A Mandalóri

I wonder if Disney, following the example of certain video-game developers that built into their games extra bugs that are activated only in pirated versions, released into the world an intentionally faulty version for those who will watch its VoD flagship elsewhere. Otherwise, I can’t explain the fact that, while most people root at the fan-service trough, I – despite expectations – saw a series of absurdly pathetic scenes cobbled together by an unprecedentedly hopeless screenplay. If the aim was to return to the trashy fairy-tale roots of the oldest trilogy, then Favreau overshot the mark by several galaxies into worlds where Ed Wood and David A. Prior are considered to be refined masters of sophisticated narratives. Sure, I see the inspiration of spaghetti westerns and samurai films, as well as variations on ensemble origin flicks spread out across the series, but that really doesn’t add anything beyond the framework in which viewers can feel terribly clever because they recognise it. The Mandalorian focuses on superficially cool and cute moments, genre allusions and hinting at races and worlds to such an extent that it completely forgets that it should have at least a somewhat functional screenplay, not in terms of structure, but purely in terms of internal causality and logic. The load of hokum, which a five-year-old would be embarrassed by when making up a story for a battle between his action figures, only cuts the rug out from under the series’ feet with illogical twists for the sake of twists and lets the characters behave like retards. I imagine the genesis of this project, wherein Disney’s big kahunas came together in a wild orgy of bullshit and began to brainstorm what it would look like if Andy Sidaris, James Nguyen, Donald G. Jackson and Charles Band got their hands on Star Wars. They came up with the whole thing and then the next day they found the scenarios that they had sweated out during their coke binge. But they decided to have them shot by normal, skilled filmmakers. And therein lies The Mandalorian’s greatest failure – if it had been shot by the aforementioned directors, it would have at least been properly unintentionally fun, and not just appallingly stupid. At least Gina Carano, Werner Herzog, Richard Ayoade and Taika Waititi can make rent for a while and perhaps do something proper thanks to their involvement here. This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a whimper of baby Yoda. This is the way. (2020.04.22)

I'm thrilled with the first series. A Western from a galaxy far, far away that reminded me in the best sense of the word of the original Polish The Witcher, it's bursting with ideas and it's a joy to see that the Star Wars universe can do without the famoous characters and still be great if the creators want to. And the creators of The Mandalorian – from Pedro Pascal to Favreau, Filoni and Waititi to Ludwig Göransson – certainly wanted to. The second series is not behind the first. Like, I actually had to watch the first episode twice in a row because of how great it is, and it was just a warm-up. Even though I knew who (and what) was coming at the end, I still felt like a little child. (2022.06.18)

I’m going to tell you something, but it’s going to be our little secret. If this series didn’t have Baby Yoda, I’d never give it five stars. It’s basically impossible to connect to the main character Mando played by Pedro Pascal; you don’t see his face, know nothing about him except that he can fight. Fortunately there’s Baby Yoda who made my heart melt every time he appeared on the screen. And the creators sort of relied on that, putting him in every other scene. The story is quite simple and doesn’t really develop into anything. I appreciate the Star Wars environment, which is very rich, and especially the supporting characters, where the most interesting are clearly the ones played by Werner Herzog and Nick Nolte. Moreover, it is obvious that the episodes were filmed by different directors. Some of them did a routine, if solid work, and some created original and unique pieces of work, which is the case of Jon Favreau and Taika Waititi. Moreover, Taika Waititi also didn’t hesitate to put a piece of himself into the last episode, so its opening scene featuring the debate of two Stormtroopers is the funniest of the entire series. I knew from the beginning that I would give it full five stars and I kept that enthusiasm to the very end. I hope I will keep it in the following seasons as well. (2020.02.10)

I am not a fan of Start Wars, but I have to say that I'm happy with The Mandalorian. Pedro Pascal's voice has charm, Gina Carano is acting for the first time in a while, baby Yoda is cute and I enjoyed the IG droid. It has nice visuals, a decent amount of decent action and each episode is about something different so the series doesn't get boring and keeps a nice pace. Hardcore SW fans will probably be drooling with bliss and I at least had a nice 8 weeks of enjoyment. 8/10. (2019.12.29)