The Mandalorian: A Dash Of ‘Rogue One,’ A Splash Of ‘New Hope’
Below is a spoiler-free impression of the new show The Mandalorian on the new streaming service Disney+. It won’t be a full review because I don’t think one episode is enough exposure to the material to do that. But it does make the tone and quality clear as crystal, so that’s what I’ll talk about.
Tonally lighter than expected
Despite knowing that Jon Favreau was writing the first episode of The Mandalorian, the new Star Wars universe show on which he is executive producer, I thought the show would be more consistently dark than much of his other projects, such as Chef or Iron Man. So I was somewhat surprised to see a lot more humor than the trailers indicated. And very much the sort of enjoyably cheesy humor found in Star Wars Episode One: A New Hope.
To be clear, there are plenty of darker moments, which makes sense with the show being set in the chaotic time period after the fall of the Empire but before the events of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Which brings us to the character played by Werner Herzog. He is hands down the most chillingly disturbing villain in the entire canon since the first appearance of Darth Vader himself. That should be no surprise to me — Herzog was absolutely the best part of Jack Reacher, as the behind-the-scenes villain, the Zec. IMdb.com lists his character as appearing in just one episode, and seeing as how he was in the trailers, I hope that isn’t the case.
Another surprise is how tonally this show is like a classic Western show or movie. The music is as much inspired by Ennio Morricone’s spaghetti Western themes as it is by the classic John Williams scores. While the environments on the various worlds are interestingly alien they are also not far off from the dry landscape of High Plains Drifter or the snowy mountains of The Hateful Eight. And the tavern shootout shown in the last trailer isn’t the only stereotypical action found in a Western movie replicated in The Mandalorian.
High quality
The directing and cinematography of episode one of The Mandalorian are both top notch. The special effects — an important part of a galaxy spanning science fiction show or movie — are outstanding. It is clear the SFX team uses both practical and digital effects to great effect, and have the budget to do them well. The writing is good, although there are a few illogical moments where actions are taken clearly for show and without much logic to the world building or story.
The acting is the toughest nut to crack. Pedro Pascal is very good, but it is — so far — almost like doing voice-over work. As mentioned Werner Herzog is outstanding, and the surprising guest actors do credible jobs. Carl Weathers is solid and much less excessive than he was in his most famous role, Predator.
The expansion of the Star Wars universe is intriguing, and I look forward eagerly to the show expanding on this time period of the last stragglers of the Empire coming up against what may be the beginnings of the First Order (at least, that seems to be a group implied in the trailers), and how the people caught in that chaos are affected.
So far The Mandalorian looks like a good opening salvo by Disney+ in the streaming services wars. I expect even more good things from the show going forward.
