At long last, here we are: D Plus Day. My head was spinning with all the content I could watch. Throwbacks from my youth, favorite blockbusters of today… but who was I kidding? There was only one title that truly drew my eye. One D+ original that has shown so much promise and intrigue, I had to watch it as soon as I could. The Mandalorian, at the very least, does not disappoint…
Star Wars is a touchy subject for many these days. Many of my generation have been let down time and time again, whether it was the prequels in our mid teens, or the sequels now in our mid 30’s, Star Wars fans have become disillusioned at many turns, and some have written off the franchise altogether.
This particular reviewer, however, has approached most SW related content with hopeful optimism, giving way to general apathy as time goes on. The Mandalorian seemed different. There was something visceral and, well “Star Wars” about it. It’s new and yet somehow familiar, as a place I knew once in a memory or a dream but am now seeing in living color.
The first episode opens with our main character barren, cold planet– doing what he does, and that’s being the best damn Bounty Hunter in the guild. I’m fully refraining from spoilers; this show deserves it. Throughout the first episode, the writers — led here, by Iron Man and live action Jungle Book/Lion King director Jon Favreau — do such a great job of “show, don’t tell” that the new battalion must be commended.
We see Pedro Pascal’s Mandalorian and his skills, his morals, his outlook, if not his command of dialogue. He is very much a man of few words, and I LOVE THAT. He has no need for soliloquy, for expository dialogue; he just executes. His methods, his tactics, his approach is cool, methodical, cunning, and not without a fair helping of daring as well.
There’s a few subtle nuances that I want to give a call out to before I wrap this up… I applaud how well this show embraces what it doesn’t have to be. Much of the maligned main Star Wars movies have the issue of over-blowing everything. There’s so much unnecessary nonsense going around at all times that it’s distracting. One tiny detail I have to mention is that when our hero is scouting an encampment, he pulls out this very simple looking tube, might as well have been a heavy gauge straw that you’d get from 7-11, but it was his scouting scope. It didn’t have to be some giant technological terror constructed to sell toys. It’s very much stripped down, and showcases the less-is-more mentality that I pray this show continues throughout the series.
The Mandalorian’s a spaghetti western in space. It’s full of intrigue and just the right amount of world building that has me hooked and waiting on the edge of my recliner for the next episode (it’s actually week to week, not bingable). I loved it. It was Star Wars again. It was exactly what I wanted. 5/5 Beskar Bibles.
-Dan Witt