Primal script for adult audience
My Acolyte Star Wars adult review: The first two episodes of the new Star Wars series, “Acolyte,” are out. I’m not the biggest fan of this franchise, but I decided to give it a go, especially since “The Mandalorian” was really enjoyable.
I can’t judge the cast since I don’t know much about them. However, I can judge the visuals, action, and script.
In my opinion, the show seems to be made for adult kids. What does that mean, you ask? The scriptwriting is so “primal” that a child could understand it, but the content is intended for adults, as no kid could grasp the meaning of what they say.
I want to mention one specific scene that made my neck hair stand on end.
In the second episode, there’s a scene where some guards are supposed to watch a “suspect.” The suspect magically appears in a scene with the main character where they talk about future plans. During the entire conversation, which lasts about 1:30 minutes, the guards don’t notice the suspect leaving. When both the suspect and the main character finish talking, the guards suddenly realize their “prisoner” is gone. They were being polite and waited until the conversation was over, of course.
Then one of the guards says, “He’s gone. Come on.” Immediately after that, we cut to the suspect who also says, “Come on!” and they both run away. With a quick search on ChatGPT, I found ten different ways to say “Come on!” (excluding “Shake a leg!” and “Make it snappy!” hahaha). I know this is not a significant point to rant about, but it annoys me. It feels like forcing pieces of a puzzle together.
Cliche action
Next, I’d like to quickly mention the really childish and cliché fighting scenes.
The showrunners have put more focus on hand-to-hand combat scenes, which is a really cool combination and has high potential. But, they threw this potential in the bin. Let me explain:
The biggest or most dramatic fight was between the master, Sol, and his former student, Mae. They meet in a standoff after not seeing each other for a long time. After some waffling about the past, Mae starts to attack with an unnecessary triple flip, ending in the next camera angle with an impossible end position. It seems like she teleported her foot to Sol’s face.
Then there’s a dramatic pause, where she realizes, “Oh shit, did I just do that? OMG.” She then continues attacking with some breakdance moves. Sol easily avoids every attempted attack, but sometimes he purposefully deflects or blocks a hit even though he doesn’t have to.
The last block has another dramatic pause. I understand that you need this to create tension between the fighters, but it makes it look like they need a break after a fighting combo because it’s so exhausting. But it isn’t. They barely sweat.
Then they waffle again. Mae gets angrier, and now Sol actively fights back, but it looks more like a dance scene.
After more combos and a dramatic near-miss of grabbing the light saber, Mae looks where Sol was, but he appears out of nowhere behind her. Lol. But Mae senses him and goes for a behind-the-back move. How does she miss him while watching him but senses him behind her?
Lastly, there are some very quick cuts and camera angles for the big finale. Sol reveals he stole all of Mae’s knives. OMG.
Yeah, now I’m finished. It’s just ridiculous how boring this fight is. I don’t feel the tension or the intentions of either character. In my opinion, the fight is just a collage of cool but unnecessary moves that are broken up with pauses they don’t need. You build up power, but then the viewer gets edged and can’t get the satisfaction of “the final hit.”
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/star_wars_the_acolyte
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