'The Acolyte' has potential, but it's got big boots to fill

It shouldn't come as a huge surprise that one approaches 'The Acolyte' with a certain amount of trepidation.

'Star Wars' as a franchise has been in somewhat rocky terrain for the past few years. The movies flatlined with 'The Rise of Skywalker', and there's only a finale of 'The Mandalorian' on the horizon for the moment. Speaking of taciturn bounty hunters, the most recent season of 'The Mandalorian' was fine - but definitely uneven. As for 'The Book of Boba Fett', it almost seemed to give up on its central conceit halfway through and shift into a half-way season of 'The Mandalorian'. The most successful endeavour has been 'Andor' and it casts a long shadow. With 'The Acolyte', there's less of the baggage involved in that it's set a hundred years before the events of the movies or the TV series, and has none of the attendant expectations. There's a chance for a fresh perspective, and more importantly, fresh ideas.

Of the four episodes made available for press, 'The Acolyte' spins up a brand-new world of aliens, planets, and political dynamic. The Republic is in its zenith, the Jedi are abundant and in their prime, and there's no immediate danger or threat looming against it. The series creator, Leslye Headland, is perhaps best known for her work on Netflix's excellent 'Russian Doll', which starred Natasha Lyonne. Intriguingly, 'The Acolyte' has more in common with Lyonne's other work of late - 'Poker Face'. When you boil it right down to genre, 'The Acolyte' is a murder-mystery set in the 'Star Wars' universe.

Amandla Stenberg plays a dual role of Osha and Mae - one is a ship mechanic and a Jedi Order dropout, while the other is a vengeful assassin who is offing a group of Jedi that - as the series progresses - shares a past with both of them. Stenberg - who audiences will know as Rue from 'The Hunger Games' or more recently, 'Bodies Bodies Bodies' - is able to easily differentiate the two roles so that they seem complete as opposed to one side of the other. Though she's the title role, much of the show sees 'Squid Game' alum Lee Jung-jae leading the hunt for the assassin who just so happens to be the twin of his former Padawan with the help of Stenberg's character, Dafne Keen and Charlie Barnett, both of whom are Jedi investigators.

There's a definite sense of trying something new in 'The Acolyte', with directors like Kogonada and Headland herself taking the reins and pulling it in different directions. Indeed, Kogonada's episode is a self-contained yarn about how the twins came to be and plays out like a kind of gothic fairytale with a dazzling guest turn by Jodie Turner-Smith. Yet, for all the promise and potential, 'The Acolyte' never quite pushes itself out in the same way that 'Andor' did. It may be that it's hamstrung by its inclusion of Jedi and, by extension, characters that are caught up in a simplistic moral binary. Even when it tries to push against this, the weight of it keeps snapping it back into place.

It also doesn't help matters that some of the scenes and setups feel particularly flat, and you can feel the edges of the set. That said, the fight sequences are much more tactile and intimate than previous efforts, with Headland clearly working with influences such as 'Kill Bill' and 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. Much like the series itself, the ambition is there - even if the execution isn't quite there.

'The Acolyte' certainly has an appeal and a unique take, and the idea of a murder-mystery set in the 'Star Wars' universe opens up all kinds of possibilities. Though it leaves out some of the accompanying elements with what we've come to expect in 'Star Wars', such as a political edge or a galaxy-wide threat, 'The Acolyte' has some potential. It remains to be seen if it lives up to it.