'Star Wars: Skeleton Crew' E5-8 Review: Oh My! I Got It Wrong.
Jude Law takes command of the second half of the Disney Plus series, which gets increasingly dark.
Now Streaming: After watching the first two episodes of Skeleton Crew, created by Christopher Ford and Jon Watts, I wrote in my review: "Its vibe is that of a suburban tween comedy, as the four young leads are introduced and then brought together on an adventure that launches into space." I was wrong.
I also wrote: "So far, the series is very appealing to adults (to me, anyway), largely because it doesn’t take the Star Wars legacy too seriously." I was wrong (again).
On the basis of what I'd watched, the next two episodes appeared to be following a narrative track that I expected, and so I placed it on the back burner over the holidays. It was only because of reading Alan Sepinwall's column last week that I decided to catch up with the final four episodes, and boy howdy! I'm glad I did.
The esteemed Mr. Sepinwall described the show as "not particularly ambitious or complex, but well-crafted, satisfying all-ages entertainment." My opinion was even higher than that, in large part because episodes 5 through 8 made it crystal clear why Jude Law signed on for what was, essentially, a supporting role: Mr. Law can convincingly teeter between good and evil, between charming and sinister.
To give away any plot points would venture too far into spoiler territory, so I'll just mention that it's entirely worth watching the final four episodes, even if you haven't seen the first four episodes. Bryce Dallas Howard, Lee Isaac Chung, and Jon Watts directed the final three shows, which each built upon the reveals in the previous episodes.
The show never turned entirely to the Dark Side, but it definitely took advantage of all the gorgeous visual effects produced by Lucasfilm, which, combined with Jude Law's edgy performance, turned a number of scenes into non-diabolical menace, which is my favorite kind of menace. All in all, I agree with Mr. Sepinwall that the show falls short of the first seasons of Andor and The Mandolarian. and never rises to the level of "drop everything and watch it this instant," but it is better than I expected. [Disney Plus]