‘The Mandalorian’ – Chapter 1 and 2 Review

Star Wars history was made this last week as the first ever live-action Star Wars television show was released on Disney+. Titled The Mandalorian, this new show is directed by Iron Man and The Jungle Book director, Jon Favreau. It takes place after Return of the Jedi and follows a mysterious unnamed bounty hunter on a new job. The first two episodes have been released and I wanted to take some time to discuss my thoughts so far. As an avid fan of Star Wars since I was seven years old, I was quite excited about the prospect of having a live-action Star Wars show. This was something that I never thought I would see due to Star Wars television solely being animated, such as with The Clone Wars and Rebels. Right off the bat, this show feels like a different Star Wars than what we are used to. Rather than being on the epic scale of the Skywalker Saga or Rogue One, the tone and ambiance of The Mandalorian is more akin to a Western. From the first scene of the film when the title character walks through the doors of the saloon (or cantina), it feels like a fresh Star Wars, one that allows for the possibility of anything to happen and doesn’t have the constraints to follow a pre-exiting narrative, like most films and shows have up to this point. In the first two episodes, we learn very little about the protagonist. He is not a likable character at first and says almost nothing. Over the course of this season and the next, I am sure we will slowly get to know more about his past and where he comes from, with a little bit already being hinted at in the first episode. Initially, I found the first episode to be a bit underwhelming. It was slow-moving and I didn’t feel very invested in the characters. However, the ending of the first episode and the entirety of the second changed my mind. Not only are we seeing character development from the mando himself, but we are seeing long established Star Wars myths and traditions from the perspective of someone who hasn’t seen them before, which makes me quite excited for what’s to come.

[usr 3.5]