Skeleton Crew: an ode to childhood

Let’s get one thing straight first. This review is based on the first three episodes of the series and contains zero spoilers. Everything I’ll be mentioning is either already common knowledge or has been revealed in trailers.

They’ve written it off as a kids’ show. And I’ve also read YouTube comments under the official trailer suggesting that in a bid to get its own version of the Goonies set in space, Disney ripped off the film, carelessly slapped a Star Wars label on it and is now smugly patting itself on the back. If the comment section’s to be believed, that’s how low the franchise has sunk.

Well, whatever Skeleton Crew may be, «careless» couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, the new Star Wars series has been surprisingly painstakingly produced. Plus, it’s a massive homage to that stage of childhood when we’d all dream of great adventures, bountiful treasures and a world full of wonders.

After just three episodes (unfortunately Disney didn’t provide me with any more to preview), I can confidently predict that Skeleton Crew will be a pleasant surprise for you.

What’s Star Wars: Skeleton Crew about?

If anything can kindle young Wim’s (Ravi Cabot-Conyers) imagination, it’s the fantastical stories of the heroic Jedi; guardians of peace in the galaxy and the noblest warriors in the Galactic Republic. If only Wim’s life were that exciting!

He lives on probably the most boring planet in existence: At Attin. There, children dutifully do their homework while adults spend the whole day working administrative jobs. The biggest adventure you can have on that planet is being late for school. At least until Wim accidentally stumbles across an old, abandoned spaceship.

When he and his friends Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and KB (Kyriana Kratter) explore the craft, they accidentally kick it into gear. One hyperspace leap later, they land slap bang in the middle of outer space. Thankfully, they soon meet new companions to help them find their way back home. Unless, of course, these companions are actually pursuing different goals altogether…

From Goonies to Star Wars: the creative minds behind Skeleton Crew

I knew I’d like Skeleton Crew from the moment I saw the first trailer. Why? The kids-on-bikes genre. And yes, that’s an actual term. It describes films and series involving suburban kids in the 80s, setting off on epic adventures on their bikes, typically featuring supernatural or extraterrestrial encounters. Classics include The Goonies, Stranger Things and E.T..

Why am I so keen on the genre? Because it catapults me straight back to my childhood – an era when all was well with the world. When life was simple, full of adventure and that childlike joy of discovery. Many of today’s most talented directors are still in the grip of this very magic.

Jon Watts and Chris Ford, the creative minds behind Skeleton Crew, are prime examples.

The idea for a «Goonies in outer space» had probably been buzzing around Jon Watts’ head for a while. However, he didn’t really put it down on paper until filming Spider-Man: No Way Home, when he was shooting scenes with Jon Favreau. Favreau doesn’t just star in the Marvel universe as Tony Stark’s bodyguard Happy Hogan – he’s also the brain behind The Mandalorian, the first live-action Star Wars series.

«What do you want me to do, produce Skeleton Crew?» Favreau asked.

«Yeah Jon, that’s exactly it,» Watts replied.

Watts then brought his childhood friend Chris Ford on board, while Favreau called in none other than George Lucas’s former protégé, Star Wars mastermind Dave Filoni. Watts directed the first and last episodes himself, while a number of eminent directors were hired for other episodes. These include Bryce Dallas Howard, who directed one of the best episodes of The Mandalorian, and David Lowery, renowned for The Green Knight. Other big names on board include Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, fresh from their Oscar-winning triumph Everything Everywhere All at Once, as well as Lee Isaac Chung, celebrated for Minari – and by me for Twisters.

With talent of this magnitude, nothing can really go wrong. And Skeleton Crew is impressive proof of this.

Nostalgia in a «used future» aesthetic

Skeleton Crew is set in a galaxy far, far away – and at least five years after Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. But the setting used in the opening scenes, At Attin, couldn’t be more suburban. And rightly so, given this is the kids-on-bikes genre. Speaking of bikes, even they are a hybrid of retro BMX and futuristic speeder. I’ve read a few comments saying that this doesn’t fit in with Star Wars at all, let alone the typical Star Wars aesthetic George Lucas once described as «used future».

Even so, I love this earthbound 1980s vibe. Especially when the adventure shifts from the humdrum suburbs to fantastic, new, alien planets and space stations. When I see Wim and his crew having adventures, I recognise myself and my childhood buddies in them. I picture us racing through fields on our rickety bikes, carving secret messages into tree bark and telling each other stories wilder and more fantastical than any film. Back then, we didn’t need mobile phones to be connected with each other. Instead, we had our dreams and our imagination – just like Wim.

As the evening sun began to sink behind the trees and the first stars lit up in the sky, we knew it was time to go home. Instead of a digital alarm or a WhatsApp message from our parents, it was the gentle click of the streetlights switching on that called us back to civilisation. Skeleton Crew has let me experience these emotions again.

Much more than kids on bikes: a tribute to pirate adventures

Sure, Skeleton Crew is clearly aimed at fans of the kids-on-bikes genre. Disney and Jon Watts have made no secret of the fact that the series – regardless of the viewers’ age – is intended to appeal to this very audience. The series creators made that much apparent in an interesting roundtable discussion recently:

«Every day on set was like the greatest day in the world because the kids were so amazed at every single thing that was going on. It’s the best morale booster,» Jon Watts says during the roundtable. And I believe him. Even I can sense the endearingly naive thrill they get from exploring in every scene. What’s more, Skeleton Crew strongly reminds me of Treasure Planet, one of Disney’s most underrated animated films.

Firstly, both of their stories revolve around treasure. In one, this treasure’s purely metaphorical, in the other, it’s very much real, physically buried on a long-forgotten planet.

Secondly, pirates play a major role in both stories. «Aaarrr, Cap’n!», growls droid SM 33, voiced by Nick Frost, a strong West Country accent complete with generously rolled Rs coming to the fore again and again. Stooped over, joints squeaky, he shuffles towards the galley (as if a droid could actually have a wooden leg). At the same time, an alien rat with glittering eyes peeps out from behind his eye patch.

Thirdly, I love how Skeleton Crew and Treasure Planet dress up classic pirate stories in a modern, futuristic guise. Jon Watts even says in the video above that he was inspired by old pirate films from the 1920s and 30s. It’s apparent in moments such as a star chart drawn on leather parchment being studied like an old nautical chart.

Magnificent stuff.

Sure, it’s unusual for Star Wars. But it’s this very mixture that makes the series so original and fresh.

A feast for the eyes and ears

But the things I’m particularly enamoured with are Skeleton Crew’s sets and costumes. Sometimes, they remind me ever so slightly of Steven Spielberg’s Hook. Particularly in the second episode, when the children land on a space station populated by pirates.

The station’s backdrop is huge and the set’s lively, full of quirky details and unsavoury characters, and oozing with depravity. Worn, dirty, but full of creativity and character, the costumes and props round off the scenery perfectly. It’s as if the pirate world has been reinvented for a futuristic one.

This tendency towards large, handmade backdrops serving as more than just backgrounds was also a feature of Hook. Take the quirky pirate village or the Lost Boys’ colourful hideout, for example. Skeleton Crew’s sets pick up exactly where Hook left off – with a unique mix of futuristic technology and traditional pirate flair. The fact that this added a fair whack to the cost of Skeleton Crew, making it the third most expensive series in the franchise, doesn’t surprise me one bit.

Mick Giacchino’s music, so full of adventure and excitement, matches the visuals. Son of the legendary Michael Giacchino, who wrote the epic score for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, he delivers a soundtrack that perfectly captures Skeleton Crew’s suspense and magic. Sometimes, it’s playful and dreamy. But if the plot demands it, it’s threatening and dramatic. And of course, it draws inspiration from the great Amblin films of the 1980s, creating a bridge between that nostalgic hunger for adventure and the fresh, modern energy of the series.

I can hardly stop raving about it.