‘The Acolyte: Episodes 1 & 2’ Review
Stars: Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Manny Jacinto, Dafne Keen, Charlie Barnett, Jodie Turner-Smith, Carrie-Anne Moss | Created by Leslye Headland
- Total number of episodes: 8
- Episodes watched for review: 2
Created by Leslye Headland (the TV talent behind Russian Doll), The Acolyte is an eight part Star Wars TV series that marks a significant break from the spin-off material we’ve seen so far. For one thing, it’s set 100 years before the events of The Phantom Menace, meaning that slavish fan service can (hopefully) be kept to a minimum. And for another, the fact that the series is essentially positioned as a murder mystery shows a welcome attempt to play around with genre in the Star Wars universe, something that has arguably been a long time coming.
The show opens in style, with Carrie-Anne Moss’ Jedi Master Indara (envisioned by Headland as “Trinity with a lightsabre”, and living up to that description) facing off against a would-be assassin who turns out to be equally proficient in the ways of the Force. The outcome of that battle sets in motion the central mystery – someone is committing a series of murders, and when young starship mechanic and former Padawan Osha (Amandla Stenberg) is arrested for the killings, she sets out to prove her innocence.
Osha quickly gains an ally in the form of Jedi Master Sol (Squid Game star Lee Jung-jae), who believes her story, and together they investigate, aided by Sol’s current Padawan Jecki Lon (Logan’s Dafne Keen) and Yord Fandar (Charlie Barnett), a by-the-book Jedi knight who is less convinced of Osha’s innocence. Meanwhile, without giving too much away, the story also follows the actual killer and other mysteries emerge, such as the identity of a masked figure at the end of the first episode and whether the killings are as straightforward as they seem.
Frankly, the producers should have gone all out and called the show “The Acolyte: A Star Wars Mystery Thriller”, because that idea alone is the most exciting thing to have happened to the Star Wars universe in ages. Admittedly, the identity of the real killer is revealed early on – making it more of a whydunnit than a whodunnit – but there are plenty of questions raised in the process and various behind-the-scenes villains whose identities are yet to be revealed.
Setting the story 100 years before any of the Star Wars stories we’ve seen so far is a stroke of genius, because it allows for total creative freedom in terms of not having to worry about impacting “Star Wars canon” (which presumably meant less interference from the Star Wars higher-ups overall). It also means we’re unlikely to get any cheesy cameos from familiar characters, though a) there’s a Wookiee who will probably turn out to be Chewie’s great-grandad or something and b) Yoda is most likely alive and kicking somewhere too.
On that note, perhaps the most amusing thing about the series is that despite being set an entire century in Star Wars’ past, droid technology (and those hologram communicator things) doesn’t seem to have changed at all in a hundred years. So technological advances just…stopped?
As far as the action sequences are concerned, Headland has clearly put a lot of thought into various Jedi battle techniques, and the fight scenes feel original in that respect. They’re also nicely choreographed and exciting to watch, even when they don’t involve Carrie-Anne Moss.
The diverse cast are extremely promising. Stenberg has proven herself as a likeable lead in a number of movies and she is on top form here, nailing the particular task she’s been handed (to say any more would be too spoilery at this stage). Similarly, she sparks intriguing chemistry with Jung-jae and there’s colourful support from Dafne Keen as Jecki, while Barnett is good uptight value as Fandar, who also has his shirt off for long periods of time, in what is surely the Star Wars universe’s most blatant beefcake pandering to date.
Elsewhere, the series takes the opportunity to introduce a handful of new creatures and races, as well as including some that are more familiar, though sadly we don’t get to know the new Wookiee in the opening two episodes, as they’ve saved him for the second cliff-hanger.
In fairness, the first two episodes move a little too slowly considering there are only eight instalments in total, but there’s enough forward momentum to sustain interest and the mystery element should keep viewers hooked overall. Here’s hoping the story has a few more surprises up its sleeve, because the opening salvo is very promising indeed.
***½ 3.5/5
The Acolyte is available to stream on Disney+ from tomorrow, June 5th.
