Nobody hates Star Wars as
much as Star Wars fans. This is the unofficial motto of the fandom, an
attempt to explain why complaints accompany any new release in the franchise
like fleas accompany an unwashed Wookie. A lot of this is can be chalked up to
passionate fans being protective of their favorite intellectual property, but
there is no denying that the fandom also attracts a lot trolls that hate for
the sake of it and muddy the waters when it comes to legitimate criticism. The
Acolyte is the latest victim of this: currently the latest Star Wars show
has a 3.5 out of 10 on IMDb in part thanks to relentless review bombing by
those who have written off the show without having watched it for various dumb
reasons—it’s too “woke” (whatever that means), the costumes aren’t gritty
enough, the hairstyles are too modern, etc.
These
bad-faith reviews make it harder for fans to criticize things for fear of being
labeled as intolerant or reactionary like that (thankfully) small but
(unfortunately) vocal percentage that actually is. And that finally brings me
to my personal views of The Acolyte: It is fine, but it could be better.
Set
around a century before anything else we have seen in the Star Wars
universe (on the screen, anyway), The Acolyte has so far mostly been a
straightforward murder mystery with some silly soap opera-ish family stuff
thrown in (this is Star Wars… silly soap opera-ish family stuff is kind
of baked into the DNA), but the majority of it is done well if not great. The
acting is adequate but isn’t award-worthy (the acting in Star Wars very
rarely is) and the writing is fine despite the occasional questionable dialogue.
When people get in fights the action is pretty cool, mixing martial arts with
force powers in a way that really hasn’t been seen before in the franchise. It
didn’t blow my mind and I wish they would have committed and gone full-Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon with the physics-defying craziness, but maybe I’ve
just been spoiled by exceptional action beats recently.
The
show benefits greatly from its simple premise that doesn’t require homework to
understand it, and the story itself feels less like a Star Wars event
and more like a story that just happens to take place in the Star Wars universe.
There are some plot holes that I take umbrage with, and it remains to be seen
if the show will be faithful to the canon established before it, but the basic
bones of The Acolyte look promising so far, especially the bits about
family and sisterhood.
Is
it a perfect show? Definitely not, but it is no 1/10 either. It feels fresh,
it’s entertaining, and unless things take a drastic turn next week I for one
will be tuning in to see things through to the end. If you like Star Wars
give it a shot; it’s more than a lot of fans are doing these days.
As
of this writing, the first three episodes of The Acolyte are now
streaming on Disney+, with new episodes dropping each Tuesday.
This
review was first published in the Keizertimes on June 21st, 2024.
Visit at www.keizertimes.com/
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