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Rob Watches The Mandalorian – Channeling His Inner Batman

Rob Siebert 3 Comments

The Mandalorian, season 1 posterSERIES: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S1:E6. “Chapter 6: The Prisoner”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Bill Burr, Natalia Tena, Clancy Brown, Ismael Cruz Cordova
WRITERS: Christopher Yost, Rick Famuyiwa
DIRECTOR: Rick Famuyiwa
PREMIERE DATE: December 13, 2019
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian is tasked with helping to free a convict from a New Republic prison ship.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

One name that jumps out at me from the get-go is Christopher Yost. He’s written his share of comic books, and also worked on Thor: Ragnarok. So Mando was in good hands here from a writing standpoint.

It was, and still is, incredibly surreal to see Bill Burr in the Star Wars universe. He’s one of the funniest comedians out there. And yet, his work as Migs Mayfeld isn’t necessarily comedic. This episode speaks well to his work as an actor.

So Mando and Xi’an (played by Natalia Tena) have a romantic history of some kind. I guess even in a galaxy far, far away, chicks dig the strong and silent type. How does that work, though? Like, physically? Mando never takes off his helmet, after all.

Boy does that make for some weird visuals…

So we’ve got ourselves a prison break heist episode. Mando is put on a team tasked with getting in, freeing a prisoner, then getting out.

When I saw this episode, being the nerd that I am, I couldn’t help but wonder how long a transition it was for the New Republic to establish themselves as the new law in the galaxy. The Mandalorian takes place five years after Return of the Jedi. So less than that. Pretty impressive all things considered.

The Mandalorian Chapter 6, the Prisoner

This is a nitpick, but it’s curious to me that there’s a mouse droid on this New Republic prison ship. To me, they’re synonymous with the Empire, the Death Star, etc. But again, that’s nitpicking.

The use of droids as prison guards is a little odd too. As they’re supposed to be the good guys, it feels like the New Republic should have live guards. Maybe there’s a lack of living bodies to give those jobs to. We eventually find out there’s only one organic on the ship.

Seeing Mando go into predator mode and hunt everybody down was pretty awesome. He was channeling his inner Batman.

Nitpicks notwithstanding, this is actually one of my favorite episodes. It’s nicely paced, there’s a great tension in the air, the characters are interesting. It just works. A very well done episode.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Primary Ignition‘s Star Wars Review Archive

Rob Siebert 40 Comments

The following represents the full archive of our Star Wars reviews, separated by season.

Star Wars The Clone Wars, Ambush, YodaThe Essential Star Wars: The Clone Wars
S1:E1 – “Ambush”
S1:E5 – “Rookies”
S2:E5 – “Landing at Point Rain”
S2:E6 – “Weapons Factory”
S2:E7 – “Legacy of Terror”
S2:E8 – “Brain Invaders”
S2:E12 – “The Mandalore Plot”
S2:E13 – “Voyage of Temptation”
S3:E2 – “ARC Troopers”
S3:E12 – “Nightsisters”
S3:E13 – “Monsters” Star Wars The Clone Wars, Brain Invaders, Ahsoka
S3:E14 – “Witches of the Mist”
S4:E21 – “Brothers”
S4:E22 – “Revenge
S5:E14 – “Eminence”
S5:E15 – “Shades of Reason”
S5:E16 – “The Lawless”
S5:E17 – “Sabotage”
S5:E18 – “The Jedi Who Knew Too Much”

The Mandalorian Season 1, archive imageThe Mandalorian, Season One
“Chapter 1: The Mandalorian”
“Chapter 2: The Child”
“Chapter 3: The Sin”
“Chapter 4: Sanctuary”
“Chapter 5: The Gunslinger”
“Chapter 6: The Prisoner”
“Chapter 7: The Reckoning”
“Chapter 8: Redemption”

Grogu, The Mandalorian S2, archive imageThe Mandalorian, Season Two
“Chapter 9: The Marshal”
“Chapter 10: The Passenger”
“Chapter 11: The Heiress”
“Chapter 12: The Siege”
“Chapter 13: The Jedi”
“Chapter 14: The Tragedy”
“Chapter 15: The Believer”
“Chapter 16: The Rescue”

Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, The Book of Boba Fett S1, archive imageThe Book of Boba Fett
“Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land”
“Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine”
“Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa”
“Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm”
“Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian”
“Chapter 6: From the Desert Comes a Stranger”
“Chapter 7: “In the Name of Honor”

Obi-Wan Kenobi, Part I, Ewan McGregorObi-Wan Kenobi
“Part I”
“Part II”
“Part III”
“Part IV”
“Part V”
“Part VI”

Andor, Season One
“Kassa”
“That Would Be Me”
“Reckoning”

The Mandalorian, Season Three
Chapter 17: “The Apostate”
Chapter 18: “The Mines of Mandalore”

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches Boba Fett – Hijacking the Show

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

The Book of Boba Fett, Mandalorian posterSERIES: The Book of Boba Fett
EPISODE: S1:E5. “Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Amy Sedaris
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Bryce Dallas Howard
PREMIERE DATE: January 26, 2022
SYNOPSIS: The Mandalorian gets a new ship, and learns more about the power of the Darksaber.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Let’s call out the elephant in the room. The big critique of this episode, as well as the following episode, is that they’re episodes of The Mandalorian shoehorned into The Book of Boba Fett. Whether anyone likes it or not, that’s a fair and just criticism. This is supposed to be a Boba Fett show, and he doesn’t even appear in this episode.

That’s not to say Mando has no place in this story. He could have come to Tatooine to help Fett in his fight against the Pykes. But this? Basically hijacking two episodes of Fett’s show to shift back to his story with Grogu? That’s too much. It’s good stuff, but it doesn’t belong here. It should have been saved for season three of The Mandalorian.

So what happened? How did The Book of Boba Fett get hijacked? I’ve got two theories…

The first is that the showrunners realized they didn’t have enough story with Boba Fett to fill an entire season. So they fall back on the Mandalorian stuff, which they knew fans would like. That doesn’t excuse it, but it’s a reasonable explanation.

The second is that the higher-ups at Disney and/or Lucasfilm said, “Mando and Grogu are popular. So put them in the show.” I’m not sure how likely that is, as Jon Favreau seems to have a good amount of control over the “Mandoverse.” But never underestimate the possibility of non-creative people trying to exert control over creative people. There’d be a sad irony there, as George Lucas fought vehemently against that sort of thing while making the original trilogy.

But to reiterate, even though these two episodes don’t belong here, they are pretty damn good. So let’s dive in…

The Book of Boba Fett, Mandalorian

Awesome entrance for Mando, not surprisingly. A sure fire way for a Star Wars project to impress me is to show us new and unique places in the Star Wars universe. “Return of the Mandalorian” manages to do that not once, but twice. We get this slaughterhouse in the opening scene, which is pretty cool. They could have gotten a little more creative with the fight and maybe had Mando and the goons smacking into bloody slabs of meat. But maybe that’s a little too much…

But what I really loved was the city of Glavis, which is situated on a gigantic ring structure in space. They could have just had Mando on another desert planet, or a jungle planet, or an ice planet, or whatever. But instead they got creative. Excellent.

Amy Sedaris is back as Peli Motto. Given her background, I’m curious if she has any input on what she says. That stuff about dating a jawa, for instance. Did she come up with that, or was it in the script?

Mando’s new ship is a modified Naboo starfigher, like the ones we saw in The Phantom Menace. It looks cool, but I miss the Razor Crest. This fighter doesn’t double as a home base the way the Crest did.

Mando has Mandalorian armor made for Grogu, and wants to deliver it to him personally. He apparently knows where Luke took him. But how? Luke didn’t exactly give a forwarding address. And you’d think he’d want to keep its location a secret. So what gives?

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches Boba Fett – He Kept the Ship?!?

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

The Book of Boba Fett, Fennec Shand posterSERIES: The Book of Boba Fett
EPISODE: S1:E4. “Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm”
STARRING: Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, Jennifer Beals, Carey Jones
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Kevin Tancharoen
PREMIERE DATE: January 19, 2022
SYNOPSIS: Boba Fett gathers his forces far war against the Pyke Syndicate.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Boba Fett, now wandering alone, finds a nearly dead Fennec Shand in the desert. He takes her for cybernetic augmentation, saving her life. He then recruits her to help him take his ship back from Jabba the Hutt’s palace.

Fett saving Shand means, chronologically, these flashbacks are now in the era of The Mandalorian. In other words, five years after Return of the Jedi. Thus, I must pose the question…why is the ship still at the palace five years later? What possible use could Bib Fortuna have had for it? Why not dismantle it for parts? Or auction it off as the last remanant of the great Boba Fett?

The real answer, of course, is that from a storytelling standpoint, Jabba’s palace is the last place we the viewers saw the ship. So it’s easiest to simply have them go back there and get it. But someday, even if it’s just in a novel or something, I hope we get some kind of answer as to why Fortuna kept it.

Incidentally, Boba Fett’s ship is called Slave I. For whatever reason, Disney doesn’t want it referred to by the name anymore. I imagine they don’t want the protagonist for one of their big TV shows riding around in a ship with slave in the name. But I’m old school. It is, and always will be, Slave I.

Some of these sequences are really, really dark. Not tonally. I mean it’s difficult to watch them during the daytime because they look almost pitch black in a sunlit room. The sequence in the previous episode where Black Krrsantan attacks Fett in the bacta tank was like that too. Does that make me sound like an old man? Yes. But is it still true? Yes.

The Book of Boba Fett, Fennec Shand

Why does Shand decide to stay with Fett after her debt to him is paid? What’s her interest in him? Is it professional admiration? Is it romantic? What’s the deal?

The visual of Slave I hovering face down over the sarlaac pit is pretty absurd. I get that it served the purpose of killing the sarlaac. But still, it was awkward.

This episode gives us some insight into why Fett wants to take over Jabba’s operation. He wants to run an organization that’s better than the ones he’s worked for. That’s…not the best answer they could have given. But it’s fair enough, I suppose.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches Boba Fett – Krrsantan Steals the Show

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

SERIES: The Book of Boba Fett
EPISODE: S1:E3. “Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa”
STARRING: Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, David Pasquesi, Danny Trejo, Sophie Thatcher
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Robert Rodriguez
PREMIERE DATE: January 12, 2022
SYNOPSIS: Another attempt is made on Boba Fett’s life.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

The cyborg gang that Fett ultimately recruits are riding multicolored speeder bikes. That prompted a few Power Rangers jokes on Twitter. As a Power Rangers die hard, you’d think I’d have been more amused. I wasn’t.

As Fett is riding through the city in the flashback, we see the a shot of stormtrooper helmets on spikes, which is obviously an idea recycled from The Mandalorian. As if to add an exclamation point, we then see Peli Motto, the Amy Sedaris character, walking in the distance with some droids trailing her.

Fett returns to the Tusken camp to find they’ve been slaughtered by the nikto gang. So I’ll ask again: How long was he with the Tuskens? Months? Years? He couldn’t have been with them for almost five years, could he?

I loved Black Krrsantan breaking into the palace and grabbing Fett in his bacta tank. It’s one of the highlights of the whole season, if you ask me.

Fett winds up letting Krrsantan go after his conversation with the hutt twins. He lets this big hairy sasquatch just run out into the desert without any water or anything. I guess the idea is that the palace is in Mos Espa, so he’s close to civilization. But it still made for a bit of an awkward visual.

The twins give Fett a new rancor to put in the palace’s pit. Fett expresses a desire to eventually ride the young animal. Well, they’ve planted that visual in our heads. Now it’s going to be disappointing if we don’t get it at some point. If not during the season finale, then during a subsequent season.

I enjoyed the speeder chase through Mos Espa between the cyborg gang and the mayor’s majordomo. Any time there’s a high speed vehicle chase in Star Wars, I imagine George Lucas’ inner child smiles, given his well documented love for cars and speed.

One of the trailers for The Book of Boba Fett made it seem like Sophie Thatcher’s character, the cyborg Drash, would have a bigger role in things. Hopefully as time goes on, we’ll learn more about her.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Rob Watches Boba Fett – I Thought It Was Just a Stick

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

The Book of Boba Fett, Boba Fett posterSERIES: The Book of Boba Fett
EPISODE: S1:E2. “Chapter 2: The Tribes of Tatooine”
STARRING: Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, David Pasquesi, Jennifer Beals
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Steph Green
PREMIERE DATE: January 5, 2022
SYNOPSIS: Boba Fett faces challengers to his new throne.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

It makes a lot of sense to me that Fett got attacked by the Order of the Night Wind in the very first episode. After all, he walks around Mos Espa with no fanfare and very little protection. He’s practically begging to be attacked. Then again, maybe that’s the point. Based on what we see in this episode, maybe he’s willing to take on all challengers to his throne, and those that would do him harm…

“Your sister is right. If you want it, you’ll have to kill me for it.” That’s a great line. Bad ass.

*eyes pop* Ming-Na Wen is 58 years old?!? I wouldn’t have guessed that in a million years.

In the flashback portion of the episode, we see the Tuskens get attacked by a train belonging to the Pyke Syndicate. Fett and the Tuskens then hatch a plan to take the train down. The existence of trains in the Star Wars universe has always been little curious to me. We obviously saw one in Solo too. What use does a universe that has space travel have for trains?

This strikes me as one of those things you can explain away if you put enough thought into it. Firstly, they’re not conventional trains with wheels and tracks. They’re, for lack of a better term, “hover trains” that travel off the ground. And maybe the planets that use trains are a little less industrially developed than the ones that don’t…?

I’unno. Just spitballin’.

The Book of Boba Fett, Fixer and Camie

When the nikto gang is in the cantina, the humans they’re about to victimize are Fixer and Camie (shown above), two old friends of Luke Skywalker. Originally those characters were to be in the first act of the original Star Wars, alongside Biggs Darklighter. But their footage obviously wound up on the cutting room floor. The deteriorated footage can be found on Disney+.

Via the ritual they put Boba Fett through, we see the creation of a Tusken’s gaffi stick is part of a rite of passage. Presumably a coming of age one.

And to think, in A New Hope they were just sticks to hit people with.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches The Mandalorian: Return of a Jedi

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

SERIES: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S2:E8. “Chapter 16: The Rescue”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Giancarlo Esposito, Katee Sackhoff, Gina Carano, Ming-Na Wen
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Peyton Reed
PREMIERE DATE: December 18, 2020
SYNOPSIS: Mando and his allies storm Moff Gideon’s ship to save Grogu.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Yes, I understand we skipped an episode. But for obvious reasons, this episode had to be talked about ASAP. We’ll come back to “The Believer” in a few days. Promise.

I hate Rogue One. I absolutely hate it, and can’t understand why so many people love it. But there’s one thing that movie did right: Captions that told us which planets we traveled to. Too many of these Disney-era Star Wars planets look the same.

Koska Reeves’ crack about Boba Fett being a sidekick rings true. That’s unexpected, considering this season is basically his big comeback. He’s got clean armor and everything!

Koska hitting Fett with a DDT is one of the most pro-wrestling things the episode could have done. I kind of love it.

See, if I’m a regular stormtrooper, I’m looking at that dark trooper armor and thinking, “Can I get at least half the protection that black armor provides?” Maybe then these damn troopers wouldn’t be so expendable…

Seriously. Cara Dune’s gun getting jammed was the worst thing that happened to our heroes as they faced down a virtual army of stormtroopers. It’s frustrating.

Those dark troopers are definitely nightmare fuel. Kudos on the design.

“…properties that have the potential to bring order back to the galaxy.” It’s reasonable to assume that means properties that can resurrect Palpatine, properties that can eventually be used to create Snoke, or some combination of both.

I like that the Darksaber was burning Mando’s staff the longer the two weapons had direct contact. It indicates the lightsaber is more powerful, which is as it should be.

Luke. Skywalker. Holy. Crap. This show just pulled out all the stops. The anticipation, the tension, leading up to the reveal of Luke’s face, was amazing. What a moment…

What’s more, they got Mark Hamill involved! I’m very anxious to see if it was just his voice, or if he was somehow involved on set as well.

And we get an appearance by R2-D2 as a bonus!

I just saw a headline that indicated this episode betrayed its characters by “indulging in the Skywalker saga.” The sub-head indicated new Star Wars had succumbed to old Star Wars. That’s a frustrating sentiment to read. But it’s a valid point. Despite a wonderfully emotional goodbye between Mando and Grogu, Luke pulled focus. It was inevitable. Anything from the original trilogy is going to have that effect. I mentioned Rogue One above, and Darth Vader had the same effect in that movie.

It’s a little bit like dangling a shiny object in front of a little kid. With this finale, Jon Favreau basically dangled a shiny object in front of the little kid in all of us. I really can’t dispute that.

But I would argue that, despite Luke pulling focus, the heart of the episode was indeed about Mando and Grogu. Those are two new characters that we’ve come to know and love over the course of two seasons. I also can’t dispute that.

And honestly, where else could this story have gone? Side effects of bringing in Luke notwithstanding, it’s logical that Grogu, being as strong in the Force as he is, would encounter him at some point…

Mrs. Primary Ignition was quite curious about what this episode means for Grogu’s fate, as he’s obviously not in the sequel trilogy. At the moment, I have two theories.

  1. Grogu’s attachment to Mando eventually lures him toward the dark side, and he has to abandon his training and return to his surrogate father.
  2. He stays with Luke, but is killed by Ben Solo during the events leading up to The Force Awakens.

Understandably, she was horrified at option 2. But I suspect we’ll discover the answer sooner or later.

Another headline I saw recently? How the “Marvel-fication” of Star Wars has officially begun. In other words, new shows, spin-offs, and all sorts of inter-connected content. You won’t find a clearer piece of evidence than The Mandalorian taking a page out of Marvel’s book with a post-credits scene. A pretty awesome post-credits scene, but a post-credits scene nonetheless.

We see that Bib Fortuna has taken over as the head of Jabba’s palace. Does he actually control anything? The throne seems to suggest he does. So is that what The Book of Boba Fett is about? Fett taking control of Jabba’s crumbling criminal empire?

I think the best season finales often leave us with questions. So what questions did this episode leave us with?

  1. What’s next for Mando? He’s got the Darksaber now, and is seemingly in conflict with Bo-Katan Kryze. So does he get involved with re-building Mandalore? Or does he go back to bounty hunting?
  2. Despite getting captured, Moff Gideon accomplished his goal. He got Grogu’s blood. So what now comes of that? Do the experiments start? Have they already started?
  3. The Boba Fett questions are rather obvious.
  4. Are we going to hear more from Luke and Grogu? Or does that become territory for another series? The recently announced Ahsoka spin-off comes to mind.

Definitely no shortage of questions. We’ll have a lot to think about over the next year!

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches The Mandalorian: Return to Tatooine

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

SERIES: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S1:E5. “Chapter 5, The Gunslinger”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Amy Sedaris, Jake Cannavale, Ming-Na Wen
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Dave Filoni
PREMIERE DATE: December 6, 2019
SYNOPSIS: After stopping on Tatooine for repairs, Mando takes a job alongside a young bounty hunter.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

So did we need to come back to Tatooine? No, not really. But I’m glad we did. Going to a classic Star Wars setting reinforces that this is, in fact, the universe we know and love. And yes, nostalgia is a factor. It’s nice to see Mos Eisley again.

I’m a little surprised they used pit droids, i.e. the “hit the nose” robots from The Phantom Menace. I don’t mind Episode I as much as some people do. But you’d think in this, the first live action Star Wars television show, you’d want to avoid allusions to what’s often considered the franchise’s worst film. (It’s not. But that’s another story.)

Question: Aren’t most rifles in Star Wars blaster rifles? If so, Peli Motto asking the droids to get her blaster rifle doesn’t really make sense. It should probably just be, “Get my rifle!”

Yeah. I’m nitpicking at that level, folks. But it’s because I care, damn it!

So he just left the child on the ship? That’s uncharacteristically stupid for Mando.

Dr. Mandible, the giant bug in the cantina, is also stupid. He makes his debut in this episode.

Fun fact: The Mos Eisley Cantina has a name. Chalmun’s Spaceport Cantina.

Another fun fact: They squeezed Mark Hamill into this episode. He’s the voice of the droid at the bar (shown below). Apparently that’s the very same droid that spoke to Threepio in Jabba’s palace in Return of the Jedi. What a remarkable coincidence…

I wonder if Mando would have taken Toro Calican under his wing before he picked up the child. Perhaps being a father figure softened him in short order.

That’s a recurring theme in the original Star Wars trilogy. The “scoundrel” who becomes a good man. The big one is Han Solo. But it applies to Lando Calrissian as well.

I must confess, I’ve never seen Agents of Shield, or much of anything else with Ming-Na Wen. But she makes a pretty good bounty hunter. And Fennec Shand is yet another powerful female character added to the Star Wars universe.

I don’t recommend watching this episode in a room with a lot of sunlight. I did so, and could barely make anything out during the nighttime scenes.

So the general consensus was that the person who comes to Fennec’s aid at the very end of the episode is Boba Fett. In the end, that obviously turns out to be true. That speaks to the amount of foresight the showrunners hopefully have.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches The Mandalorian: An Icon Returns

Rob Siebert 6 Comments

SERIES: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S2:E6. “Chapter 14: The Tragedy”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal, Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, Giancarlo Esposito
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Robert Rodriguez
PREMIERE DATE: December 4, 2019
SYNOPSIS: Mando takes Grogu to the planet Tython, where he’s intercepted by Boba Fett and Fennec Shand.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

I wonder who came up with the name Grogu, and how long they’ve had it. You think they had that in mind from the get-go?

Slave I gets an awesome entrance in this episode. Not overstated. Just a simple fly-by. The ship is so iconic to Star Wars fans that a simple appearance, even from a distance, does all the work.

So what is that energy field that comes up around Grogu? Are we to believe it’s Force energy? That seems like the most likely explanation. Especially since Grogu passes out afterward.

“I’m a simple man making his way through the galaxy. Like my father before me.” Nice little callback to two different lines there. The first from Jango in Attack of the Clones. The second from Luke at the end of Return of the Jedi.

This stormtrooper ineptitude is becoming a problem for me. The fact that Mando, Boba Fett and Fennec Shand were able to fend off more than a dozen of them is pathetic.

Also, when a giant boulder is rolling toward you…MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, IDIOTS!

The sequences with Boba Fett and the gaffi stick were a sight to behold. Aside from the few swings we saw in the original Star Wars, I believe this is the first time we’ve seen one in action. Certainly to this degree.

The fight between the newly re-armored Fett and the stormtroopers is obviously some great fan-service. It did bring to mind memories of the Darth Vader slaughter from the end of Rogue One. The difference? In Rogue One, that sequence was there to bolster up the end of the film because it had so little in the way of character and story. In contrast, this Boba Fett stuff has been set up since the beginning of the season. And to say the least, The Mandalorian isn’t lacking in depth.

Moff Gideon wants to be Darth Vader. Bad. Real bad. To the point that he carries around a lightsaber. It’s kinda cute, actually.

They blew up the Razor Crest! I didn’t see that coming…

I’ve never liked Temuera Morrison as the voice for the helmeted Boba Fett, especially the way they swapped out Jason Wingreen’s voice for his in The Empire Strikes Back. I have no issue with Morrison playing the role at large. But when he’s got the helmet on? Give him a voice like Wingreen’s. If Darth Vader can have a voice modulator, so can Boba Fett.

Some questions that still haven’t been answered: How did Fett survive the Sarlaac Pit? I think the general consensus is that he climbed out. But did somebody rescue him? When was he rescued?

If they do end up doing a Boba Fett series, this is some of the ground the first season should cover.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.

Rob Watches The Mandalorian: The Samurai

Rob Siebert 1 Comment

SERIES: The Mandalorian
EPISODE: S1:E4. “Chapter 4, Sanctuary”
STARRING: Pedro Pascal (Voice), Gina Carano, Julia Jones
WRITER: Jon Favreau
DIRECTOR: Bryce Dallas Howard
PREMIERE DATE: November 29, 2019
SYNOPSIS: Mando and the child seek sanctuary on the planet Sorgon, but are drawn into aiding a village against vicious raiders.

By Rob Siebert
Fanboy Wonder

Oddly enough, Pedro Pascal wasn’t there for the filming of this episode. He was apparently on broadway doing King Lear at the time. Apparently the performance we see in this episode comes from a combination of stunt doubles Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder. Apparently Pascal and Wayne worked closely together in developing the title character. What’s more, Wayne is the grandson of screen legend John Wayne. Ironic, considering what Mando has in common with a lot of the characters John Wayne played…

When Mando looks at the child and says, “Stop touching things,” he briefly becomes the personification of every parent who’s ever had a toddler.

Here we have Cara Dune, played by Gina Carano. Mrs. Primary Ignition isn’t sold on Carano as an actor. Me? I think she’s perfectly adequate for the role she’s in. The one aspect of the character I’m not completely sold on? The tiny Rebel Alliance/New Republic tattoo she has on her cheek. She’s supposed to be making her living as a mercenary, right? Isn’t that an odd thing for a mercenary to keep tattooed on her face? You’d think she’d want the thing removed.

The samurai film influences on The Mandalorian are quite evident in this episode. And that’s even if you discount the fact that this village on Sorgan matches many depictions of such places in feudal Japan. You’ve got the nomad warrior sought out by a community of innocents to help them overcome an invasive evil. Thus, he trains the villagers to fight alongside him. It’s essentially the same plot as the classic film Seven Samurai, by Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa was famously one of the filmmakers who inspired George Lucas during the conception of Star Wars.

On the subject of connections to Lucas, our director for this episode is Bryce Dallas Howard. She’s, of course, the daughter of Ron Howard, who starred in Lucas’ first big hit, American Graffiti. She’s gotten quite a bit of praise for her work on The Mandalorian, and rightfully so. Carano credits Howard with helping her figure out how to best translate the Cara Dune character from script to screen.

The combination puppeteering/CGI work with Baby Yoda is at its strongest yet in this episode. It blends so seamlessly. It’s not a fair comparison, given the near 20-year gap, but it’s a far cry from how fake CGI Yoda looks in Attack of the Clones.

I give a lot of credit to Julia Jones, who plays Omera, Mando’s kinda/sorta love interest in this episode. She performs the hell out of her scenes here, playing off someone who essentially has a bucket on their head. Now that’s acting.

Email Rob at primaryignition@yahoo.com, or check us out on Twitter.