If the pilot of The Mandalorian is any indication, then the force is strong with Star Wars in the Disney+ era. Like most pilot’s, there are issues, but every element of this show feels like old school Star Wars.
Let’s break it down.
To avoid any confusion between the name of the show and the title character, we will be calling the character "Mando," until his actual name is revealed.
The Score in The Mandalorian
The score is an important element to any film, but in Star Wars the music is as much a character as Luke, Han or Leia. Just listen to Princess Leia’s theme below and you will probably start picturing Carrie Fisher.
The composer in The Mandalorian is Ludwig Göransson and his scores in Creed as well as Black Panther were outstanding. For The Mandalorian, he combines elements of Creed with western themes. The approach works for the most part, but there’s a section of the pilot where the tone switches into Creed territory and did take me out of the scene
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Pedro Pascal as The Mandalorian
If your only connection to bounty hunting in Star Wars in Bobba Fett, you will probably be surprised by the characterization of Pedro Pascal’s unnamed Mandalorian. While he can approach antihero territory at times, particularly in the opening bar fight scene at the beginning of the episode, he’s pretty much a straight up protagonist.
The pilot does an excellent job of laying out his character traits with minimal dialogue. Some examples include:
- He isn’t particularly fond of droids as depicted via flashbacks to The Clone Wars
- Sends money to “The Foundlings” that may or may not be an underground group of Mandalorians
- Dislikes The Empire, even going so far as to take a different type a currency worth half the bounty from Carl Weathers’ Greef Carga.
- The last scene of the episode makes it clear that he has strong morals and thus a character the audience can get behind.
Direction
Dave Filoni, the creative force behind the Clone Wars and Rebels animated shows, does an excellent job directing live action for the first time. His command over the action scenes is impressive and would look great on any sized screen. There are problems when it comes to pacing as some scenes even in the abbreviated 40 minute runtime linger too long and one side-character in particular is overly cartoonish. The episode improves as it goes along and ends with a compelling cliffhanger that will build anticipation for the next episode.
Side Characters
Jon Favreau’s script for the episode manages to do an admirable job of capture the tone of these worlds, while allowing the mystery behind many of the ancillary characters to build. For example, Warner Herzog’s is never given a name, he’s simply called “client,” yet the use of stormtroopers with dated armor and his clothing make it clear that Herzog longs for the days of The Empire.
Nick Nolte turns in a welcome performance as Kuiil, an alien who respects The Mandalorian culture and helps the hero navigate the planet near the end of the episode. He has a repeated one-liner in this episode that no one except Nolte could pull off.
I have spoken
Kuiil
Horatio Sanz pops up early in the episode as an alien and bounty of Mando. He’s so unlikable, luckily you can simply fast forward through that part of the episode. Despite being a blue alien, Filoni and Favreau made the dubious decision to have the character speak “basic,” when an “alien” dialect with english subtitles could be an improvement.
While there’s certainly room to grow, the pilot is an excellent starting point for Star Wars on television. What did you think of the episode?
The Review
The Mandalorian Series Premiere
PROS
- Pedro Pascal is The Mandalorian and gives an emotionally nuanced performance without removing his helmet.
- Great action set pieces
- Nick Nolte
- I Have Spoken
CONS
- Most of the Comedy falls flat
- Mythrol doesn't work as a character
- Too much Creed score influences
