Since Disney acquired the Star Wars brand, the company has tried all kinds of strategies to captivate its audience, from a new trilogy of movies that have performed worse than expected, to original series that have generally been well received. One of the most anticipated projects that promises great opportunities for the franchise is The Acolyte, the series that recently premiered on Disney Plus. But how did the platform do with this one?
The Acolyte was what many Star Wars fans had been waiting on for years: a series based on the Old Republic, set 100 years before the rise of the Empire and full of Jedis and lightsabers. At first, it had all the ingredients to be something unique. However, based on what we’ve seen in the first two episodes, it has offered absolutely nothing we haven’t seen before.
The first two episodes don’t bring anything new
From the beginning of the series, we realize that the execution doesn’t go beyond the fiction of Obi-Wan Kenobi, vilified by everyone. It all starts with an action scene between Mae (Amanda Stenberg, the acolyte who gives the series its title) and Master Indara, masterfully played by Carrie-Anne Moss. However, not even the star-woman from The Matrix can manage to elevate a scene that lacks both script and photography… and it’s a far reach from the epic battles that the saga has accustomed us to.
The story continues to provide context to Mae and the Jedi organization, with Lee Jung-jae and Dafne Keen bringing some quality to the series. But not even the effort of these two magnificent actors can redeem the series, whose dialogues, vague and cliché, prevent us from making any headway into the story.
Unfortunately, the script is far from what one would expect from a series like The Acolyte, and where it’s most evident is in the main story arc itself. This is nothing more than a new version, in its own way, of George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. But let’s be honest, no one can match the story of Darth Vader —and very few can match that of Kylo Ren— which is something we’ve already seen, even in Ahsoka. So, even though it has some original elements, The Acolyte ends up looking like a mishmash of a thousand things we’ve already seen in Star Wars… and, unfortunately, like a missed opportunity.
We’ll see if in the following chapters, the series surprises us with twists that make us say “okay, this is something we’ve never seen before in Star Wars“. But for now, everything is far from what we expected as fans. It’s a shame that Disney’s Star Wars just repeats what we already have.
