PLOT: Set five years after the fall of the Empire as depicted in RETURN OF THE JEDI and twenty-five years before the emergence of the First Order depicted in THE FORCE AWAKENS. It follows an independent Mandalorian bounty hunter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic.
REVIEW: The day has finally come for the first live action STAR WARS project not featured on the big screen. With Disney banking on the success of their new Disney+ streaming service, the crown jewel is this standalone story focused on a very different type of tale set in a galaxy far, far away. With episodes premiering weekly like the serials that originally inspired George Lucas’ film saga, we are going to experience STAR WARS unlike ever before. And, with Disney deciding not to share episodes in advance to preserve the reveals for viewers to experience without spoilers, our review comes after having watched just the first Jon Favreau-penned episode which premiered today. So is The Mandalorian a worthy standalone tale that warrants future small screen jaunts into the STAR WARS universe or is it another curiosity like ROGUE ONE and SOLO?
Since the whole world will be checking this out, I am going to include some SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST EPISODE, so if you are planning to watch this fresh, I recommend you skip to the last paragraph of this review for my final word on the series premiere. For everyone else, The Mandalorian is a series that promised a major plot element that would change the fabric of the STAR WARS universe. While I would not go quite that far, it certainly does have a big twist in the final minutes of the premiere. Does the twist make or break the series? No, but it does set up an intriguing run that could add a lot to the STAR WARS canon, much like the animated series like Clone Wars, Rebels, and Resistance. And that is what The Mandalorian feels like: a live action version of the canonical STAR WARS animated series. It explores the mythology and the story but it also is going to appeal to die hard fans a lot more than casual viewers.
Make no mistake, the trailers barely scratch the surface of the action packed into the premiere episode. Set on three distinct worlds in the first forty minute episode alone, The Mandalorian has a score from CREED composer Ludwig Göransson that sounds like an alien version of the iconic theme to THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY and the trademark wipes and transitions that make this series feel like it fits right in with George Lucas' original films. Maybe it was my TV and my tablet, but the crystal clear digital picture was a bit unnerving and took the cinematic quality of STAR WARS away from the show, often making it feel like a very high quality fan film. Yes, the special effects are solid but it doesn't have the gritty feel I was expecting it to have. Directed by Dave Filoni, showrunner of both the Rebels and Clone Wars TV series, The Mandalorian looks like STAR WARS but feels like it is missing something.
Pedro Pascal is a man of few words in the first episode, starting out stoic before getting some more levity in his performance, easily distinguishing his nameless Mandalorian from Boba Fett. We get some intriguing flashbacks to the main character's origin as well as the feeling that we may never see Pascal's face on this series at all. The first episode does give us an appearance by Carl Weathers as well as Werner Herzog and cameos by Nick Nolte as an alien that helps our hero and Taika Waititi as another fan favorite bounty hunter, IG-11. These along with many other easter eggs (RETURN OF THE JEDI fans will notice the most) add to the cool factor of the episode. This is an action heavy episode with the major sequences being an escape from an underwater alien creature and the closing gunfight between the bounty hunters.
The Mandalorian is jam packed with references to STAR WARS movies and series and even confirms that the STAR WAR HOLIDAY SPECIAL is in fact canonical (listen for a Life Day reference early in the episode). But, the final twist in the Jon Favreau-scripted episode reveals a baby Yoda, something we have never seen before in STAR WARS live action. What does this mean for the plot of the season and the future of STAR WARS remains to be seen, but it feels somewhat safe. In fact, this entire episode feels pretty safe. Clearly, Disney+ is being aimed at families so we don't actually see any on screen violence besides some blaster wounds even though some mortal injuries are teased off screen. Favreau's dialogue is sometimes heavy-handed which may be an intentional callback to the pulpy tone of Lucas' classic films. I have a feeling many adult viewers may groan a bit at the humor that peppers this first episode.
Like the divisive standalone STAR WARS feature films, The Mandalorian is going to divide audiences. It certainly looks like STAR WARS and has enough going for it to make me come back for the next seven episodes, but it is also risky to make your main character one who spouts only a handful of lines in the entire episode. Granted, a long form series has more potential to develop characters over multiple chapters, but this first episode feels like it moves very fast but teaches us very little. Yes, we know now that Mandalorians treasure Beskar ore, but we really don't know why. This premiere episode is definitely good but it may be too soon to tell if it is good enough.
The Mandalorian is now streaming on Disney+ with new episodes premiering weekly.