TV REVIEW: The Mandalorian (S1E1-E3)
(Love And Happiness - Al Green)
Alright, already.
Yes, I've been watching The Mandalorian. I've started this review four times now, and life keeps distracting me. I'll do better, I promise.
It's finally here. Disney continues its slow, steady process of building an empire within the entertainment industry, and their latest step forward is the launch of the Disney+ streaming service. There's a lot to love about D+, but many people have primarily purchased the service for one reason:
The Mandalorian.
If you know what a Mandalorian is -- TL;DR, they're awesome space warriors that sometimes bounty-hunt as a profession -- then you've probably been excited about this show. Lord knows it's responsible for a great many of the Disney+ subscriptions running around right now.
We're three episodes in now, more than enough time to answer the only question that matters:
Is it any good?
THE SHORT VERSION:
So far, yeah. Absolutely it has.
THE LONG VERSION:
There's not much that I can say about this show without spoiling it. The Mandalorian is shot like an old spaghetti western, and I suspect that's quite deliberate. Mandos have always been 'Lone Gunman' style characters, and it appears that the one headlining this show is no different. That's a good thing, because that mystique and presence is part of why the OG Mando, Bobba Fett, became such a cult icon.
The music is good. The story has been good. The character cast has been good. The special effects have been mostly good. There's a bit too much 'Star Wars after George Lucas started remaking it in the '90s' in it, but that's sort of...Star Wars these days.
Anyone who has been on the internet lately knows what the first major spoiler in the show is, so I won't bother spoiling it here. Suffice it to say, it's a hum-dinger of a spoiler. The show isn't perfect, but it's more than good enough to keep me excited every time Friday rolls around and a new episode drops.
If the prospect of this show excited you, you won't be dissapointed. If you don't know who Mandos are and were looking for a new space western, you'll probably like this show too. Everyone else probably hasn't bothered to read this, so...yeah.
Here are my major likes and dislikes for the show thus far, and this -does- have spoilers in it, so...you've been warned.
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!!!!
LIKE: This Mando is not a Gary Stu. He's not perfect. He's still learning.
LIKE: There's a bit in the first episode where the Mando comes into an ingot of Beskar steel, a -very- powerful metal in the Star Wars universe. How that's handled is absolutely awesome, as is his interface with the Forge Mistress.
LIKE: The Mando clearly has a code, has some kind of Bushido. There's a ritual-esque fashion with which he approaches certain things like honoring a bounty, splitting his prize appropriately, and other cultural things. See again that scene with the Forge Mistress. I LOVE that.
LIKE: The musical composer is playing around a lot with tubular horns of some kind to make it sound a bit more...wild and tribal. I wasn't sure how keen I was on it the first time I watched Episode 1, but it's growing on me pretty steadily. Pretty sure I like it now.
DISLIKE: There's a scene with Jawas and an egg that is...over the top.
DISLIKE: Maybe they'll explain this later, but there's a very cool scene in the second episode where The Child does something Force-like to a space rhino, and when he is asked about it later, the Mando doesn't seem to understand what happened. Given the history of the Mandalorians, I feel like he absolutely SHOULD have known.
LIKE: THE CHILD. Holy shit, I hope they don't mess that up.
DISLIKE: The child is supposed to be 50 years old. Given that humans reach physical maturity approximately 20% of their way through life, and Yoda was ancient at 900 years old, this child should be, makes no difference, five years old by now. Then again....maybe he matures at a different rate? I don't know. I feel like something's up there.
LIKE: I love how the Mando doesn't talk too much. That's fine. Keep it short and sweet. He's cool, calm, and quiet. I dig that.
Alright, already.
Yes, I've been watching The Mandalorian. I've started this review four times now, and life keeps distracting me. I'll do better, I promise.
It's finally here. Disney continues its slow, steady process of building an empire within the entertainment industry, and their latest step forward is the launch of the Disney+ streaming service. There's a lot to love about D+, but many people have primarily purchased the service for one reason:
The Mandalorian.
If you know what a Mandalorian is -- TL;DR, they're awesome space warriors that sometimes bounty-hunt as a profession -- then you've probably been excited about this show. Lord knows it's responsible for a great many of the Disney+ subscriptions running around right now.
We're three episodes in now, more than enough time to answer the only question that matters:
Is it any good?
THE SHORT VERSION:
So far, yeah. Absolutely it has.
THE LONG VERSION:
There's not much that I can say about this show without spoiling it. The Mandalorian is shot like an old spaghetti western, and I suspect that's quite deliberate. Mandos have always been 'Lone Gunman' style characters, and it appears that the one headlining this show is no different. That's a good thing, because that mystique and presence is part of why the OG Mando, Bobba Fett, became such a cult icon.
The music is good. The story has been good. The character cast has been good. The special effects have been mostly good. There's a bit too much 'Star Wars after George Lucas started remaking it in the '90s' in it, but that's sort of...Star Wars these days.
Anyone who has been on the internet lately knows what the first major spoiler in the show is, so I won't bother spoiling it here. Suffice it to say, it's a hum-dinger of a spoiler. The show isn't perfect, but it's more than good enough to keep me excited every time Friday rolls around and a new episode drops.
If the prospect of this show excited you, you won't be dissapointed. If you don't know who Mandos are and were looking for a new space western, you'll probably like this show too. Everyone else probably hasn't bothered to read this, so...yeah.
Here are my major likes and dislikes for the show thus far, and this -does- have spoilers in it, so...you've been warned.
HERE THERE BE SPOILERS!!!!
LIKE: This Mando is not a Gary Stu. He's not perfect. He's still learning.
LIKE: There's a bit in the first episode where the Mando comes into an ingot of Beskar steel, a -very- powerful metal in the Star Wars universe. How that's handled is absolutely awesome, as is his interface with the Forge Mistress.
LIKE: The Mando clearly has a code, has some kind of Bushido. There's a ritual-esque fashion with which he approaches certain things like honoring a bounty, splitting his prize appropriately, and other cultural things. See again that scene with the Forge Mistress. I LOVE that.
LIKE: The musical composer is playing around a lot with tubular horns of some kind to make it sound a bit more...wild and tribal. I wasn't sure how keen I was on it the first time I watched Episode 1, but it's growing on me pretty steadily. Pretty sure I like it now.
DISLIKE: There's a scene with Jawas and an egg that is...over the top.
DISLIKE: Maybe they'll explain this later, but there's a very cool scene in the second episode where The Child does something Force-like to a space rhino, and when he is asked about it later, the Mando doesn't seem to understand what happened. Given the history of the Mandalorians, I feel like he absolutely SHOULD have known.
LIKE: THE CHILD. Holy shit, I hope they don't mess that up.
DISLIKE: The child is supposed to be 50 years old. Given that humans reach physical maturity approximately 20% of their way through life, and Yoda was ancient at 900 years old, this child should be, makes no difference, five years old by now. Then again....maybe he matures at a different rate? I don't know. I feel like something's up there.
LIKE: I love how the Mando doesn't talk too much. That's fine. Keep it short and sweet. He's cool, calm, and quiet. I dig that.
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