?”

The show’s first two episodes sparkle nicely with serious vibes less from Star Wars than classic 1980s movies like The Goonies. The best part is the kids feel like kids. They’re not the classic bit of acting older than their years, all four are believable in their roles. Wim wants a bigger life of exploring and gets his wish in the wrong way. He is still eager and bright-eyed, believing in the Jedi, and yet also thrown by how crazy things get. 

Fern seems a bit bossy while a rebel in her own right, especially with her mother. That she easily takes charge is fun and shows how she and Wim have a great chemistry. As of now, Neel’s big bit is being a tad cowardly and wanting to go home, but he and Wim have a good bond. So far, KB is just the techie with the weird headgear but might get more as we go along.

The vibe of the show is a great one with some bike chases, yet the mystery of the kids’ home world and why the greater galaxy doesn’t know about it is an intriguing layer. The production values are top-notch and the well-done build of the first episode on this quiet world before the darker pirate planet to show the kids aren't in Kansas anymore. Law’s appearance at the end indicates he’ll play a greater role (that he’s obviously the masked captain from the opening scene is likely a plot point) and it’s also fun exploring space pirates, a concept perfect for a Star Wars show. 

This does seem more themed for kids than adults, and it’s the small touches that get you, such as how Wim plays with action figures and the kids banter and argue while thinking they’re smarter than they are. Even if you’re not a Star Wars fan, the good characters and promising storyline make Skeleton Crew worth the watch for what might be a surprisingly good Star Wars show.

Star Wars: Skeleton Crew streaming Tuesdays on Disney+.