
Directed By:
Jon Favreau, Bryce Dallas Howard, Robert Rodriquez
Starring:
Temuera Morrison, Ming-Na Wen, Matt Berry
Genre:
Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Rated: TV-14
All media used courtesy of Disney
Boba Fett… always the bridesmaid, never the bride. At least that’s how I ended up feeling at the conclusion of his first ever showcase on Disney +. The Book of Boba Fett tells the story of how Boba escaped the sarlac pit, regained his strength with the help from unlikely friends, and attempts to rule the sands of Mos Espa and Tatooine through respect, not fear. This could be considered a continuation of The Mandalorian, we see characters like Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) and some surprises I won’t spoil here.
Breaking the review up with the first half of the season and the second half. The first few episodes I actually was okay. Maybe not as new or engaging as what we saw from his re-introduction from The Mandalorian, but I enjoyed learning more about his journey. It’s great to get different perspectives on Star Wars villains that we’ve known from A New Hope, and we get a fair amount of time dedicated to Boba’s past. Seeing how Boba would handle being in leadership and ruling was interesting, but everything felt somewhat rushed, or just surface-level. There are expansions on the Star Wars lore people will enjoy, but it’s in the second half of the season where we get a huge level-up, but without our Bounty Hunter.
Call it a benching, a side story, what have you, the story in the second half veers far away from Boba and literally pauses his story to tell a Mandalorian story instead. do they intersect in the end? Sure you could say that. Do the episodes feel like the tone Book of Boba Fett was aiming for? Not at all, but not saying that is a bad thing. Returning characters and brilliant directing by Bryce Dallas Howard are the shining moments of the season, but none of those moments had Boba Fett involved in them. If your favorite episodes of a series don’t involve the titular character something has gone wrong.
Overall, I think this is an ok look at the famous Bounty Hunter, but with a few notes to improve. Should they continue with a season 2, focus on Boba and his story. No trying to intermingle your Star Wars shows together, this doesn’t need to be a Marvel Universe. I hope to at least see more of Temuera Morrison whether he is Boba, another clone, or even in voice only. He is not the problem with the show, and I hope to see more of him and Ming-Na Wen in the future.