The Book of Boba Fett
Another TV Show Review!
Because the last one went so well. snark
But, you know, ever the optimist over here.
So we’ve been watching The Book of Boba Fett, and there are now 3 episodes available to watch.
So far, I’ve been enjoying it mightily, and I’m very much looking forward to episode 4 next week.
I’m not even going to try to do this without spoilers, so consider this your warning:
SPOILERS AHEAD
That oughta do it.
I’m not going to give you a play-by-play
I’m sure there are plenty of blogs and websites and commentators who are already doing that. So, if you haven’t watched the show yet and don’t want spoilers… turn back now. If you have watched the show or you don’t mind spoilers… read on.
Instead, I’m just going to tell you what I LOVED and even a few things I did not love about this show so far. (The not-loves are minor quibbles at the moment)
THINGS I LOVED
Call Backs
These abound aplenty in the series so far. We meet moisture farmers, see a home that looks a whole lot like the place Luke lived with his aunt and uncle, get to watch Boba Fett wake up in the Sarlacc pit and fight his way out, and then there are plenty of references to the cartoons (which I also loved) with the Pyke Syndicate and the Night Sisters of Dathomir being mentioned.
Boba Fett being Awesome
I mean… we know he’s awesome. He’s Boba Fett.
But it’s a big role to play. A hard one to deliver on.
So far, I’ve got mixed feelings.
On the one hand… the back story Boba Fett is epic. His story has universal appeal as he struggles to gain the respect of the warrior tribe of Tusken Raiders, going from their prisoner and slave to becoming an equal and even a guide to them.
(Yes, Dances with Wolves, Pocahontas, and various other stories have done this before. But the “outsider becoming the top dog” story is popular for a reason, can’t deny that)
Also, the actor who plays Boba Fett is quite compelling. He has a presence that is at once calm and collected but gives off this “You really don’t want to mess with me” vibe as well.
And his facial expressions.
Wow.
I mean, I just want to freeze frame his fighting face, because it’s epic and terrifying and I love it to pieces.
As for the other hand… well, I put more about this in the other column.
A wookie as cool as Chewie
I didn’t think it was possible… but they did it.
Apparently, this is a character straight out of the comic books… which I haven’t read (le gasp!) but he’s cool and I like him. I hope he comes back into the story later.
Subtle messages and Easter Eggs For the Fans
This is a bit more obscure and some people won’t even care… but having characters that were included from a cut scene from A New Hope, and finally taking us to Tosche Station…. that’s class act.
Also, the graffiti thing was a nice touch for the fans. It was SUPER obscure, and I needed someone else to explain it to me, but it makes me very happy. If you have been following along on the civil war happening inside Lucas Film and breathlessly rooting for the John Favreau side to win, you’ll know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t… well… let’s have coffee sometime and I’ll talk your ear off for a couple of…. hours. grin
Story-telling style
I really like Favreau’s story-telling style. It’s a little slow. It wastes no dialogue. It relies heavily on its audience to catch the details or know the lore.
But even to a newcomer, or someone not quite as much of a nerd as I am… this story should still resonate with viewers: The struggle for survival. Belonging. The desire to belong, to find one’s place in the world. Finding a family. Losing a family. Establishing oneself at a new job or with a new employer. The desire to govern oneself, be one’s own boss.
All of these stories are ones that can be related to by a wide range of people. They are stories that have universal appeal. Which is something that Star Wars has always been known for, and I appreciate the writers getting back to Star Wars’ roots with shows like Mandalorian and Book of Boba Fett.
Miscellaneous
This one is a little random, but at the end of Chapter 3, when the Hutt twins show up with an apology and said they had brought Boba Fett tribute, I leaned over to my husband and said (on Boba Fett’s behalf), “I’ll accept nothing less than a rancor for my rancor pit.”
AND LO AND BEHOLD! That’s what they gave him!!!!
cue excited cookie flinging
It’s always nice when you feel like, “Hey, that’s what I would have told them to do if they’d asked me.” Because they never ask me. But sometimes they get it right anyway.
Nods to the books
On the subject of the rancor, it is a little-known fact that the actual first place we ever heard of Dathomir or the Night Sisters was in one of the Extended Universe books called The Courtship of Princess Leia. This is one of my favorite books (Star Wars or otherwise) because it’s fun, clever, and hilarious. In the book, Luke, Han, and Leia all travel to Dathomir where they meet two communities with force-wielders (that are called “witches”). One side wields the light side of the force. The other wields the dark side of the force and are called “Night Sisters" and can be identified by the purple welts on their skin. In the book, the witches of Dathomir tame and ride rancors, who are loving pets and beasts of burden, and Luke is surprised to realize that the one he fought in Jabba’s palace must have been mistreated and undersized.
While yes, Dathomir and the Night Sisters show up in the Star Wars: The Clone Wars series… they were in the book first. And the comment by the trainer in chapter 3 about the Night Sisters of Dathomir riding the rancors and the rancors themselves being loving creatures seems like a definite nod to the BOOK. Which made this fan jump up and down with glee. Literally.
THINGS I HAVEN’T LOVED
Because we have to be willing to critique even the things we love, right?
Parkour
WHY does every movie and show have to have a parkour scene these days? It’s so overdone it’s become cliche. Just once, I’d like to see someone do something different with this. But no. Let’s chase each other over the rooftops of a conveniently laid out city, show some nifty (or, in this case, not so nifty) gymnastics, and end with our chaser holding our chasee at knife/gun/sword/staff/taser-point. (Or maybe the chasee gets to hold the chaser at that sort of point). Depending on how many people are in the parkour scene, someone might end up falling to their death because a drain pipe tears off the side of the building or they miss their handhold or they just slip.
Sound familiar?
Can we mix it up a bit? Or just not have the parkour scene at all?
Please?
Space vespas + Chase Scene
In chapter 3, we are introduced to the Power Rangers!
I mean…
The teenage delinquents with space vespas in various candy-coated-colors.
I don’t mind the vespas themselves.
I don’t even mind the teenage delinquents who are so desperate for cash that they resort to stealing water… so desperate for cash that they paid hefty fees to upgrade their own bodies with droid attachments and bought shiny new vespas.
Okay, maybe I mind the teenage delinquents AND the vespas.
They just… feel like they belong in a different franchise. Alita: Battle Angel, maybe.
Or Speed Racer.
And I LIKED Alita and Speed Racer. But they are both very different than Star Wars.
And that chase scene? It… fell very flat.
Slowest chase scene in the history of ever.
I mean… this is the galaxy that brought us Luke and Leia defying death at every second as they zipped through massive trees on the forest moon of Endor on high-powered speeder bikes.
After that… if you’re not going to do something at least as cool as that… don’t even bother.
Boba Fett not being as cool as I’d hoped
I know that this is the opposite of a point I have up in the “like” column, but bear with me.
Because in some ways, Boba Fett is everything I want him to be.
But in some ways, I’m just confused.
Because the Boba Fett we met with Mando is EPIC.
But that Boba Fett hasn’t really shown up in this series, yet.
I hope he does.
meandering story
Remember how I said I liked the story-telling style? Well, I do.
But this story does meander rather a lot. From the hopping back and forth between Boba Fett past and Boba Fett present, to the slow, meandering way the story is working its way around to the point, I’m just not exactly sure what I’m watching.
What is a “Daimyo” and what does Boba Fett hope to accomplish in taking over Jabba’s throne?
How in the world is he supposed to put together an “empire” on Tattooine with one assassin, two guards, and the teeny-bopper biker rangers? I get that he wants to be his own boss and he wants to do things his own way, but I really don’t believe he has the clout to be the Crime Boss of Mos Espa just because he’s sitting in Jabba’s house. And it doesn’t seem like anyone around him believes that, either.
Maybe that’s the point. Maybe he’ll prove us all wrong.
But I just keep coming back to one massive question:
Who is Boba Fett now? And maybe that’s the question that the show will answer.
I certainly hope so.
On to episode 4!
Have you been watching the Book of Boba? What do you think of it? If you’ve watched both The Mandalorian and Boba Fett, which one have you enjoyed more, so far?
Have you read any of the Star Wars books? (You should, they’re awesome, I can help point you toward which ones are best to start with!)