TV Series Review: Skeleton Crew (2024) (Disney+) *No Spoilers*

TV Series Review: Skeleton Crew (2024) (Disney+) No Spoilers

If you saw the trailer for Skeleton Crew and decided the show looked too much like Star Wars for little kids, and didn't watch, you missed out on a real treat.

While I will say this show was definitely targeted at bringing in younger fans to the Star Wars universe, it is very much more like family viewing than kids only TV.

Not to mention, characters are literally gunned down or murdered on this show, but without the really graphic violence you might see on a more adult orientated show.

It's actually no more kid only orientated than the first series of Stranger Things (2016), or even the original Star Wars (1977) movie.

In fact the whole show is a not so subtle homage to original Star Wars (1977), Treasure Island (1950), and eighties movies like The Goonies (1985), ET (1982), Explorers (1985) and others.

The plot is very straight forward. A group of children, living in the Star Wars equivalent of the suburbs, find an abandoned spacecraft.

To their surprise the ship still works, blasting them off into space where they must somehow find their way home. Along the way they must contend with all manor of individuals, and determine who they can trust to help them.

Skeleton Crew does several things for Star Wars that it's needed for a long time.

First, and most importantly, it is an ideal jumping on board point for anyone who has never seen Star Wars. It's an entirely new story, with a completely new cast. While there are references to the wider Star Wars cannon, these are more Easter Eggs, than important things you should know. Any references that are key are explained through the dialogue.

Second, Skeleton Crew brings new ideas to Star Wars, like what would a regular city populated by middle class families look like? We've seen backwater towns that look like the wild west, or huge, sprawling metropolis' that don't even look that functional to live in, but we've never seen the sleepy outer suburbs where 'regular' people (and other middle class alien races) live.

The series also introduces a whole new legend to Star Wars lore that I can't really mention without it being a spoiler, but it's a very interesting idea.

It also brings back one idea, that I really like, in that Jedi are rare. It's not the first new Star Wars series or movie to do so, but I really appreciate it when the writers remember that Jedi were all but extinct by the time Episode IV made it's debut in 1977. Jedi are special. It really erodes that quality when you see lots of Jedi together, like you did in the prequels. It makes it seem like anyone can be a Jedi.

If you are concerned about the main cast being children with questionable acting ability don't be. The four leads are well cast and deliver strong, believable performances.

The adult cast is also great but specifically, Jude Law as Jod, a man with a questionable past, and Nick Frost voicing SM 33, a new droid character, also with a questionable past.

I must admit, I wasn't expecting much from this series. I initially started watching to see more of the Star Wars suburbs idea. What I got was a story that was fairly well paced, not too complex, but with enough intrigue, and rising stakes to hook me in. At no time did I feel like this was a 'kids only' show.

What's more, of the characters that make it through to the finale, the series did enough work to get me invested in them. If a season two is in the works, and I really hope it is, I'm on board.

Skeleton Crew is a real opportunity to start fresh in the Star Wars Universe. It's a strong base to build a new saga, featuring characters that have little to no relationship to anyone else in any of the other movies or TV shows.

My only major criticism is with the finale, which feels a little rushed. A lot happens in an impossibly short space of time. It's not bad, by any means, and it probably isn't of any concern to younger audience members who have no concept of how long space travel actually takes (even with light speed). I would've liked to see a longer episode, or perhaps more of a two parter, for the actual action sequences, than what we got.

While the show may start in the sleepy little suburbs of an entirely new planet in Star Wars cannon it packs a punch and is some of the best Star Wars in recent times. As I've mentioned already it's not for kids only, it's very much for families too.

I'm hoping for a second season, or at the very least, to see some of these characters pop up again in other Star Wars shows and movies.

Well worth your time.

Comments

James Gunn's Social Media Monkeys Joke Was a Highlight of His Superman Movie For Me

B efore James Gunn's Superman Movie was released there was a whole rumor going around that the movie would feature monkeys on computers trolling Superman's social media, sparking much outrage. #supersh*t. I didn't know this was even a thing until just prior to writing this article. I did a search to see if anyone had posted a clip of the monkeys scene from the movie and got pages of discourse featuring videos and articles prior to the film. Most of it from Gunn detractors (let's say) seeing it as some kind of childish swipe at them... well not them specifically but, you know, those other people who have every right to hate on anything sight unseen. Anyway, I'm not going to give even one such example a link or air because it's kind of sad watching someone devote so much commentary to a throw away gag that is absolutely a nod to James Gunn's Superman trolls. The whole reason this post exists, is to say I loved the joke, because fourteen years ago, and I...

Movie Review: A Complete Unknown (2024) No Spoilers

Y ou would think the Bob Dylan story would be 'wind-swept and interesting,' to quote Billy Connelly, however, despite A Complete Unknown being quite an engaging film, it feels like it missed the years that really shaped him as a song writer/performer. The film starts in 1961, with a then unknown, 19-year-old Bob Dylan (Timothée Chalamet) arriving in New York City with his guitar. From there he forges relationships with musical icons on his meteoric rise, culminating in a groundbreaking performance that reverberates around the world. The problem being, according to this film, Dylan arrived in New York, for the most part, fully formed as a folk singer/song writer. In virtually no time he makes a very important connection that puts him on the trajectory of doing the work and becoming a name, before making his world changing performance. While there is some drama behind the scenes with his various relationships, none of it is particularly unique to any number of up and com...

I'm Joining the Illuminati Brotherhood By Personal Invitation of Hiltom Rothschild... Wait, What?

How special am I to have finally come of age (53 years young) and am now eligible to participate in building the world alongside other members of the Illuminati Brotherhood... Yes I've received the call by way of an email, which I'm sure is real because I had to translate it from the Dutch language and it was personally written by Hiltom Rothschild, one of the non-existent members of the Rothschild family (or perhaps deep undercover because Google has never heard of them?). A Transcript of the email below: To: etourist From: Illuminati Brotherhood Subject: Illuminati Broederschap (Illuminati Brotherhood) I am Hiltom Rothschild, a member of the Rothschild family, one of the 13 families of the Illuminati brotherhood. I'm here to let you know that you've come of age and are eligible to participate in building the 🌎 world. It is a calling and a privilege to honor him with pride and gratitude as not everyone will ever be chosen by the LIGHT, many are called but few are ch...

Movie Review: Superman (2025) No Spoilers

T he one thing I like about James Gunn as a comic book movie director is that he leans into the comic book nature of the world and the characters. He's not trying to do a realistic take on any of the characters. He's simply bringing the comics to life. It's still his take on the characters, but he doesn't shy away from their comic book origins. James Gunn's Superman is very much a comic book movie in every sense. Nothing is off the table because it's too 'comic-booky' and might look silly in a live action film. To me that's incredibly liberating. It lets James actually tell a proper Superman story that isn't hamstrung by reality, or tip toeing into the fantastical just enough to allow Superman to exist in the real world. Superman begins in the middle of a battle. Metropolis is under attack by a super powered being known as 'Hammer of Boravia', however everything is not as it seems, and Superman (David Corenswet) must work with other s...

Revisiting Hobart, Tasmania (2025) - Part 2 of 2

Tasman Bridge as seen from The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens. C ontinuing on with my partner (Enigma) and I's return to Hobart, Tasmania, it's day three, and a Monday. Enigma was hoping to see snow on top of Mount Wellington this trip however, so far we'd had nothing but fine weather. A little on the cool side maybe, but not enough to put snow on the mountain. Which you can check with Summit Cam's live feed from the mountain top. So we decided to fill our day with Hobart's other bus tour... Red Decker Hop On/Hop Off Bus Tour The Red Decker Bus. The Red Decker bus tour is a 90 minute loop tour of the main sights within Hobart. While you can just stay on the bus the whole loop the idea is to get off the bus at any key location you may like to further explore and then rejoin the tour when the next available bus comes along to your nearest timed stop. Tickets last for 24 or 48 hours, giving you plenty of time to explore without being rushed. The bus website tells ...

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de...

Is AI Art 'Art'? The Say NO to AI Art Movement, and Why Human Artists Will Adapt

AI Art No T-Shirt by TET Also available on other items . Right now there is a big debate over not just whether AI art is 'art' but whether AI's are actually ripping off the work of actual human artists, without their consent, to create their images - particularly images 'in the style of' specific artists. From my own observations this debate started to get more traction when artist's signatures began appearing in the output of AI Art image generators. Is It Art? Cool Froyd the Cat Sketch by TET. My style is very much influenced by classic Disney and WB character styles. To get some clarity on how real human artists work (of which I am one)... we, that is all of us... take influences from the art that has come before. i.e. whatever artists we like, have studied, seen etc. we are influenced by. It shows up in our work, intentionally or not. If you really study my own cartoony art style you'll see I'm heavily influenced by early Disney and Warner Bros cart...

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog