‘Skeleton Crew,’ created by Jon Watts and Chris Ford, has achieved a 96% “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the highest-rated ‘Star Wars’ projects to date.
This score surpasses that of ‘The Mandalorian,’ which earned 93% for its first two seasons and 85% for its third. ‘Skeleton Crew’ has also performed better critically than nearly all other live-action ‘Star Wars’ series.
So far, ‘Skeleton Crew’ has a higher score than ‘Ahsoka’ (86%), ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ (82%), ‘The Acolyte’ (78%), and ‘The Book of Boba Fett’ (the lowest at 66% “fresh”). Only ‘Andor’ has matched its 96% score.
Critics have praised ‘Skeleton Crew’ for its sense of wonder and simplicity. The consensus reads: “Evoking childlike wonder, ‘Skeleton Crew’ is a swashbuckling ‘Star Wars’ adventure that refreshingly keeps things simple.” ComicBook critic Charlie Ridgely gave the show 4 out of 5 stars, calling it “the young, fresh energy the galaxy desperately needed.”
“It’s fun to watch their characters figure one another out on the fly, trying to deal with very kid-level issues while also making sense of this completely new world they’ve been thrust into,” the review reads. “That youthful energy from the characters helps give the audience the energy and sense of wonder that we’ve been missing the last several years. By letting these fascinating, complicated, and very curious kids be our gateway into the story, ‘Skeleton Crew’ tosses aside the cynicism of adulthood and fan culture, replicating that feeling of watching something like ‘Star Wars’ for the very first time. Now, ‘Skeleton Crew’ isn’t the same kind of revolutionary experience as George Lucas’s 1977 sci-fi classic, but it invokes some of the same feelings, which is still a huge win for the franchise.”
Described as a ‘Star Wars’ adventure inspired by classic Amblin films like ‘The Goonies’ and ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,’ the series follows the journey of four children—Wim, Fern, KB, and Neel—who get lost in a strange and dangerous galaxy after making a mysterious discovery on their home planet, At Attin. Pursued by treasure-seeking pirates, the group must find their way home with the help of the droid SM-33 and the enigmatic trickster and Force user Jod Na Nawood.
