Star Wars: The Acolyte promises something new, but it left me feeling empty.
I’ve been out of Star Wars for quite some time now, more or less since Palpatine notoriously and mysteriously reappeared. I’ve kept an eye on the conversation around each successive project, and from what I’ve seen, it’s basically been Disney showcasing photographs of characters people are familiar with and everyone applauding.
The Acolyte was planned to be a new series that was unrelated to the Skywalker saga and set during the Jedi Golden Age. Unfortunately, based on the first two episodes, the golden period of the Jedi is quite uninteresting.
On a fundamental level, The Acolyte tells the story of two twins who were separated at an early age when their homeland was destroyed by fire. Osha joined the Jedi Order before leaving to work as an unauthorized freelance mechanic, or meknek. The other, Mae, seemed to have become involved with a malevolent creature who taught her how to utilize the force.
Neither knew the other was alive, but they find out rather fast when Mae decides to go on a Jedi killing rampage and Osha is caught in her stead. Osha eventually reconnects with her former master, Sol (played by the brilliant Lee Jung-jae), and the two begin to investigate Mae’s homicidal rampage.
It’s an intriguing concept, and the characters and universe are well-developed, but it doesn’t quite gel. It’s also difficult to explain why—all of the elements are present, and I can’t think of anything specifically wrong, yet it simply does not function.
I think I don’t see why I should care about any of this. Mae’s mystery dark side leader is currently unknown, although it makes little difference. He’s a huge, nasty, and evil guy, and the person behind the mask isn’t really interesting.
Sol and Osha’s connection, as master and learner, is intriguing, but I haven’t spent enough time with either of these characters to get immersed in their relationship. Perhaps if we’d spent one episode with Osha before she was dragged into this madness, everything she’s going through would have had a greater effect. But we didn’t, and it still doesn’t, which makes everything feel a little bland.
The conversation is stiff, unimaginative, and predictable. It’s played with amazing enthusiasm by the whole company, but I have special appreciation for Lee Jung-jae, who absolutely nails it as Sol, and Manny Jacinto, who brings to life the minor character Qimir, a former smuggler who assists Mae on her mission.
It’s also a visual feast, with stunning landscapes, incredible lighting, and costume design that surpasses anything I’ve seen from the series before. Fight sequences are also shot with clarity and purpose, which is a benefit in a series featuring force-powered heroes flipping and bouncing around the screen.
But after an hour and a half of playing Star Wars: The Acolyte, I have almost no feelings about it. Time passed, I was present, and suddenly it ended. It’s uncommon for me to see something and be moved so little, but The Acolyte did just that. I’ll probably watch a few more episodes, but if they’re anything like the first two, I doubt I’ll stay with it for long.
