“The Acolyte” Review: Interestingly Isolated Take On Star Wars Franchise, But Something’s Amiss

Before the fall of the Jedi and the rise of the Empire, there was the High Republic, an era when Jedi experienced unprecedented peace and enlightenment. For the longest time, many fans of the franchise might not have heard of this specific part of the Star Wars timeline unless they were extremely invested in the related comics or novels. Outside of that, the High Republic era has not received the love it deserves – until today.

Disney is rather infamous for beating a dead horse over and over again across all their franchises, and frankly, Star Wars isn’t different, and the company is known for taking relatively small risks when it comes to debuting new series, as they prefer to stick to what they know the crowd will watch. However, Disney is finally taking a bold risk with “The Acolyte,” a new series that is not based on any existing EU or comic material, and we were given the privilege to watch the first two episodes of this upcoming series.

With that in mind, we need to ask the important question: will this new series usher in a renaissance of Star Wars content, or will it also meet a dark and depressing fall, much like the Jedi Order in a galaxy far, far away?

“The Acolyte” is set at the tail end of the High Republic Era, an estimated 100 years before the events of “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace” (1999). The story follows Osha and Mae (played by Amandla Stenberg), twin sisters who choose opposite sides of The Force: Osha aligns with the light, while Mae is drawn to the darkness. Despite it still being close to the original film saga, “The Acolyte” feels like an isolated Star Wars story, which is great in its own right as it allows us to step away from the currently overused but still beloved characters such as Darth Vader, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, and others.

The story kicks off with the death of a Jedi master by a mysterious assailant who is proficient with the Force. Sol (played by Lee Jung-jae) is informed of the murder and requests to be a part of the investigation, as not only was the victim his old friend, but the murderer is said to be his former Padawan, Osha. In this investigation, he is accompanied by his current Padawan, Jecki Lon (played by Dafne Keen), and Yord Fandar (played by Charlie Barnett).

To get the ball rolling, Stenberg is phenomenal at portraying both the carefree Osha and the vengeful Mae, who are polar opposites of each other until they finally cross paths on screen. It goes without saying that playing identical twins in any form of media is no small feat, but her performance delivers a much-needed polarity between two characters and the order they represent.

We know that dark side users are evil, but that is such an unfair and two-dimensional description of an otherwise interesting faction. We do know they are bad, but Stenberg’s depiction of Mae is finally sparking conversations as to why people fall and cling to the dark side to begin with. Star Wars has done this previously, but it is usually through the eyes of a villain that we should despise in the first place. However, the last time we saw someone we wanted to root for and help reach the light was with Anakin.

Osha, on the other hand, is an amazing character, but she isn’t a fully realised one. This is due in large part to the fact that she is still exploring her role and her character as the series goes on, which is to be expected, honestly speaking. In her current state, Osha is a blank canvas for any real character development, but she is made likeable enough to root for and mysterious enough to keep us curious to see what happens next.

One fully realised character that is about to receive additional development on top of his amazing performance would be Lee. The veteran actor plays Sol, Osha’s mentor and arguably the coolest Jedi Master since Liam Neeson’s Qui-Gon Jinn. Though the Jedi are trained to release all attachment, Sol prefers to reminisce and remember his former Padawan fondly, which is largely frowned upon, but through his wisdom, he is able to navigate through this taboo with ease, which opens up the flaws of the Jedi, which we all know lead to their eventual fall.

We already know Lee from his breakout performance in Squid Games, and with roughly two decades of acting experience, this professional thespian knows his stuff. In an interview, the South Korean said he has always longed to be a part of Star Wars, and when the opportunity came knocking, he took the time to learn a new language for the role. Lee brings a quiet intensity to the series, which makes him the perfect fit for the caring but equally secretive Master Sol.

Star Wars is known for the lightsaber, and though each choreographed sword fight is a visual delight, we cannot understate how much of a breath of fresh air a sabre-less fight truly is. The acolyte, in the Star Wars universe, is said to fight without a weapon in order to stand a chance against the Jedi, while the Jedi will not draw their blade unless their adversary has one or it is with the intent to kill. This creates an amazing back-and-forth choreography where the dark-side user instead reaches for the Jedi’s lightsaber while the Jedi is deflecting and dodging all their attacks and advances. With that in mind, it would be safe to speculate that we won’t see a full-blown light sabre fight until the end of the series or some major conflict arises.

Despite all my praise for both lead actors, the story, and the choreography, “The Acolyte” is not free from flaws. You might have noticed that I made no mention of the series’ set design, costuming, props, or other details, and that’s for a good reason. Star Wars is amazing when it comes to all the aforementioned points; it is what reeled many fans into the franchise to begin with. We imagine speeding through the vast deserts of Tatooine or the thick jungles of Kashyyyk, but I didn’t necessarily feel the same way when watching “The Acolyte,” as each new area feels sort of lifeless in its own way.

Disney has spared no expense in making the set and design perfect and realistic; the CGI is to die for, but you can make the argument that the company made no effort in making it immersive. There’s nothing really interesting about the set — it’s just there. This is likely a symptom of the show’s short run time, which averages out around 30 to 45 minutes per episode – they are literally not afforded the luxury of time to explore these would-be interesting worlds. You can tell that thought and care went into them if you really stare at the props and set, though; holograms and lightspeed travel are still present in the series, but we do see that they are far bulkier and unwieldy than what we see 100 years later during the Skywalker Saga.

Another side effect of these short runtimes is the fact that moving from scene to scene is extremely jarring, or they undermine their supposedly critical roles. One scene that left me feeling in a loop was repeated back-and-forth cuts between Osha and Sol, something that got old quickly. Another example would be a shot of just Mae walking into a room — a simple scene that needs one long take to get done. Instead, the shot suddenly cuts to her just at the doorway of said room, then she walks into said room again.

There are several high-stakes scenes in the first two episodes alone, the most notable being the prison ship, where Osha is accused of a crime she did not commit. As she is being shipped off, her transport catches fire and goes down. Instead of finding a safe way out, she simply straps herself in and hopes for some plot armour, instead of actually showcasing her problem-solving skills. And as expected, she survives the crash, with nary a wound on her body.

There is also a lot of comedic banter intended to give these characters depth, but it just makes our eyes roll. In the first two episodes alone, Osha makes a joke that her friend is disposable, but she’s not — something you never want to hear from a main character you’re supposed to like. Or when she is in the aforementioned prison ship crash, she literally manages to squeeze in a “can you give me a hand?” pun, which tosses most of the tension out the window.

Overall, “The Acolyte”  is a breath of fresh air for the franchise as it allows us to peek into an interesting era of the Star Wars universe, and we are welcomed into this mysterious period with a solid cast, a gripping story, and amazing action sequences. Unfortunately, the series is bogged down by insufficient direction and messy cinematography that is head-scratching at best and outright frustrating at worst. But if you’re interested in chowing down on new Star Wars content, try your best to ignore these negatives, and you might be rewarded with a promising story.

Catch “The Acolyte” on Disney+ Hotstar today!