The Mandalorian review: The first live-action Star Wars series is weird, but give it time

Disney Plus has launched and our nostalgia has exploded. Though, original content has hit the service as well including a small franchise known as Star Wars and their first live-action television show, The Mandalorian. It’s good, but give it time.

Disney took a gamble with Disney Plus and The Mandalorian. Well, not a real gamble. They are an insanely profitable company with profits from entertainment across the world, so it’s not really a risk if their streaming service fails. Perhaps a risk not in money, but in trust.

The fans of Disney properties like Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and well nearly everything, trust Disney to honestly portray their fandoms in the light they want. Star Wars, in particular, has a muddied history with fan service and backlash. Just ask Rian Johnson. Those passionate, bordering on toxic, fans hold their love to a high standard, and to introduce new content to the world they’ve been around for their entire lives, is a risk. The Mandalorian is a test for Disney. Can they take a film franchise to television and make it great? Well, after one episode, the answer is… maybe?

Now hold on for a second, let’s not judge a series until it’s aired its finale (December 27th.) This could be a warmup for the following episodes to bring the heat and take us on yet another memorable journey.

Or, it could be telling of a drawn-out story that may have well been better served as another middling film ln the A Star Wars Story saga. We can’t know that, and Disney has certainly earned some faith. The Mandalorian certainly looks like an incredible achievement, and its setting in the universe is giving fans a glimpse at a time that is not represented well in any previous material. So what is it missing? What is promising about the show?

Show us Pedro Pascal

Easily one of the best working actors today lands this amazing job. A lead on a Star Wars project and potentially a show that could go on for a long time. Yet, his most notable feature is that he is hiding behind a Mandalorian helmet. I get it, he’s a Mandalorian and they don’t reveal themselves to people. But it’s Pedro Pascal. Oberyn Martell, who lit up the screen for HBO and Game of Thrones for an entire season.

The show takes us through a scene reminiscent of the historic Cantina in A New Hope and we get to see some patrons be dealt with by our Mandalorian bounty hunter, but the lack of expression only works for so long. His agitation and the impending explosion of anger is only conveyed through his head movement and the score of the scene. When comparing to other historic shows with a “bad guy” hero, we get to see their thoughts and reasoning play out on their faces. Think of Tony Soprano or Don Draper. These are classic examples of great actors giving performances that resonate with fans. Pascal is just as talented as any other lead actor, give him some face time.

Quick and to the point

Sporting a runtime of just over 40 minutes, the average viewer is going to be more inclined to pay attention and also not feel like they’re giving up an evening to watch. There are too many streaming shows blowing up an hour of time with no substance asking us to watch. No thanks.

Regular television programming is under an hour for commercials and usually comes in at 40-50 minutes. That’s the sweet spot. The Mandalorian only has eight episodes to tell its story and that equals out to about 320 minutes if they’re all 40 minutes, and that is about two to three feature films worth of content. A trilogy?

The one potential negative thought here is that this was originally intended to be a movie and was drawn out to become a show. Now, some would believe that more time in a world makes it better, but if the story isn’t compelling the audience tires. There are plenty of streaming shows that would have worked better as movies and vice versa, but for whatever reason, they are sold as the opposite. The rules of each piece of content are changing and maybe The Mandalorian is attempting to mix the two worlds in an effort to change how Disney Plus develops its content.

The world of Star Wars just sucks us in every time

Give me all of it. Every new race, animal, or word, just let me see it and then research it. Star Wars content has a built-in marketing machine, it’s really good at its best. Fans love to see new parts of the universe and how it ties in with previous content.

The Mandalorian is set in the post-Empire world where Luke Skywalker and the Rebels have overthrown the Emperor and Darth Vader. While this is a joyous thing, now the law is gone. The government is in shambles and those far away planets have no authority figures to lead them. This lends itself to the “Spaghetti Western” title that many have attributed to the show. We’re looking at a Sergio Leone film set in the Star Wars Universe. Instead of six-shooters and outlaws, we have blasters and aliens. Yes. 100% yes.

Not only does the fictional setting draw our eyes, the cinematography and overall tone of the show really put a bow on it. It may end up being one of the most expensive shows ever made, but it looks like a movie. There are many critiques that can be reversed with time and we may all need to see this as a finished product to judge accurately, but we don’t need eight episodes to see the beauty in the filmmaking here. It’s on par with some of the Star Wars movies as of late, and that’s no exaggeration.

Give it time, and maybe the weirdness will pay off

This may possibly be one of those moments where the audience is really clueless about the larger scheme. The Mandalorian could be something great, but we just can’t know that yet. For now, we speculate. That being said, this first episode was odd. It’s good and fun to get into, but it begs the audience to ask, “What is this?”

Let’s take a lesson from the Jedi and use some patience to let this first episode exist. If the series doesn’t form into something in a few weeks, maybe then we can turn on the alarms and start asking these questions more seriously. For now, let’s live in the unknown.