What the Star Wars shows on Disney+ are sorely missing.

In 2024 war of stars is becoming increasingly difficult to define. Is it a space opera? A science fiction western? A detective series set in space? Like Disney+’s never-ending stream of war of stars Content – ​​last The Acolytea new series with Squid Game Star Lee Jung-jae – George Lucas’ anti-imperialist sci-fi epic has now become nebulous, less a recognizable world and more a series of IP extensions. The Acolytetries, like many of the last five years, to limit the narrative scope of the huge war of stars universe that tells a mystery and revenge story set in space. But the result is lackluster, not least because the series – and others like it – fail to bring the magic of the franchise to the small screen.

I can still remember crashing X-Wings into the Death Star trench, and other iconic moments that have stuck in my mind: the kinetic duel between Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), the Episode III – Revenge of the Sith; the AT-AT walker breaks through the trees into Villain One; the hyperspace ram of the “Holdo maneuver” of The Last Jedi. The mileage depends on what war of starsThe most memorable scenes are, but what unites so many of them is an astonishing sense of spectacle that becomes etched in the brain.

Trying to do this with Disney+’s offering war of stars series, I can’t remember anything. Ask me to remember what happened during The Book of Boba Fettor anything from Ahsokaand I am at a loss. The visual buzz that war of stars unforgettable has disappeared, replaced by an invocation of war of stars through a rotating inventory of recognizable elements – lightsabers, X-wings and fake Boba Fetts – and mere references instead of cinematic magic. There is simply nothing in these shows that captures the visual intoxication that comes from war of stars‘ unbridled brilliance.

Let’s take the opening scene of The Acolyte. Mae (Amandla Stenberg), a Sith-trained assassin, confronts Jedi Master Indara (Carrie-Anne Moss) in a typical war of stars Cantina. According to an Empire interview with series creator Leslye Headland, Indara is “very much inspired by Trinity,” Moss’ cult character from The Matrix. While the allusion to Trinity comes in the form of brief, wuxia-inspired wire-mesh, it is otherwise a sluggish, listless fight, far removed from the dynamism of past war of stars Duels. This is our introduction to two of the most important characters in the series, but it feels more like none of the actors had time to prepare adequately. The exciting, energetic movement of war of stars– which admittedly came into the franchise after a similarly lethargic duel A new hope– is noticeably missing, both in this single moment and in the entire series. Compare this, perhaps unfairly, to Revenge of the Siths decisive showdown against Mustafar. The months McGregor and Christensen spent preparing and perfecting the fight are reflected in the long wait viewers have made for this moment, and are a key reason why the face-off is still greeted with joy by fans on screens big and small. In Disney’s rush to bring content to its streaming platform, that excitement – that momentum – has been lost.

Honestly, there is a lot to celebrate in Disney+’s new series. The Acolyte rejects the binary of “good versus evil” that so many war of starseven if it doesn’t manage to make it really narratively convincing. The costume design, production, hair and make-up of the show are also exemplary and create a beautiful – if sometimes unconvincing – recreation of war of stars the show’s staggering budget of $180 million. But in displacing war of stars on the small screen, it feels like the ambition has been sucked out of the franchise. The portrayal of the war of stars The universe is no longer a fantastical refuge, but an uncanny valley, unable to repeat or renew the visual identity that war of stars so recognizable.

StageCraft – the visual effects technology known colloquially as “The Volume”, developed by Industrial Light and Magic, a company founded by Lucas – bears part of the blame here. Unlike a traditional green screen, StageCraft consists of a sound stage that can incorporate CGI into filming through the use of 20-foot LED screens. Since it was first used in the production of The MandalorianStageCraft has become a mainstay of Disney’s war of stars. While the result is groundbreaking and technically impressive, it often resembles a diorama rather than another world. Scenes and objects are stripped of their depth and definition, resulting in unnaturally smooth images that quickly become synonymous with the franchise – and never more jarring than the absurdly flat stone that Elia Kane (Katy O’Brian) and Penn Pershing (Omid Abtahi) stare at The Mandalorian Season 3.

The Acolyte does not use StageCraft, according to Headland, but the series still retains the visual lexicon that the technology in Disney’s war of stars. The rich color of the Republic from the prequel trilogy has been transformed into a pale facade that The AcolyteThe High Republic era feels sterile, muted, and indistinct, even compared to the rusty, worn-out world of Lucas’s original trilogy.

This is not a plea for war of stars‘ to the big screen. We know Star Wars can be successful on television – a typical example: Andora series that not only expanded the narrative potential of the franchise, but was also visually memorable, thanks to the on-location filming and art direction that was Villain OneWe already have far too much rhetoric about how certain things must in the cinema, often without considering those who cannot. The real problem is that war of stars must rediscover its energy and show us how much may on the small screen – just as Lucas, for better or worse, persistently tested the limits of what could be achieved visually on the big screen. Sometimes you just have to see a giant spaceship do something strange or lasers whiz across the screen until you can’t see anything else. Lucas was successful at making children quietly shout “cooooool”; these moments have stayed with us for decades and still invite us to experience them today one more time with a rewatch at the right time.

war of stars has so much potential as a vehicle for bold storytelling. I am not advocating that it should be Only naked spectacle – and that would not alleviate The Acolytemany flaws. But I can’t help but think that the lack of imagination that Disney+’s version of war of stars begins in its appearance. By losing its optical edge, its dynamism and visual splendor, war of stars feels like a strange cannibalization of itself and turns into a generic science fiction that, like so much science fiction before it, simply refers war of stars instead of understanding it. Until it finally becomes visually dull and empty and no more lightsabers swing more.