Review - The Mandalorian (2019 - 2020)

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, we're nearly at the end of May the Fourth, and so I thought it would be fun to take a look at the first live-action television series in the Star Wars series: The Mandalorian. Created by Jon Favreau, the director of Iron Man, this series debuted as a Disney+ launch title, and was an instant success. But what made it so? Let's find out as we take a look at The Mandalorian. Spoilers for seasons one and two ahead. 

        So, our hero is a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Din Djarin aka The Mandalorian, or Mando for short. Mando receives a new mission to recover an asset for The Client, who is a former Imperial agent. Oh, yeah that's right, this series is set between the events of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. Anyway, Mando heads to a den of Mandalorians, where he gets an armor upgrade from the Armorer. So, Mando leaves the planet he's on, Navarro, and heads off to acquire the Asset, meeting an Ugnaught named Kuiil, and an IG model assassin droid named IG-11. After a major battle, Mando and IG-11 discover that the asset is an infant from the same species as Yoda. IG attempts to kill the Child, but Mando keeps this from happening. 

       Mando takes the Child, and recovers parts of his ship, the Razor Crest, that were stolen by some local Jawas, after defeating a beast known as a Mudhorn. Returning to Navarro, Mando hands the Child over to the Client, receiving his payment of Beskar, which is used to make a new armor and a weapon known as "whistling birds" to use. Concerned about the well-being of the Child, Mando rescues him and shoots through Stormtroopers and other bounty hunters, making his escape despite warnings from local bounty hunter guild leader Greef Karga. 

         The next set of adventures Mando goes on take him and the Child to several worlds, and has him helping a local fishing village on the planet Sorgan, with assistance from former Rebel shock trooper Cara Dune, and joining a rookie bounty hunter take on Fennec Shane on Tatooine, and even helping with a breakout on a New Republic prison ship, with one of the crew he works with being a criminal named Migs Mayfeld. 

       Mando is eventually summoned back to Navarro, and he recruits both Kuiil and Cara to help protect the Child. On Navarro, Greef reveals that the Imperials have locked things down ever since Mando fled with the Child. It is here that we learn that the Client was working for a high ranking Imperial named Moff Gideon, who has the Client killed, and two scout troopers kill Kuiil, but a reprogrammed IG-11 saves the Child from the troopers. Mando, Greef, Cara, and IG-11 meet with the Armorer, who mentions that the Child, who throughout the season displayed mystical abilities, has a connection to the Jedi, and Mando is now tasked with returning the Child to the Jedi. So, the Imperials are dispatched, IG-11 sacrifices himself to save the Child, and Mando heads off to find the Jedi. Miff Gideon, meanwhile, reveals that he possesses a relic that is sacred to the Mandalorians: the Dark Saber. 

       Season Two picks up with Mando and the Child at a wrestling match, where they learn of a possible Mandalorian sighting on Tatooine, where Mando heads to a small town, and meets the town's marshal: Cobb Vanth. Cobb acquired a Beskar armor from some Jawas, and uses it to protect the town. After teaming up with some local Tusken Raiders,  Mando and co. defeats a massive Krayt dragon, and the Tuskens take the Krayt dragon pearl from the stomach of the dead beast, and Cobb surrenders the Beskar armor.

         Mando is then hired to take a passenger, the Frog Lady, to the moon of Trask to reunite with her husband, the Frog Man. On Trask, Mando meets a group of Mandalorians, led by Bo-Katan Kryze, who offer to lead Mando to a Jedi in exchange for recovering an Imperial ship to aid in the saving of planet Mandalore from the Imperials. Bo-Katan then instructs Mando to head to the forest planet of Corvus, where he'll find Ahsoka Tano. 

      Before heading to Corvus, Mando heads back to Navarro, where he, Greef, and Cara learn of what the Imperials intended to use the Child for: clone Force users in the hope of bringing the Emperor back. On Corvus, Mando meets a local magistrate, who has a spear of pure Beskar, and says she'll give it to him in exchange for Ahsoka's death. Mando goes to find Ahsoka, who reveals that the Child's name is Grogu, who has formed too strong an attachment to Mando, and thus she won't take Grogu to train as a Jedi. However, after defeating the magistrate, and getting info on the location of the magistrate's master, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Ahsoka suggests that Mando take Grogu to Tython, where a seeing stone will allow Grogu to reach another Jedi through the Force. On Tython, Mando is confronted by Fennec, and her new partner Boba Fett, who wants the armor Mando took from Cobb Vanth. Boba, Fennec, and Mando then fight off a battalion of Stormtroopers, and Grogu is taken by robotic Darktroopers, Boba and Fennec agree to recover Grogu, and head off with Mando to Navarro, where he convinces Cara, now a marshal in the New Republic, to release Mayfield, who Mando believes can help locate Moff Gideon's ship. 

             After getting the location of the ship, with help from Mayfield, Mando and Boba recruit Bo-Katan, and her fellow Mandalorian Koska Reeves, to save Grogu from Moff Gideon's ship. Bo-Katan, Koska, Fennec, and Cara all work together to take control of the ship, while Mando rescues Grogu from Moff Gideon, all while acquiring the Dark Saber, thus messing up Bo-Katan's plans to recover it herself and use it to restore freedom to Mandalore. Meanwhile, a lone X-Wing pilot arrives and thoroughly decimates the dark troopers using a green lightsaber. Luke Skywalker has arrived to take Grogu to train as a Jedi. Mando sends Grogu with Likes as he belongs with the Jedi.

          Later on, Fennec and Boba head to Jabba's Palace on Tatooine, killing Bib Fortuna and the rest of Jabba's old crew, taking the palace over for themselves. And we'll learn where they end up this December in The Book of Boba Fett.

        Okay, so clearly, this series is awesome. Jon Favreau, and his list of directors, which includes Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow, Rick Famiyua, Taika Waititi, Bryce Dallas Howard, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed, and Robert Rodriguez, all did excellent work over the course of these two seasons. Lead actor Pedro Pascal is excellent as Mando, and even though we rarely get to see his face, we still appreciate how awesome he is. Other actors like Carl Weathers, Gina Carano, Nick Nolte, Bill Burr, Ming-Na Wen, Mark Boone Jr, Natalia Tena, Werner Herzog, Giancarlo Esposito, Richard Ayowade, Katee Sackoff, Rosario Dawson, Timothy Olyphant, Temura Morrison, Michael Bien, Titus Welliver, Mercedes Varnado aka Sasha Banks, and Mark Hamill as Luke, are all excellent. 

       Of course, everyone wants me to talk about Grogu, aka Baby Yoda. The puppet work that brings the little guy to life is so impressive, that it's hard not to love this little creature. As for the rest of the visual effects, Lucasfilm and ILM did great once again, especially with the new Stagecraft technology, which combined in- studio digital filmmaking with on-location environments, allowing filmmaking to head in a bold new direction. The makeup and costume work is also incredible. 

        Overall, I highly recommend this series. If you have access to Disney+, I am telling you guys: watch this series. I'm giving The Mandalorian a rating of 5/5. Now, we are getting a third season, as well as spin-off titles like The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Rangers of the New Republic. All of these and more make this an amazing time to be a fan of Star Wars. Anyway, this is Chuck signing off. See you guys next time, and May the Fourth be with you. Always.