***This review contains some spoilers***
Watch the SPOILER review on YouTube
The inaugural season of “The Mandalorian” takes clichés from sci-fi, westerns and samurai films, and wraps them in a shiny Star Wars package. The result is an entertaining show that has action and heart, but takes a few too many detours in what’s an already short season.
The plot in general is quite basic and unoriginal: Legendary bounty hunter goes after a target, has a change of heart and decides to protect the target, and goes on the run from the people that hired him. After setting up the premise, the show doesn’t quite seem to know what direction to go. There’s not always a clear narrative. Often, it’s just a pit stop for Mando to make some money. But, considering he doesn’t seem to have any kind of plan, let alone one that’s going to require needing lots of money, it feels removed from the main plot. Normally, there’s nothing wrong with having a few episodes like this, but considering this season is only eight episodes, and some of them aren’t much longer than a half an hour, it feel like filler. They also borrow quite liberally from well-worn tropes, like the lone gunslinger saving a village. While the show is able to make this a bit more unique by adding plenty of Star Wars fan service, the true selling point is the relationship between Mando and the ridiculously-cute “Baby Yoda.” (This is even more impressive since one of them doesn’t take off his helmet and the other is a puppet.)
Pedro Pascal is able to bring so much humanity to the role, even though he starts off as a man of few words, he conveys a lot with just body language. The rest of the supporting cast is solid, but most only make one or two appearances before they all come together for the finale. But, by that point, they’ve done enough to make you care about all these fictional characters, and want to see more of them.
Overall, the special effects are pretty solid, although some of the CG can be pretty weak and there’s a few time Baby Yoda looks like a lifeless puppet. But, if what I heard is true that they never left a soundstage, that makes the outdoor scenes that much more impressive. In general, the action set-pieces are innovated and exciting. Everything is pulled together nicely by a fantastic soundtrack. It’s more western-inspired, and only occasionally dips into more traditional Star Wars sounding motifs.
“The Mandalorian” season one is a fun ride with a surprisingly big amount of heart. The plot stalls on occasion, and sometimes their answer is just to throw more Star Wars easter eggs at things. The fact that they make you care so much for a man that never shows his face protecting a puppet proves that the show accomplished what it set out to do.
**** out of *****