Star Wars: The Acolyte - Eps 1 & 2 Review (Non-Spoiler & Spoiler)

The latest Disney+ Star Wars series gets off to a bumpy start.
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0:00 - Non-Spoiler
7:08 - Spoilers

[@lilbro93]

I 100% predict there will be a scene where the twins are fighting each other, start rolling around on the floor while fighting, stop mid-fight, and another character will be forced to figure out which twin is which.

[@Jobo89]

Everything is predictable nowadays

[@tfromcleveland3741]

If Han was in this… (shoots one) “Did you use the Force to figure out it was me?” “Sure”

[@benzaiten933]

then they'll shoot/slash the evil one but at the end of the episode the 'good' twin will smile in a sinister way, giving away that the other character actually killed (of course they're not dead for real) the good one and they switched places.

[@sbielec30]

@@tfromcleveland3741🤣 Good ☝🏼

[@ohrick8707]

One has a Tatoo.

[@fettfan91]

“Uninspired” is definitely the word I would use to describe these first two episodes.

[@vincemontana1911]

Possible spoilers! This show did something that is becoming more and more common. No one keeps time of how long events should take. The prison ship escape. The prisoners break out and the ship is going to crash on the planet Carlac in the outer rim. In the time it takes the ship to crash, the prisoners get in pods, escape the system, somehow get caught, get taken to Coruscant, are interrogated, the Jedi make a team to check out the crash site, they go from Coruscant to Carlac and only miss a Osha by moments. Did the ship crash in super slow motion? Was she knocked out for days or weeks?

[@ModernWelfare_]

What you want a real timeline on the show? Forget about it.

[@martinjrgensen8234]

Yeah that was jarring af

[@matiasdevaglia4541]

It's one of those cases in wich the script and timeline are destroyed during editing, trying to make the show more dynamic for people with very short attention spans.

[@Jessedessie]

I assumed Osha was unconscious for at least 24/h

[@alistairjohnfdownie1007]

yer I've noticed this aswell it's just lazy story telling

[@biggsducklighter6171]

"Reminded of Rings of Power..." Oh god.

[@shiftymcgee9359]

I straight up said “I don’t care” during that Jedi Fugitive scene and no one knew what I was talking about. I’m a creature from an other era.

[@Caveboy0]

I think that illustrates what makes the Fugitive so great. Ford plays it straight with all the melodrama while Jones has seen it all before dozens of times. He cracks through the cliches and reinvigorates the experience of a good procedural. When you make reference to that film without any of the personality it just feels older than the thing it’s copying.

[@Mr_Case_Time]

Carrie-Ann Moss was in the film Memento and didn’t have to fight anybody to turn in a great performance. Anyway…

[@15Candles]

You know it's about to be an interesting review when the thumbnail is Dan scratching his head (or his hat i guess) 😂😂

[@pantaloney]

I was about to post the exact same thing! It's great, but you almost don't need to watch the review- the thumbnail tells you all you need to know! lol

[@DDavEE]

His review thumbnails typically turn me off and cause me to skip those videos because they come across as click bait to me. I only watched this because I'm curious about other peoples opinion on The Acolyte.

[@abcdefghi9950]

When I see a thumbnail like the one for this video, it makes me more curious to see why Dan thought the show or movie was just okay or bad.

[@Fuuntag]

It’s never really a good sign when you see Dan having a scratch.

[@conormurphy4328]

May as well be his head at this point

[@Moobeus]

Shogun and masters of the air are examples of 2 recent shows who managed to make their first couple episodes extremely interesting and entertaining whilst still setting up a long form story.

[@whit1973]

Fallout is pretty wild

[@LightningRaven42]

Yeah. With Mr. Robot, for example, the show hooks everyone from the very first scene.

[@Moobeus]

@@whit1973 yeah fallout good example as well!

[@alvarodavilaferrero1983]

And then shogun became shit after It s strong start

[@jeffo4817]

@@alvarodavilaferrero1983 yeah right it got better and better

[@chazjohannsen]

Even 100 years further in the “long time ago,” black men can’t escape that haircut.

[@M_k-zi3tn]

I know right! Can we please be done with that Killmonger cut

[@kharikhy-ree2242]

A style of hair we've been doing for thousands of years. Why would it disappear?

[@fromchomleystreet]

⁠@@kharikhy-ree2242 If they were doing it for thousands of years, why did they stop doing it entirely for the couple of centuries in which photography has existed, just to start again in the 2010s?

[@murk4552]

​@@kharikhy-ree2242Nigga stop lying 😂 we didn't have that hairstyle forever. That is a totally modern haircut

[@AlexP-dz7ew]

@@kharikhy-ree2242 he’s not talking about locs or twists as a style. But SPECIFICALLY the exact same length and shaved sides that has now been in media more than it’s fair share. It’s tired, and there are other ways to style hair this type and length

[@-AtomsPhere-]

Would people even like new Star Wars stuff if they didn’t already love Star Wars in the past? Does this franchise still justify its own existence?

[@karlwiggins]

I told my son that I probably wouldn't watch any more of this if I wasn't already a Star Wars fan. In an era with "House of the Dragon," "The Boys," "True Detective," "The Last of Us," and "Andor," this show just feels as lightweight and insignificant as possible. It wasn't terrible, but for a show that began with a Jedi being assassinated, it sure didn't do much to give that any real heft. That's not a problem when a show is airy and fun (like "Only Murders in the Building"), but this wasn't that either. Maybe premium TV has just ruined this kind of show for me.

[@-AtomsPhere-]

@@karlwiggins 💯

[@seancampbell2553]

I suggest checking out The Bad Batch! Aside from Andor and Jedi: Survivor, it is easily my favorite piece of Star Wars media recently. If you're a fan of Clone Wars, it's that but a single narrative and better in every way conceivable. Shows like these are what keep me hooked in light of disasters like Kenobi and Mandalorian S3.

[@karlwiggins]

It boggles my mind that "The Acolyte" cost more than 15 times the amount of money it took to make the original "Star Wars" movie, and with all that money they didn't spend some of it on a decent script.

[@thiefofa1073]

More than 2-3 times actually but yeah you make a good point. $11 million back then is $42-45 million adjusted for inflation - but adjusted for marketing and costs (e.g. a grip would be paid $2 an hour in 1977, now it's $40-50 an hour) it's even more than that - and then you need to compare it to the $180 million for the AcoBudLight.

[@GuineaPigEveryday]

Thats not surprising whatsoever, Star Wars always was a low-budget b-movie in its premise, it was no blockbuster that the studio was expecting to succeed, it was shot largely on location with a lot of just the typical 70s institutional set/model-builders of the time that were a dime a dozen. Acolyte is just 90% CGI, and also you have to adjust for inflation any time you take into old movie budgets, Acolyte costs 5 times the budget of original Star Wars not 15, thats just exaggerated

[@s.n.9485]

what exactly is wrong with this script? And the OT was NEVER known for great writing and the story is just a ripoff of Dune.

[@neilchapman5145]

Yeah but the acolyte blew it’s budget on space lesbians

[@bennywilfred4906]

where are the lesbians?​@@neilchapman5145

[@Skute]

I really like the action and characters but it does feel very “tv” and the editing/pacing is definitely off.

[@hargibson18]

It does feel very "TV" and I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it is the editing and pacing, idk what it is but it almost felt like Star Trek.

[@alexheisenberg8709]

Well, it is a tv show xd. And i agree, the oacing wasn't the best. But the writing and character introduction was the best so far. We know a lot from each character thanks to what we saw so far. The show really relies on the "show don't tell" tecnique.

[@atasteofreality609]

@@alexheisenberg8709180 million 8 episode show. They 💩 the bed again.

[@ajdz1840]

@@hargibson18 The cinematography is amateur hour. How many over the shoulder to reverse angle shots are there? There are even edits from the same angle but at a longer distance. The lighting, color grading and music are also just kind of "there", they don't accentuate or create any mood most of the time

[@Luke101]

@@ajdz1840it’s trying to emulate the prequel vibes, which also had very mediocre practical camera work and lighting

[@99GregPotter]

The comparison of this show and Rings of Power is all I needed to know

[@evanmcclellan7267]

I don't know about you, but I'm ready for star wars to be movies again.

[@dylangullberg7383]

Me too.

[@sawyeratkinson]

Star Wars is dead. Disney isn't canon.

[@dylangullberg7383]

@@moxyent1354I actually really liked Mando 3. The hate for it is baffling to me.

[@mnoir7257]

@@moxyent1354 Lol 'Andor' did not drag. 'Andor' is the only truly brilliant thing Star Wars has made since Empire.

[@sawyeratkinson]

@mnoir7257 the only thing good that came from disney star wars except maybe the first couple episodes of Mando s1

[@boat1280]

My main issues are the editing and short lengths. The first two episodes are SO frantic with scene cutting etc. to the point where it's actually sort of funny. Scenes cut SO quickly, even the BIG SITH BADDIE intro scene. Dialogue is barely over and BAM we're somewhere else. It's like the show can't wait to get itself over with. And if all the episodes are mostly 30 minutes, this is basically a script that could have been condensed into a 2 1/2 hour film. I just don't really get it. And visually something about it is just kinda cheap feeling, but it's hard to place. It might just be the directing, as they actually built sets etc for this It's not great but it's not terrible. I might wait for it to be done so I can actually watch a whole story instead of tiny snippets

[@DDavEE]

I felt the same way in regards to the editing. Especially at the very end of episode one. I don't understand why they felt like they had to cut everything so tight like that.

[@andrewabraham7455]

Funnily enough I felt the opposite was the problem with Ahsoka.

[@mania4270]

I kinda like it because for me, a lot of the star wars shows take too long to get stuff going. These episodes felt really concise. The fight scenes were amazing and I hope that's the way the fights will be handled now.

[@Dharmadruid73]

I have this problem with the editing with a lot of modern shows and movies these days. They don't allow the material to breathe properly. I really notice the difference when I watch older shows and films.

[@mania4270]

@@Dharmadruid73 I'll give you that. Older material was more unafraid of showing off the effects

[@RyanToxopeus]

I was never not entertained during these first two episodes. I like the serious calm that the jedi portray, and then seeing the cracks as this mysterious acolyte comes onto the scene. The fighting/camera style is so good... these are the Jedi at their peak. Watching them dance around the assassin, studying her in the middle of combat, trying to puzzle her out shows their superiority and their pompousness. I can't wait to see where this series goes!

[@LPJZ456]

Ok ngl the opening joke actually got a chuckle outta me lol

[@Cybernautz]

The fighting was good and then the Jedi instantly died by toothpick lmao 🔪 🦷

[@googleleavemynamealone9145]

Aca-amazing

[@hvyarms4496]

"Inside voices"? That shit sucks because modern American dialog immediately brought me out of the immersion. It's was her 1st darn line ffs, these writers drive me nuts

[@Skeletal33]

Havent watched it yet, but I didnt believe it when Disney kept saying how it would reinvent Star Wars, etc. Also noticing the critics love it (94%) and the fans dont (44%)

[@s.n.9485]

I'm a fan and I like it.

[@kityhawk2000]

​@s.n.9485 that's the equivalent of when a computer game comes out a broken buggy mess and loads of people complain about it then one person says "it runs great on my machine". Congratulations you're in the minority

[@doc8013]

​@@kityhawk2000ok, now do the equation with a majority of people saying it was garbage before ever seeing a second of it.

[@auggie3522]

Just FYI, the sponsor link in the description may be wrong. I think the website doesn't like the all caps DAN at the end. I clicked it and it took me to chubbies, but i got an error message saying the page doesnt exist. I edited the url to be a lower case dan, and it worked and automatically tracked that i should get the 20% discount. I know sometimes sponsors track how many people use the link in the first place as a way to decide if theyre getting enough interested traffic to continue a sponsorship, so wanted to alert you in case that is true here.

[@DanMurrellMovies]

Thanks for the heads-up!

[@oneopinion6806]

Using the sponsor link AND giving constructive feedback on it? You're like a comment section unicorn!

[@PricefieldPunk]

A show reminding anyone of the Rings of Power is all i need to know to not watch the show lmao

[@shiftymcgee9359]

Acolyte is just okay. Rings of Power is just terrible to the point of trolling.

[@marcoesquandolez4737]

Right there with you. 😢 my heart hurts

[@davidbodor1762]

Honestly, it's a really unfair assosciation, The Acolyte isn't bad at all, it has good action, a decent mystery and funny jokes. The only problem is the editing and some visual issues regarding distance.

[@Needler13]

​@@davidbodor1762we get it, you like terrible shows.

[@TheDarkPorkins]

@@Needler13 we get it, you lack an ounce of rational thought or intelligence.

[@78konjo]

I can't help but compare the twin sister story to what we saw with Powder/Jinx and Vi in Arcane. If anything the Acolyte makes me appreciate Arcane spending 3 episodes showing us the backstory to the main story conflict rather than having it be a line like in the Acolyte. World setting and easter eggs are fine but I ended up having 0 connection to any of these character by the end of episode 2 and no interest to follow up on it

[@StrykEdits]

I 100% agree that Arcane did the good/bad sister set-up perfectly. It was so good that it got me into Anime in my mid 40’s. I realize Arcane is Western not Eastern, but I highly recommend Anime for anyone looking for great storytelling and character development that doesn't feel cliche. Anime tends to rely on character over plot.

[@benzaiten933]

can't wait for the second series of Arcane! gotta re-watch that one!

[@benzaiten933]

@@StrykEdits a bit random, but you might enjoy Blue Eye Samurai.

[@anthonyzepeda31]

​@@StrykEditssame here, I'm not into anime, but arcane was awesome..

[@StrykEdits]

​@@anthonyzepeda31 I suggest getting into light novels. One of my favorites is TBATE (The Beginning After The End). TBATE has very good audiobooks if anyone is interested as well. I believe the writer is an American, but he takes a lot of tropes from Eastern anime. I'm really hoping Western TV shows can start learning from other forms of storytelling. Too many of these shows are so formulaic...Disney Star Wars already had a show with a Padawon that turns to the dark side out of anger and revenge with Obi-Wan and the character Reva. I feel like this is just another spin on something we have already seen.

[@davidletarte214]

acolyte/ acodark side - why did dan look so proud of that? 😂

[@vegas_party_animal7737]

I really don’t know, when I heard that my finger started floating towards the unsuspecting button

[@Vulcanerd]

The DadForce is strong with Master Murrell.

[@therealdavidleong]

Aca-scuse me???

[@davidletarte214]

@@therealdavidleong we don't need to aco-fight about it!

[@jackr7550]

Where is yoda at? He was on the council for 800 years before the Empire and this is only 100 years before

[@TheDarkPorkins]

Patience *Yoda voice*

[@DelorienAz]

I'll give it a shot. The first couple episodes of Andor didn't grab me either, but I ended up loving that.

[@jesusfernandez8677]

Omg I love this channel and it's comment section, everyone is seems so chill, actually analyzing the good and the bad of a show instead of just ovwr loving or over hating something. Glad I found this.

[@Merril_39]

If you want to go down the Dan rabbit hole look up his rants on screen junkies, or best of movie fights.

[@Dharmadruid73]

It's a far cry (in a good way) from the comments section under Grace Randolph's review.

[@TheDarkPorkins]

There are a few Fandom Menace freaks kicking about with their typical narrow-minded nosense.

[@TheDarkPorkins]

@@Dharmadruid73 I won't Lie I hate Grace usually, but when she makes a good point I will defend it. It's usually really hard for me to determine exactly who she's trying to please on any given day.

[@TMSokoya]

Unfortunately I saw a comment here that started off giving some respectable criticism, but then devolved into excessive negativity. Not Dan's fault, though, it's just the Internet being the Internet.

[@supdevan6413]

I just really hope this whole show isn't based on a misunderstanding. Mae's revenge needs to be warranted for this show to work and not just from her point of view.

[@TheDarkPorkins]

Fair! I'd agree. I want the Jedi to ACTUALLY have made a bad/morally WRONG decision. The thing that makes the Sith so tempting is that they often speak enough Truth to make you think they're onto something. The hypocrisy of the Jedi being one of these things.

[@kingvagar]

A person won't kill himself for a misunderstanding, he fights until clearing his/her name. The one who drink the liquid did it willingly tells us viewers that they have done something that all or some have the need to atone themselves. In short, I don't think is going to be a misunderstanding. Collateral damage, on purpose… I have to see how it develops.

[@katielomax2364]

@supdevan6413 I'm curious if Mae is seeking revenge because she thinks the Jedi killed Osha, since she's surprised to see her alive and they were there at the fire. Who knows! But I agree with your point

[@supdevan6413]

@@kingvagar People end their lives for all sorts of reasons. He could have "believed" he was part of something terrible when in actuality he didn't have all the information.

[@kingvagar]

Yeah, but that is called deception, not a misunderstanding… and my first response was about misunderstanding. Your original comment.

[@writingref]

I think the issue is they wanted to build a mystery, and they favor the mystery over character. This mystery REQUIRES that they hide the main character motivation of Mae until halfway through the second episode. And even then, they only keep it to a very basic level. And That particular character's motivation is probably the most important one for the show to work. I think the show world have worked better to start with Osha, show her "normal world" and never do anything with the twin until she runs into her, or at least until she has the vision. Let the audience attach to ONE protagonist first, instead of confusing us over who we are supposed to be relating to. It feels like Jedi Trinity scene ruins the pacing and is a "darling" the main writer could not kill. (To Use a Stephen King term). Have her already be murdered - like a detective show as two Jedi arrive late to the crime scene.

[@pattheplanter]

The prolific Cornish writer Arthur Quiller-Couch was the first to advise that you should "murder your darlings", in a lecture On Style in 1914. I am sure that, if he had watched the Matrix, he would also have advised "don't typecast your favourite actors".

[@writingref]

@@pattheplanter I didn't know that! Thank you. And yeah, type casting is not great advice either lol

[@skidmoda]

don't worry about spoilers I don't thank many are gonna watch it.

[@sayheyguy]

I agree Dan, these first two eps were just meh. While the action scenes were good, I thought the show looked cheap, especially with the costumes. Also the storytelling and pacing was pretty bad, especially that scene in ep 1 when she survived a crash from outer space just by putting on a seat belt was so cringe. Also, the Jedi master committing suicide was very odd. I'm going to give it a chance, though, as I like Sol, and I'm intrigued by the Wookie Jedi master.

[@wimpymcsteel4458]

With the current state of Disney's Star Wars, meh is a win 😅🤣😆

[@ZachBobBob]

I thought the show has looked really good so far, especially compared to Obi-Wan. The sets and CGI are all great.

[@Shocel53]

I'm guessing that Jedi along with the three other Jedi on Mae's list was involved in killing Mae's family. The Jedi killed himself to keep the secret to protect the Jedi order.

[@davidbodor1762]

The suicide scene was odd? That's part of the whole mystery, why he'd do that...clearly they did something terrible, but what was it? It's the entire hook of the story lol

[@GoDzkRoNiKz]

Leave it to Disney to make a show about a sith killing Jedi and somehow remove the lightsabers

[@earlbrown1803]

😂😂😂 exactly

[@sirvilhelmofyonderland]

I don’t waste time on “its fine”

[@chrisschuenke8316]

The Jedi Trinity thing is a perfect example of bad writing. Instead of using characters to service the story, lets use the story to service my personal fanfic. Brilliant!

[@QuarterCoyote]

There so many Star Wars TV shows now that I've forgotten most of them.

[@JScotty4Reel]

I find Mae inherently more interesting than Osha, but thoroughly enjoyed the first 2 episodes. Really enjoying the character of Sol

[@JackSmith-ns1uq]

I love how they are referring to the sith as a “him” as if it wont obviously be a girl

[@fransesco9703]

@@-AtomsPhere- The guy who makes the poison is literally Asian. And the opening scene has a white Jedi who even saves a civilian risking her own life and there's been other white Jedi's in the show. You people are so weird

[@abzu2358]

​@@-AtomsPhere-you're weird

[@murk4552]

​@@-AtomsPhere-Considering most White men have casted themselves as villains forever. Why are you offended by this?

[@hawkeyemihawkgettingmoneylord]

I think k your just reading super deep into this.

[@chrisschuenke8316]

Wookie Jedi is the sith master. If you paid any attention to the show so far it's painfully obvious.

[@TheVileOne]

I always appreciate Dan's videos because I can always trust that he's going to be honest and candid and back up his views for good reasons without hating things just to hate them.

[@TheDarkPorkins]

So refreshing. I can't take the haters seriously whatsoever its clear they are A: Fiancially motivated and preying on hateful people (and may also be hateful) or B: So stuck up their own ass they can't see straight.

[@gardamun]

Why are people spending any time talking about a diverse cast; that has nothing to do with good acting, screenwriting, directing, or storytelling. There are many examples of great and terrible tv shows or movies that encompass all people from all walks of life. It's about the script, the acting, the directing, and the storytelling (sorry to repeat myself), and nothing else. I'm looking forward to next week's episode, I hope the show just gets better and better. But if not, I can always rewatch Andor :)

[@BG_Wingzz]

I think it’s because it feels like these days many shows or movies that tote a diverse cast as a main draw of the show usually have weak storytelling. It feels like THATS where their priorities lie versus great storytelling and characters

[@One.Zero.One101]

Woke rants are the most lucrative low-effort grift right now. You have all these fake experts masquerading as film critics. No need to write a script for two weeks, just pick something/someone to complain about and you have your daily content.

[@ModernWelfare_]

FACTS!

[@ModernWelfare_]

@@BG_WingzzHis point is valid though, imagine people just stopped talking about it. I’m assuming here but I think if it wasn’t such a topic of debate then it wouldn’t have priority over story. That is a stretch obviously but it makes some sense to me.

[@maxwell_2]

⁠@@BG_Wingzz Where in the marketing of this show did they mention “diverse cast”? That doesn’t seem like a focus to me, it just so happens that the cast is diverse with a not very strong script

[@KennethWrites]

The Carrie-Anne Moss casting just felt like classic Hollywood casting to me. It's a trick to bring in an actor who is known to play a certain type of character, so that you become invested from the jump. How many cowboys did John Wayne play? How many military men has Tom Cruise been? Secondly, if the viewership skews young, a lot of them will have no idea who she is. I'm always amazed by the number of people I've met under the age of 20, who have never seen the Matrix.

[@curtisbme]

Why would you be surprised by that? It would be a movie that was out years before they even born and ever since they were old enough to watch it, they have had overwhelming amount of brand new content to keep up on. Getting to 'old classics' isn't going to be common.

[@funkrobot9762]

@@curtisbmeI don’t agree with this at all. People look up and watch classic films. If people are into movies, they’ll seek out classics. If people just watch movies to pass the time, probably not. You’ve never watched a film from before you were born?

[@curtisbme]

@@funkrobot9762 How old are the people you are talking about? Yes I've watched movies from before I was born but that is because I've had many, many decades to do so and because during that time there wasn't 24x7 new content being made demanding attention. Kenneth said "people under 20", which means you are talking about someone who grew up always having youtube/twitch/streaming/etc. They have had maybe 8 years at the absolute most where they might have sought out what would have been a 17 year old movie (now 25 years old). That means not only would they have wanted to pull themselves away from their backlog of current content they would have had to choose that movie vs the hundreds of great movies that were made from the 17 years before that or the thousands from the decades before it. So it is just math of limited time and unlimited options that it will be the exception that anyone under 20 has seen The Matrix.

[@ModernWelfare_]

@@curtisbme”Backlog of current content” you fancy imagining yourself in the shoes of others don’t you? Speak for yourself friend. I’m under 20 and I don’t watch new movies, I mostly watch older movies. I’ve seen every matrix movie and ALL of my peers have seen the four movies as well. As a young person I always hear old people talking about new movies, seems like it’s an old person thing to watch a lot of movies in general I guess.

[@curtisbme]

@@ModernWelfare_ Congrats on watching a great movie. Note that is not a value statement, it is factual one that most people your age will not have seen it. A sample of yourself, who self-defines as being unusual by not watching current movies, and a group of friends that are likely your friends because they are like you, are not the norm or the majority. Again, not a value statement, just factual.

[@TheDarkPorkins]

Now this is a Critical Review. No Vitriol, No Hate. No ulterior motive. Just real, rational critique.

[@Perrin1616]

Rouge one was awesome and it was a diverse cast. That’s not the issue. It’s the writing and ego insertion by the people in charge.

[@SmashBrosAssemble]

I wouldn’t say it’s inspired by The Fugitive, it’s more Inspired by an episode of The Clone Wars “The Wrong Jedi”

[@TheRosadochris]

Which was inspired by The Fugitive

[@thomasmuandersontheneousul4184]

@@TheRosadochris Dan doesn't know that stuff

[@ModernWelfare_]

@@TheRosadochrisWhich both clear this shitty show by miles.

[@starwarsfreak4]

I think he is talking about a specific scene from the fugitive where Harrison fords character jumps out of a tunnel and when Osha falls off the cliff

[@fanpandatastic]

You’re right it’s not inspired, it straight up ripped off the fugitive

[@factor2634]

The fire in space bothered me LOL !!

[@cemarz]

I laughed.

[@dylangullberg7383]

It didn’t even cross my mind at the time. I guess it didn’t seem any more illogical for Star Wars than fiery explosions in space or laser and engine sounds in space. It’s a nonissue for me. No more than a nitpick. It’s a little cheesy, sure, but it doesn’t break any rules already established n the Star Wars universe.

[@Trikzilla]

You must hate all Star Wars space battles then. Get a life.

[@youngstar312]

Fire in space has always been a thing in Star Wars, so...

[@brianh3253]

Me too 😂

[@benbanta2913]

I agree for 99% of this but I don’t care about the fire in space. They’ve done that so much in Star Wars that I don’t even care anymore lol

[@paulgermano7837]

Disney keeps on creating more and more Star Wars projects, just like they continue to rehash their animated classics into live versions. They seriously need to limit the number of SW projects and think of quality.

[@terencecaron2922]

I live for these dad puns 😂

[@jessec.6876]

Disney+ just needs to press the reset button on everything. Fire everyone and start from scratch 🤦‍♂️

[@bennozoid1]

They literally don't care. Feels like A.I filmmaking at this point...

[@MrPmcMcMental]

Companies like Disney and Netflix will always have a certain level of success because lazy parents all over the world will be subscribed all year round, no matter what, so they can dump their kids in front of a TV !

[@CrazyHand7894]

That would imply they give a crap. Their whole filmmaking and showmaking area is lacking in creativity and effort. Just look at Marvel, Pixar and their own animation studio's recent output.

[@da_kine_awakens]

Dans comments on how its like if they made a TV show, in universe, about Jedi had me rolling lol

[@DustyMoth.]

In regards to your final point is that diverse casts are simply being let down by bad writing. Uninspired and lazy writing which leads to the mass audience moving onto a more exciting show to watch. Making it easy for trolls and certain segments of the web to point at the cast and leads and sing their favourite mantra.

[@jim1242]

Ironically , like the Rings of power, the Acolyte risks being shown up by the new season of the House of the Dragon, which could also take most of the attention away from the Acolyte when seaon 2 starts in a week or so.

[@charleslarrivee2908]

I doubt it. ROP premieres nearly two months after House of Incest. Plenty of time to get excited for it (especially since Amazon has learned some lessons from its scattershot PR for last season and is actually doing PR this time)

[@edwardrichtofen8530]

@@charleslarrivee2908oooh learned their lessons? Did they learn they already fucked up a bunch of lore? Already messed up the making of the rings and Sauron. Also, same show runners.

[@jim1242]

@@charleslarrivee2908 I was refering to back in 2022 when the first season of the Rings of power went up against the House of the Dragon, and the later was overwhelmingly considered the fal superior show.

[@jessec.6876]

@@edwardrichtofen8530dawg idk why lotr fanns cry about the lore so much. The original lotr films didn’t stay 100% faithful and I didn’t see nearly the same amount of hate for them

[@edwardrichtofen8530]

@@jessec.6876 can rings of power be like even 30% faithful? I hate this lame argument of “it’s not exactly faithful so let’s add a Toyota Camry to it”. Like can you be more faithful than not?

[@PranavanathanYoganathan]

I thought it was pretty good as a premise and enjoyed both episodes

[@chrisval04]

"It felt more like the kind of show that the characters in Star Wars might watch..." totally agree with this. It's more like their in-universe startrek kind of show 😊.

[@ColbyPurcell]

Your dad joke was so on point in the opening. Well done, sir.

[@BABAthaYAGA-kx9fu]

The mystery is that...they picked the sister and left her coz she was "less force sensitive/ force unstable". Am betting on it.

[@madisonwhovian943]

That happened in the High Republic books too 👀

[@ponli7532]

SW Theory said it best, The Acolyte is Leslye Headland therapy sessions.

[@PuissantPeacock]

Stop me if you've heard this one. An "Acolyte" walks into a bar, walks right up to a master Jedi and says, "Attack me with all your strength." Yeah, it's a joke. The story telling doesn't get any better. At first I thought I would be intrigued by the mystery sith Lord. But before I knew it, episode one and two were over and...I didn't care any more. The development of the characters, their backgrounds, what motivates them...none of it is John Favreau or Dave Filoni level stuff. And once again Stardisney Wars races into the abyss of dumpster fire shows. I can tell the producer(s) are trying to imitate the Lucas style, the Favreau and Filoni story telling but fall far short of any skillful, experienced, and tallented story telling. I'm just disgusted by the poor decision making made by Disney Execs who have bastardized George's vision. Disney, you're not getting a dime of my money for your trash, politics, indoctrinations, or false teachings in your stories. When Kenedy finally leaves, Star Wars might, might be resurrected back to life again.

[@jeremylandis7972]

They admited to hiring people that didnt know or like star wars. Thats why you have a jedi using her powers to open an automatic door. While other jedi have powers that didnt exist. Somone figured oht that the show spent close to $250,000.00 for the 6min of credits. If thats correct they should have spent it on better writers because the dialog is awful.

[@waywardmind]

Thanks for your thoughts, Dan. I'm largely uninterested in this show, but it's still nice to hear about it.

[@Alleyne070707]

I feel that the 4 Jedi were somewhat responsible for the fire, it was an accident and since there was "only one" survivor, they covered it up. It has extremely dark revenge story potential but it's filmed in a "Sunday afternoon movie" tone. If it has a good climax I'll be satisfied.

[@karlwiggins]

If you are right, and there's no reason to doubt your conclusion, this is a really hamfisted "mystery" that isn't worthy of the name.

[@loriparker666]

So tell me how girl bosses get stabbed with a lightsaber in the stomach and survive but trinity gets stabbed with a tiny small blade and she dies 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@earlbrown1803]

Because trinity didn't want to be apart of this bs. She told Disney I'm one and done. So they had to kill her off after the first episode lol

[@ChristopherAguilera-ez7eq]

Heyland looks like she got the news that entire her career is riding on this thing.

[@freek931]

I hated that the show couldn't let scenes simmer....there were SO many screen wipe transitions in the first episode it was really jarring for me. Plus the fact that may killed a jedi master with nothing but kunai was absolutely insane to me.

[@VonJay]

Like many other Star Wars properties, I think the ideas are greater than the films/shows. Former Jedi hunting down Jedi masters while also being a twin (?) or the mystery surrounding that is a really good premise imo. But for some reason they fail to hire people who can bring these ideas to life in a realistic way. The visuals look cool I guess, but it all looks fake and glossy and magazine like. The actors don’t act in a way that suggests they feel it believe in what they’re saying as well as a myriad of other things. I can go on and on but I think after so many of these similar products from Disney I really have to say that I’m problem. George and Disney have been telling me for the longest that this is for children, and everything I just discussed like most accessible to very young kids. It looks like an expensive YA show airing Saturday morning on CW.

[@averymyles1707]

Mae*

[@averymyles1707]

They're both trained with the force and that's what was predominantly used in the fight scene. The Kunai just happened to be the thing that got her. I don't understand why that's a problem. She used the force to direct a kunai into her heart while she was distracted

[@TheDarkPorkins]

@@averymyles1707 Its like people think a Jedi can ONLY be killed by a lightaber.

[@RichD2024]

As a show that is supposed to introduce us to a new Star Wars era, it is too confined. There is no setting up the world or the factions. 2 episodes in it feels rushed already

[@ModernWelfare_]

Dude speak for yourself, I’ve been reading high republic since I was 12 I’m now 24. 😂

[@martinjrgensen8234]

@@ModernWelfare_Yes but you can’t assume that all viewers have. And my condolences for having read all those boring books.

[@mayorpufnstuf4470]

The problem w/ the fire isn't that it's in space. It's that it's lazy. It only serves to get to some exposition via flashback. At least make it interesting. It doesn't convey the trauma, or that she's still affected by it. Or how she's affected. It doesn't relate to the original experience. Doesn't make us feel what she did, or that she's feeling it again. It doesn't convey any emotion at all. She just looks at a tiny little fire for 2 seconds and... TRIGGERED! The show can't wait to get to EXPLAINING the characters. It's just things happening, anything, to provide reasons for exposition.

[@axellsabode]

There are some positives to the show so far and I will continue to watch, the problems you could actually get around quite easily. Its not necessarily what happens but how it happens. (Spoliers) I get they escape the prison ship, how does it happen? some random guy can just turn off droids for some reason and isnt incapacitated like 1 person is for no reason. Description leads to main character but no one has seen her in 6 years how did they know it was her? no one else fits the description minus a glowing tattoo on her forehead?? Plenty other examples that are actually quite fixable if you could think about for a little longer. The writers in many shows just seem to write 1 thing and never go back to it.

[@smuj77]

HOW DO THEY HAVE THE SAME HAIR STYLE 😭😭😭😭

[@ModernWelfare_]

It’s Disney, remember how they used to depict black people? All of them having dreadlocks seems pretty tame to me. 😂

[@smuj77]

@@ModernWelfare_ I meant the twins, how and why would they magically have the same hair exact after being apart.

[@davidbodor1762]

Could be a cultural thing from her planet or could be because they both had that style as kids and they're both still understandably attached to their childhoods. That said, Mae has those side things that I don't know how to referr to, it's just a slight bit different than Osha.

[@smuj77]

@@davidbodor1762 I actually have teen twins. Twins legit fight for their own identity at a certain age, something as simple as the hairstyle is absolutely absurd to me.

[@davidbodor1762]

@@smuj77 Yeah but they both thought the other one died so maybe that plays a factor.

[@Serpicorider]

Written for the content mill 👌 it almost feels like the bar is to match is the Hallmark approach and it makes my soul hurt lol

[@FilmStockNews]

had me cracking up-I'm definitely in the 'wait and see' camp too, but now I can't stop picturing Jedi watching their own cop shows on Space TV! 😂

[@elyalvaro9109]

The sith is the mother. We haven’t see her but on IMDb it says she was in episode 1 where we see the so called sith at the end.

[@larrydavis7689]

I wasn’t feeling it, something felt off

[@Se7nom]

This is a big meh for me, for now. But I like the guy from Squid Game. And a big, BIG plus for me is that this TV show actually has music that sounds like it would fit a Star Wars movie. All the other Disney+ shows didn't, those soundtracks didn't resemble Star Wars music whatsoever.

[@karlwiggins]

The Mandalorian music is killer.

[@Dsrgreyy]

The characters are immune to cold weather.

[@therealdavidleong]

Being that this is 100 years before the events of the prequels, there's no reason they shouldn't show Yoda.

[@blackbeardbarkbark]

I want more jedi trinity. Honestly, I want jedi squidgames and jedi trinity doing a murder mystery 10 episode where its revealed it was another Jedi (maybe the chewbacca jedi) and they gotta take em down. Unfortunately, we got jedi trinity taking the big L in the first episode and that probably killed it for a lot of people. Oh well, I am a star wars fan through and through so I will stay invested.

[@writingref]

yeah and she gets done in by sort of an obvious trick that should not have worked - since her saber was still in hand. A Jedi Master was not good enough to do two things at once?

[@chazjohannsen]

Jedi Trinity, Jedi Squid Game, and Jedi X-23 sounds like a great team.

[@ModernWelfare_]

@@writingrefThe green lightsaber is what kills it for me, I’m fully convinced Disney doesn’t care about why lightsabers are the color they are, which is moronic because they seem to understand red is for bad guy so I don’t know.

[@writingref]

@@ModernWelfare_ Well we have yellow ones now too so Are they going to do the whole 3 -different Jedi roles thing? I think its a Disney-Era idea that darksiders "bleed" the kyber Crystals to get the red color. (As opposed to synthetic Kyber of the old EU) So the only reason they know what Red is for is because they came up with the reason lol.

[@davidbodor1762]

@@writingref The reason she didn't react in time is because she thought Mae only had 1 knife left, the 2nd one she used was hidden in her sleeve and she took it out behind her back while they were distracted by the bartender, then Mae throws the one that she had seen already and gets hit by the one she didn't know Mae had.

[@Fuuntag]

Honestly, I don’t say this with hate but at this point we will need the equivalent of 5 Andors and a Generation 1 MEGA Kevin Fiege type firing on all cylinders to rescue this universe. Star Wars has just become something to fill schedule and content gaps, its mere existence is out of responsible financial obligation to keep whatever relatively meagre revenue it can generate coming in. They managed to get a toehold with The Mandelorian season 1 but lost it by, and I am sorry Temuera, by the time fat boba was playing second fiddle to literally hosting another series episodes in his own show. I hope they do better.

[@donutella38]

I watched the first two episodes and my thoughts on them can be boiled down to "meh". I think Dan's review is spot on. This show has the potential to be good but it didn't inspire initially. Here's hoping it improves 🤞

[@oneopinion6806]

The opening joke would have punched harder with a smash cut to Mars Attacks "ack ack ack!"

[@wkadalie]

Diversity is not as much of an issue as they want to pretend....Black Panther did great....Wonder woman did great. Into the Spiderverse is doing great..... but if the Marvels bombs it's racism and sexism. Disney has lined up excuses. You can make a girl boss movie but it better be good.

[@JustinVillemure]

Battle Angel Alita is an all time favorite movie - love the manga and felt the movie did some improvements on the story in movie format!

[@wkadalie]

@@JustinVillemure I don't think it did very well...i loved it too. But we fans are also a big problem. We say we want new stuff but never give new stuff a chance. Even when it's good.

[@JustinVillemure]

@@wkadalie You are off track with your comment. Being a fan but wanting new things is not related… not sure what you mean. I am a fan of a lot of stuff and when it comes to film, what matters is quality entertainment: characters I care about, plot and themes that matter. I am a fan of Ninja Turtles and didn’t like the mutant mayhem film… I’m not a fan of Bullet Train but absolutely love that movie, its made me a fan… its not simply about being a fan, its having standards.

[@user-sw9bo1hv9z]

Good writing/storytelling will always beat out the culture wars...THAT BEING SAID, I think the criticism is valid that Disney Star Wars has seemingly leaned into this "We're a girls brand" tag. Even Obi Wan played second fiddle to a female character. If it were written in a way to justify it (like Furiosa) I think you could overcome the label...but they're not even trying.

[@wimpymcsteel4458]

Furiosa was the original "Girl Boss Takes Over Male Led Franchise" movie. Nobody realized it at the time, but that format was about to dominate Hollywood. I personally did not like the movie, but have to admit, Charlize Theron made the character believable.

[@abananwar8808]

They definitely haven’t Iv seen a lot of people say this when something has bad writing funny how no one ever talks about how badly written the prequels are

[@funkrobot9762]

EWWW GIRLS

[@user-sw9bo1hv9z]

@@abananwar8808 Fair point on the quality of prequel writing, but then the controversial casting there was Jake Lloyd & Hayden Christensen (because of their acting abilities, rather than gender or race) and in the spirit of consistency, I MAINTAIN if the writing & directing had been better in the prequels, audiences would have been much more kind to those actors. Same applies to the casting for Disney Star Wars.

[@One.Zero.One101]

@@martymcnasty6306 It's weird this America's obsession with identity politics. Every time there's a show out, the question is what race and gender are the leads. The double-edged sword of consuming American media is you have to deal with the massive American presence on social media.

[@jordanclark219]

I completely forgot they did the Kenobi show until you mentioned it in this video 😳

[@TheReelDealwithTomKonkle]

Yep.

[@ChrisSmith-tu9bu]

Dan basically Encapsulated my thoughts...its so SO meh

[@ChrisSmith-tu9bu]

Yo the original had some good acting and it was a technical marvel of its time that really leaned into that...And in fact the hired Kasdan for one movie to fix the dialogue...New Stars rarely has any acting or actors of the original cast capabilities and they srill have the bad dialogue but without all the things that made the original trilogy such a classic, especially Empire

[@lw1391]

Which character is supposed to be a potential all time favorite?

[@WalkerOne]

I never hear anyone mention that Andor had a majority non white male cast. They just talk about how good it was.

[@vl4581]

Stop being so nice Dan. This is HORRIBLE. It feels like amateur hour. I've seen fan fiction better then this. For the record there is no Mystery, I won't say anymore but after you watch 3 and 4 (which I have seen) you'll see how bad this is.

[@benzos5704]

There needs to be a coming to Jesus moment to Disney writers. Like how do you not treat the first episodes released as “grab their attention now” or risk another show fizzling out. And to not grab attention by cheap fan service but good dialogue.

[@travisvanalst4698]

I don’t have a problem with martial arts being used over Jedi arts….Cherut used similar style. I have a large issue with killing off the main star power for a show and a great actress in the first 4min of the show

[@kingvagar]

🎯🎯🎯

[@jessrl8025]

I'm still going to give this one a shot because the premise sounds interesting. I was waiting on your review to temper my expectations. Will come back and watch the spoiler portion after I've seen the episodes later this week.

[@smuj77]

The main actress definitely wasn’t ready for this, no presence as Mae and I literally lmao when the ship when down she very calmly puts all seatbelts on, crashes and wakes up fine after just a bit of a dust up. This massive ship was hurling through space. Not crapping on the actress, seems young but seems like she should be a supporting character. No one else was very good either. It’s a funny watch but I’m only here to see what’s supposed to be so shocking in episode 3.

[@michiganhughes]

Hollywood has been trying to push this actress since her role in Hunger Games; she’s been in multiple starring roles for some very generously budgeted movies but IMO hasn’t really stood out in any of them.

[@gbrow1604]

@@michiganhughes I never made the connection that it's the same girl from Hunger Games until you said it. lol

[@smuj77]

@@michiganhughes maybe it’s the director but she’s not very good in this, the main Asian guy who people are praising was one of the least Jedi Jedis I’ve ever seen. Everything brings out an emotion in him, again I don’t know why the director and creator was allowed to make this.

[@MacSmithVideo]

Always fun to see Disney learn precisely zero lessons and plow ahead towards the cliff.

[@alexmartin3143]

That was Tommen! 😂😂😂

[@carlosvarela7430]

" This show isn't a disaster is just kind of there"😂

[@jesserodgers5625]

I love that Dan uses an urgency scale for ratings rather than a numeric one. Numberic scales are pretty worthless. 😄

[@splitfinger7719]

Feels like it was written by ChatGPT.. acting was dry at times. Endings rushed. Expected better from massive budget

[@bennozoid1]

i felt the same thing: JediGPT

[@ModernWelfare_]

Also the fact that the show has been in production since 2022! How many fucking times did they reshoot and rewrite this frankensteins monster of a show I wonder.

[@waynro]

Don’t worry, you’ll always be in my cool kids club Dan😤✊🏼

[@beamf]

Great review as always. Agree with all specially on the Trinity note, Even the sound cue in her fight was Matrix style.

[@ChrisSmith-tu9bu]

I think Ashoka kind of ruined this experience for me because Acolyte seems so similarly boring, trite, and meh

[@sdprazak]

I don’t have to root for this show to fail. It’s abundantly clear it will!

[@mckinnon42]

I am fully prepared for this to be crap. After watching the first two episodes, one thing gives me hope. The overtones of politically 'going along to get along' between Vernestra and Sol suggests that the Jedi really did do something sinister on Brendok. Who knows if they can pull it off, but at least some interesting seeds are there.

[@kiyaleelevyrunaya9495]

Just started episode 1, that extreme tonal shift after that awesome opening really took me out of it so much that I had to comment about online xD