The Mandalorian - Season 1 (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Creator: Jon Favreau (Iron Man 1-3)
	Actors: Pedro Pascal (Narcos TV-series, Wonder Woman 1984), Kyle Pacek, Gina Carano
	Country: USA
	Genre: Fantasy, Action
	Conditions of visioning: December 2019 - January 2020, VOD, 10" tablet screen
Synopsis: Bounty hunter Mando (Pascal) is hired to retrieve a heavily-guarded package on a distant planet.
Review: This is the first and biggest original series produced by the brand-new streaming service Disney+. Remember that Disney bought the Star Wars franchise from the hands of Georges Lucas in 2012 and has since then delighted us with tons of Star Wars material (ironic). The Mandalorian turned out to be one of my favorite Star Wars production since the original trilogy, far before the prequel and new trilogies, right after Rogue One and at the level of the non-canon Genndy Tartakovsky Clone Wars and The Clone Wars Animated TV-series. OK it is neither amazing nor reminiscent of the first trilogy but it is trying its best. Mandalorian are a creed of people I guess rather unknown to the general public except because Jango Fett was one of them, but more familiar to the audience of The Close Wars as many episodes depict them. Still it is hard to twist one's brain around the place of that story into the Star Wars canon. For starters, just know that it takes place 5 years after the fall of the Empire in Return of the Jedi, and long long before the rise of the First Order in The Force Awakens. The influence of the former is still very present, for the delight of the 40-years old fans. The showrunner of the series is Jon Favreau, partly responsible for the success of the Iron Man franchise and the MCU in general and its guiding principle is fan service. In every episode you get at several references to other Star Wars material, starting with the revelation at the end of Chapter One (spoiler, highlight to read, but you live in a cave without internet if you haven't seen a picture of "Baby Yoda" yet). Some of them are deeper cuts than other. But I have to admit I shivered when Mando enters the Mos Eisley Cantina in S1E5 The Gunslinger. For all the details you may have missed you can refer to this YouTube channel and its detailed breakdown of all episodes. The tone of the series is one of a Western which is pretty nice and original. The soundtrack by Ludwig Göransson borrows some themes to John William's classics while adding a fresh contribution. The special effects look pretty good. Some episodes are more interesting than others but they all contribute to discovering this Universe, which pays off in the last two episodes Chapter 7: The Reckoning and Chapter 8: Redemption. The supporting actors are well cast: magnificent Carl Weathers (Predator, Rocky 1-2) reminding of a Billy Dee Williams, Gina Carano, Werner Herzog (Into the Inferno), Nick Nolte (Hulk), Mark Boone Junior (Sons of Anarchy), Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad), Ming-Na Wen (Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Clancy Brown (Starship Troopers). Even Thor Ragnarok director Taika Waititi is there as voice actor and episode director. All are supporting the main character played by the trendy Pedro Pascal (soon in Wonder Woman 84) but as we never see his face and rarely hear his voice, I suspect a double plays the role most of the time. Still, I was sometimes impressed by how those actors have to deliver some emotion using only body language, when for example a group of four is composed of Mando behind his mask, another actor with heavy facial prosthetic make-up, a CGI creature and a piece of metal representing a robot. Welcome to Star Wars. My favorite parts are some space battles, a fight in the last episode, Carl Weathers and Werner Herzog, the robot IG-11 (voiced by Waititi), the infernal apparition of an AT-ST in Chapter 4: Sanctuary, the episode on Tatooine, of course Baby Yoda, and the realistic way in which our hero is depicted: not perfect and invincible but flawed and getting his ass kick in every episode. So the series is a nice addition to the Star Wars Universe and I rather liked it but I find it relies too much on fan service, and this and special effects don't always hide major plot hole and inconsistent characters' reaction. But again, the original trilogy is far from perfection, but that's what makes it charming.
Rating: 6 /10