Skeleton Crew - A Review

It's been out on Disney+ for a little while, now, so it's time for me to finally weigh in (now that I've seen the first two episodes).

Clearly, Skeleton Crew is aimed at a youth audience. Kids are the main protagonists, hailing from a planet which seems almost too much like American suburbia for its own good. The street lamps look rather like American street lamps. The buildings look rather like those of any modern urban city. There are trams and cars - all of which run on slotted tracks - as well as speeder bikes, which seem to be exclusively ridden by the rebellious sort who refuse to conform to things like tracks on roads. The only thing that makes it look a little less Americana and a little more alien-world is the school classmates - half of which seem to be some weird sort of alien. For example, Wim, the main child-protagonist, has a best friend named Neel who is an oddly Dumbo-headed-like creature. The authority figures, from police, to firefighters, to teachers, are all droids (a not-so-subtle commentary about what the writers probably think about civil servants).

The entire first episode is spent setting up the mundane, suburban lifestyle the kids go through in a very Spielberg-like fashion. Wim is a latchkey kid, being raised by his workaholic single dad, who is seldom home. He has an all-important career-placement test in the morning, which will determine his entire future. But, absent a father at home, he oversleeps and misses his tram. Desperate, he takes his speeder bike and speeds through the woods, hoping to bypass the usual traffic and get to his test on time. Unfortunately, he falls into a crevasse and finds himself trapped. There, he finds a strange metal door, which he thinks may be the door to a lost Jedi Temple. But he has no time to investigate, as a truancy droid comes along to collect him.

At the school, waiting for the disciplinary hammer to fall, Wim finds himself seated alongside Fern - another disciplinary case. She is a rebel of a girl who excels at everything, and apparently lashes out at the world out of sheer boredom. Wim tells her about the Jedi Temple door, but she appears not to believe him. Wim's outraged father then arrives and tells Wim that he pleaded his case, and he can re-take the test the following morning, but with a 50-point penalty, meaning he has to have a perfect score just to pass.

That night, Wim studies hard, but can't resist abandoning his studies after dark to escape and explore the "Jedi Temple." Naturally, he drags his best friend Neel with him.

They arrive at the site, only to have Fern and her best friend, KT, emerge from hiding. Apparently, they'd waited for Wim and Neel at Wim's house, and followed them. Fern and KT lay claim to the find, which causes some dispute. They all come to an uneasy agreement (which none of them intends to abide by), and KT, the tech wizard of the group, manages to get the door open. As they explore the inside, it becomes abundantly clear that this is no temple. The door shuts behind them, trapping them inside. So they are forced to explore further, looking for a power source which will allow them to re-open the door and escape. KT restarts the main power, which does get the door open, but Wim pushes one button too many, activating all systems. It soon becomes clear that they are in a long-abandoned crashed spaceship. The vessel emerges from it's ancient burial, takes off under auto-pilot, and eventually goes into hyperspace. As it does so, the kids express concern about colliding with some sort of unspecified "barrier." The ship nevertheless encounters no resistance.

Wim's father, who witnesses the vessel take off, panics. He tries to alert the droid-authorities, who don't believe him.

All that is Episode 1.

In Episode 2, a droid crewmember named SM-33 comes to "life," and tries to throw the children out the airlock. Fern lies, telling the droid that she killed his captain, thus making her the new captain. SM-33 buys this, and becomes fiercely loyal to Fern as a result. 

The kids tell SM-33 to take them home. But the one-eyed droid doesn't know where "home" is. They ask him to simple go back the way they came, but he wasn't online when they first took off, so he has no frame of reference. They tell him the name of the planet is At Attin, but the droid doesn't know where that is, either. He recommends that they stop to repair key systems first. The kids reluctantly agree, reasoning that they can ask around about At Attin's location when they get there.

SM-33 takes the ship to a secluded port, full of docked ships. He instructs the kids to go arrange for repairs, but tells his new "captain" to keep her blaster at her side, and "trust no one." It soon becomes apparent that the kids have arrived at a rough port, somewhat akin to an intergalactic Bankok. Wim pays their small-statured maintenance alien a small bar of Old-Republic credit, and the little creature goes berzerk with delight as it runs away. Wim wisely decides to hide his remaining credits - mere "lunch money" back home - by stuffing them into his sock. But later, when Wim and Neel try to order food, Wim produces another bar as payment. The shocked restauranteur remarks at it, which creates a stir among the other patrons. It doesn't take long before they all become intrigued with how these kids could possess such wealth and forcibly ask them where they got it. Wim says they are from "At Attin," which causes a laugh. Apparently, At Attin is merely legend to them; the long-lost "Treasure Planet." The boys realize they're all in big trouble. Wim throws his "food" which turns out to be highly flammable, into the griddle, causing a huge fireball. They take advantage of the brief distraction to run, but don't get far.

All four kids then find themselves surrounded near the docking bay where they initially came in. One of the brigands seizes Fern's blaster, and all seems lost. Until, that is, SM-33 arrives, and fights them all off. It is then they realize that, not only are they in a pirate cove, they have taken a pirate ship, making them ALL "pirates." They overcome their shock at this, and nearly escape, but SM-33 is hit with a droid-popper. The kids are taken into custody, and thrown into the "brig."

While in the brig, they are confronted by a strange man (Jude Law). He tells them that he can help them escape, but he asks in exchange to go with them. He is apparently a force-wielder, and uses his powers to levitate the cell door key over to Wim, who suddenly believes this strange man is really a Jedi.

Thus ends Episode 2.

This is a classic "accidental journey to a strange land" sort of adventure, which has been a staple of cinema ever since The Wizard of Oz. At times, it threatens to become an awful cross between Goonies and Space Camp, but skillfully avoids becoming so. The Splielberg-esque suburban opening is both familiar and alien at the same time, and the kids go from one accidental outcome to the next without the plot feeling too forced or deus ex machina (like The Phantom Menace certainly did).

So far, this is a kids' show which doesn't feel like a kids' show, and that makes all the difference, as Star Wars: Rebels and The Clone Wars clearly demonstrated. It has a radically different flavor from The Acolyte, Ahsoka, and The Mandalorian, but that's more than forgivable. This is a stand-alone Star Wars adventure meant to rope in a whole new generation of fans, and it's well on its way to doing so.

Four and 1/2 out of five stars. Go watch it!

Eric

**