Watched the premiere last night, I think I called it pretty well to my expectations. The set design, color palettes, and feel of the worlds exceeded what I saw in marketing, I was pleasantly surprised with the environments, VFX, and characters for the most part, but there are indeed some glaring issues holding it back from being great. I think it will end up being a fine show, but unfortunately, Star Wars does not need fine. In fact, I would say fine hurts Star Wars at this point. They need big wins to restore some brand image. Is it fair to place that much pressure on The Acolyte? Probably not, but it’s reality, something has to come out to unify the fanbase if we want to see Star Wars stay at the forefront of the mainstream. The Acolyte does not appear that it will be that thing, but it’s certainly not a terrible show.
Pacing and Structure
The most glaring issue with The Acolyte is its pacing. The hyperspeed paced episodes seem crammed with short-form content, leaving little room for the story to flow naturally, for scenes to breathe, or for us to grow quick attachments to characters. It certainly has that “things are just happening” feel. This series’ potential is being massively held back by rapid and frequent cuts between A and B plots. Scenes often last only around 60 seconds before switching, which feels jarring and disjointed. This approach I suspect is an intentional move by Disney to maintain the action sequences and avoid the viewer drop-off experienced by previous series like Ahsoka and Andor, which received complaints of being “boring” or “slow” (not from me), but here in the Acolyte with a new timeline setting and brand new characters and an unfamiliar storyline, this rapid cut pacing ultimately disrupts the storytelling rhythm. I truly think that each episode was originally ~50 minutes and was chopped to hell in post-production to cut down to get to the action. I really do not like this kind of editing.
The structure of the premiere overall was poorly done in my opinion. Especially the endings to each episode feel extremely tacked on and do not flow whatsoever with character arcs. Very bad forced “hooks” that barely even function as hooks. This show does not want to be 30-minute episodic format, but I believe it was forced to be in Post.
Dialogue and Writing
The dialogue in “The Acolyte” is a mixed bag. While it does not fall to the level of being objectively terrible, it fails at delivering impactful and memorable lines. Fans of Lucas’ dialogue (I find myself strongly in this category, highly recommend watching this video to learn why: George Lucas: King of Wooden Dialogue) may find some nostalgic charm at times, but I absolutely understand why others might find it lacking in the depth that Andor possessed. At the very least, I am happy that this series avoids the contemporary lingo that plagued The Last Jedi and some of BoBF, but the lines here also don’t quite capture the epic feel that Star Wars dialogue is known for. It’s not a standout, but it’s not distractingly bad.
The writing of the plot is intriguing enough to keep my interest piqued, but not enough to impress me. Compared to some of the best show premieres (GoT, Lost, The Boys, House of Cards), this is nowhere close to being called “incredible 10/10!”, nor is it “absolute trash, 1/10!”. It’s a very middle-of-the-road plotline. It’s a simple murder “mystery” where we already know the murderer and some of her motivation, though I am positive there will be some twists here. The element of how the Sith play into all of this is the greatest hook the show has. We had some decent moments teasing this aspect, but it failed to build any tangible tension. I am interested in seeing where this goes, so it’s not bad writing, but I am certainly not on the edge of my seat wanting to rewatch and anticipating next week with great excitement. The prison escape on the ship, the crash, and some of the “infiltration” into the Jedi Outpost in episode 2 was quite weak in terms of writing, but there is at least intrigue with the relationships being developed, the Jedi investigation, and the looming Sith presence. However, someone watching this with no context of the timeline or what the Sith are will be feeling extremely bewildered I would imagine.
Production Quality and Creative Direction
Despite having a significant budget, The Acolyte still feels constrained creatively. There’s a palpable sense that Disney’s marketing team heavily influenced the production, resulting in a cautious approach that prioritizes accessibility over depth. The potential for a more mature and well-crafted narrative is evident but remains unfulfilled. This cautiousness likely stems from Disney’s desire to avoid another significant failure for the “Star Wars brand”, which is currently at a critical juncture for its profit margins. This leads me to feel like a lot of the creativity is stifled and stale. The VFX is good, not outstanding, but serviceable to bring you into the world. I was hoping that this era would feel more distinct, but I am at least pleased that I can say some of it felt like Star Wars. Props to the crew for being able to invoke a feeling that is extremely difficult to replicate. The costumes look a bit stiff, and I think that’s part of the point, but it doesn’t translate well for the point they want to make. You can make the Jedi give the vibe you’re going for without having every robe look like it’s oversized and pulled right off the press. Have to highlight a couple of great designs like the hyperspace droid chairs, the starship models, and the appearance of the Jedi Temple. I will say “No comment” on the pudgy Jedi…
Hope to see more of the High Republic’s uniqueness expanded upon in future episodes, but for now, I think we’re missing the worldbuilding needed to get people interested in these hundreds of years of potential storylines. The style of combat selected for creative purposes does seem to be at the forefront, and I was neither blown away nor disappointed by it. I prefer it to the absolutely atrocious fight choreography and shaky cam in BoBF, Ahsoka, and Kenobi, but it’s still nowhere close to Prequels combat scenes or even other large Hollywood productions (this show had a Dune-sized budget… it has to be judged at a high level). I dislike the constant pausing in the fights, that feels very unnatural, grabs a leg, freeze, lock eyes, start next sequence of choreographed moves. Nick Gillard was so intentional about making attacks look like they are intended to harm/kill, and the threat just doesn’t feel there at times in this show.
Performances and Characters
On a positive note, some performances, particularly by Sol, really stand out and add a ton of value to the series. He is a great actor and his emotions translated well to his character. He reminds me of an emotional Qui-Gon. Of course, Yord is not a character we are supposed to “like” per se, but I enjoyed his presence in the story and for an annoying character, he is the good type of annoying. Jecki is kind of just there, but also not annoying. Not sure if this is just me, but I thought the weakest character in the show was Osha. Found her to be quite bland and I am not at all invested in where her character goes yet. Indara dying so early felt like a bit of a waste…? I understand the deaths of these Jedi is the premise of the whole show, but it’s hard to build memorable characters when each new one is dead within 10 minutes of appearing for the first time in a 30-minute episode. We really, really need some preliminary worldbuilding before characters start dropping or beginning their main character arcs. Other characters like Vernestra, Mae’s accomplice, Torbin, not much to say… I think it’s a waste that we miss out on the depth of development for side characters. The best shows make you care about side characters and even create whole individual scenes around them. Again, this goes back to the bad pacing because you’ll never accomplish this in 30 minutes of total screentime. We need 50 minimum.
Conclusion
Rating: 6.6/10 (I’d call it “pretty good”, but not “really good” or “great”)
Pros:
Standout performance by Sol
Visually pleasing environments that feel alive
Retains elements of “Star Wars” charm
Cons:
Poor pacing and way too frequent cuts
Feels creatively constrained by forced mass appeal
Lack of depth to the main characters and a simple storyline
Best scenes:
- Sol at the Jedi Temple (great emotion in the performance, resembled a true Jedi with his demeanor)
- Mae’s interaction with the Monk Jedi (interesting power dynamic, creates intrigue for Mae’s revenge)
- Confronting Mae’s accomplice (decent tension here, unsure of what would happen)
Worst Scenes:
- “Sith” hook at the end of episode 1 (worse than 0 budget fan films I have seen)
- Intercutting of Mae’s crash landing and Jedi coming to rescue her (A/B plots moving WAY too fast)
- Osha’s vision of Mae (dialogue was WAY too on the nose and expository, “Brendok!” “Hello, SISTER!” the rhyme about them being twins. Show, don’t tell, people!)
