Mandalorian Season One (2019)

Home Theatre
Mandalorian Season One (2019)
By Hervé St-Louis
January 2, 2022 - 12:34

Studios: Fairview Entertainment, Golem Creations, Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Studios
Writer(s): Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Christopher Yost, Rick Famuyiwa
Cover Artist(s): Scott Morse
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers, Gina Carano, Giancarlo Esposito, Chris Bartlett
Directed by: Dave Filoni, Rick Famuyiwa, Deborah Chow, Bryce Dallas Howard, Taika Waititi
Produced by: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Kathleen Kennedy, Colin Wilson
Running Time: 320 minutes
Release Date: 2019
Rating: PG13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned)
Distributors: Disney +

The Mandalorian is a bounty hunter whose job is to capture the “child”, and alien form of life whose presence and blood is precious for the Empire. While completing his mission, Mandalorian becomes attached to the child and seeks to rescue him from the Empire and many more bounty hunters that are after them. Will they succeed?

The first season of The Mandalorian was one of the breakthrough series on Disney +, although it is also available legally on DVD discs, if you know where to find it. This series was important in reinvigorating the Star Wars at Disney after a series of failures with the succeeding chapters following the original trilogy and sequels. Exploring a little-known order and alien people inspired from the brief appearances of Boba Fett, The Mandalorian quietly entertained a new generation of Star Wars fans and older ones, giving them hope for a brand-new day.

The story here, follows the usual trope of Star Wars heroes going on their hero’s journey. Here, instead of training to become a better fighter, the Mandalorian redeems himself with acts of selflessness towards the child, a member of Yoda’s race. If you read Marvel’s 1992 Nomad series by Fabian Nicieza (writer) and S. Clarke Hawbaker (artist), you will be familiar with the concept of the tenured combatant protecting the infant while transporting said child throughout conflicts and fights. The Mandalorian may have looked innovative, but Marvel, and comics, as usual did it first.

Yet, the series is quite good and even though he wore a mask most of the time, the Mandalorian still became easy to relate to, as he became a father figure for the child. What I liked with the series was how it added life to old Star Wars universe, reintroducing older races and of course some great one liner such as “I have spoken” to shut down discussions, or “This is the way” to tacitly accept and make difficult choices in life.

Of course, the series benefited from the best effects and cinematography available for the small screen. It did not look like a cheap CW show with cheap effects. The animatronics and puppets for the droids and the child were cheesy and not as pleasant. My other beef is not being able to easily find Mandalorian action figures, but that, is another matter, for another article.

Rating: 7.5/10