‘Star Wars: Lost Crew’: what would happen if The Goonies jumped into hyperspace?

As company president Kathleen Kennedy explained in an interview with Comicbook.com at last year’s Star Wars Celebration, Watts approached her “with the idea of ​​taking ‘The Goonies’ into space.” “It’s true, of course,” says the director, screenwriter and producer. “For me, talking about the Goonies is like saying that the kids are the protagonists. Letting them direct the story.” In fact, ‘Lost Crew’ seems written not only for, but also by ten-year-olds; This is said as the best compliment, as something that distinguishes the series from all that current ‘nerdy’ fiction that is so ironic or saturated with references. “That was just what we wanted,” Ford confirms alongside his old friend. And Watts explains the reason for the regression: “When you make that change of perspective and simply observe everything through the child’s eyes, the galaxy you think you know becomes something completely unique.” Behind the camera, bringing out their old selves, we also find directors like David Lowery (‘A ghost story’), the Daniels (‘Everything at once everywhere’) or Lee Isaac Chung (‘Minari’, ‘Twisters’).

The project did not arise, in any case, as a response to the proud obscurity in which so much entertainment fiction sank until not so long ago. “We also like dark things,” says Ford. “In fact, it’s fun to see how our series overlaps with more, let’s say, more solemn versions of the same universe. The other day I was reviewing ‘Andor’ and I realized that it also had ‘Star Wars’ breakfast cereals in it. “Anyway, we couldn’t get solemn either. It’s difficult when you’re filming a ten-year-old kid who has an animatronic alien in front of him (laughs) and is vibrating with it (more laughter).”

‘Explorers’ in the heart

In this series of (for now) eight chapters, a group of children from the planet At Attin emerge from the certain lethargy of their existences by discovering what appears to be a Jedi temple. Sooner or later, all because of a certain impulse, they are accidentally traveling around the galaxy and looking for a way to return home. It is easy to think not only of ‘The Goonies’, but also, or especially, of ‘Explorers’, in which the characters of Ethan Hawke, River Phoenix and Jason Presson They built a spaceship with their own hands to fulfill their dreams of adventure. “I loved that movie when I was little, I couldn’t stop thinking about it,” Watts admits. “All that cinema that you see in childhood is imprinted in your subconscious and ends up emerging in one way or another.” Ford: “I remember recreating those kinds of movies when I was playing with my friends. In fact, I almost feel like the things that happened in them really happened to me. Like they were part of my real childhood.”

And just like in the MCU Spider-Man trilogy, Watts follows the teachings of the master of teen cinema John Hughesespecially his play with archetypes. It’s delightful to see the better than good guy Wim (great Ravi Cabot-Conyers) try to embody the perfect rebel to impress a young woman, Fern (Ryan Kiera Armstrongprotagonist of the recent remake of ‘Ojos de fuego’), who is a great bad girl, an adept of moto-jets who has the droids fried.

What stars

The presence of Jude Law as a mysterious Jedi (and a bit of a babysitter for our heroes) will be an attraction for some parents, but here the stars, as Watts said before, are the children. Finding them was not easy. “We actually saw a lot of them,” Watts explains. “Many were good actors. But not only did they have to know how to act, but they also had to embody the spirit of the characters. It’s something we saw in those chosen as soon as we saw them walk through the door. When we signed them, we went back to the script and made little twists to make the characters look like the kids were like in real life.”

The young actors knew what ‘Star Wars’ was, but above all because of what their parents had told them. “We don’t give them homework,” Watts says. “We didn’t tell them to watch all the movies in order and, incidentally, all the series (laughs).” In a way, ‘Ghost Crew’ seems like a perfect gateway to the Lucasian universe; option to consider for those new parents who are already pondering how to pass their hobby on to their offspring. “You can come in here without knowing anything about ‘Star Wars’, that’s for sure. Because the protagonists don’t know much about this world either. Basically nothing.”