The Mandalorian Episode One Review

The day has finally come and The Mandalorian has premiered on Disney+! I sat down this morning to watch it, after all of the delays with service that plagued launch day and I’m here to tell you… wow. 

After eight main franchise movies, two side movies, and many cartoon shows we finally have a live-action star wars television series and, if the first episode is any indication, we are in for a treat. The Skywalkers are nowhere to be found. In fact, there is nary a mention of any of the main series characters at this point, not even fan service background Easter eggs that I saw. What I did see, though, I thoroughly enjoyed. 

Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones) plays the titular character, a bounty hunter who travels the universe in the immediate post-Empire universe, so right after the events of Return of the Jedi. Imperial credits are worthless and by the looks of things, bounty hunters are struggling to get by. The Mandalorian, who is thus far unnamed, gets his bounties from Carl Weathers, also unnamed at this point in the series. (You will notice the show is light on details such as names and locations, my one complaint.) After receiving several low paying jobs, he is offered a super-secret bounty by none other than Werner Herzog, playing an underworld boss. To say any more would spoil the show.

The show feels like a marriage between the Star Wars universe and a spaghetti western. In fact, the title character feels very much like Eastwood’s “Man with No Name.” The back rooms, barrooms, and wide vistas in which the show is set are also reminiscent of Sergio Leone’s films. As a fan of these films, I was hooked. The show also reminded me, to some extent, of Firefly. In fact, one of my first thoughts was that The Mandalorian,  feels much like a spiritual successor to that show. 

The acting is top notch, as is the writing. The dialogue is quippy when it gets going. The characters, though nameless, are memorable. And the cinematography makes this feel much more like a theatrical film than a television show. The show is also dripping with atmosphere and each location, from the ice planet in the opening, to the desert planet at the close, have distinct personalities. 

Would I recommend The Mandalorian? Highly. This show takes the Star Wars Universe in a new and exciting direction and I am looking forward to seeing what future episodes hold. 

Benjamin Shapiro is a screenwriter, playwright, and poet. He has won awards for horror, comedy, and drama for both stage and screen. He is also a filmmaker and the founder of Trash Messiah Pictures.