What’s impressive about Leslye Headland juggling these different bits of influence in the “Star Wars” universe is that she’s succeeding. The first two episodes hum with life and new ideas, but also challenge our understanding of good and evil, right and wrong, and the age-old conflict between Jedi and Sith.
There was once a prophecy of one who would bring balance to the Force, and it seems like Headland is bringing a different kind of balance to her storytelling. Where humor and heart are balanced equally against grimy grit and revenge. Where exciting bright and exciting visuals are matched against those that are dark and devastating. The show walks that careful razor’s edge between light and dark, and it starts off with a shocking bang.
“That’s impossible,” Anakin Skywalker told Qui-Gon Jinn in “The Phantom Menace,” “No one can kill a Jedi.”
And Qui-Gon offers a pained and mused laugh. “I wish that were so.”
And as we watch “The Acolyte”, we, too, wish Anakin were right. But he’s not. Someone is killing the Jedi. But who? And why? Harder to answer. Where the story unfolds from the two-episode premiere is anyone’s guess, but it’s safe to say that I’m on board for this particular jump into hyperspace.
/Film Rating: 8 out of 10
“Star Wars: The Acolyte” begins today, June 4, with its two-episode premiere at 9pm Eastern, only on Disney+.