CABLE | 'Skeleton Crew' Escapes A 'Star Wars' Adventure for Kids

"You have a lot to learn about pirates."

Lucasfilm

Skeleton Crew, the latest cutthroat Star Wars spin-off series, clearly channels Amblin's iconic 1980-90s era of children's adventure films in the mold of The Goonies meets Treasure Island—displaced to "a galaxy far, far away." There's plenty of well-needed coming-of-age discovery and wonder but some inconsistent elements and a slightly adrift tone never totally feel cohesive inside its greater shared universe.

Apart from any disparate parts, Jude Law starring as an untrustworthy, force-sensitive scoundrel leading a pack of lost kids searching for their secret home planet while also seeking out hidden treasure makes for an admittedly irresistible premise. If nothing else, the series just affirms how much better this well-worn genre of nostalgic "kids on bikes" suburban adventures often works far better as singularly told movies of a certain era.

Show creators Christopher Ford and Jon Watts have made a fun and self-contained post-Return of the Jedi sidequest series focused on space pirates in a previously unseen corner of the Star Wars canon. It's a light and amusing piece of glossy entertainment squarely aimed at kids and families but misses some of the more cinematic intergalactic flourishes we are used to from the franchise.

Skeleton Crew's eight-episode season is available to stream weekly on Disney+.


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