(TV SERIES) The Mandalorian Season 1 - Magnificent Series in the Star Wars Universe

I have seen many times the promotion of the second season of this series which is set to premier today, and it was quite funny that I never got the chance to watch it until last night. As it is available on Disney+, it was quite convenient for me. My review might have been a bit late, but I think it should be just nice before the new season is released. OK let's get on with it.

Brief Story Line

Set 5 years after Return of the Jedi (Star Wars Episode VI), a bounty hunter known as The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal - The Equalizer 2, The Great Wall etc) was famous for being able to capture hard and dangerous criminal. He would usually got the assignments from Bounty Hunters' Guild leader Greef Karga (Carl Weathers - Rocky movies, Action Jackson etc). When the Mandalorian was given a special task by The Client (Werner Herzog) to capture something referred to as The Child, he decided against all odds to protect it instead.

So what would happen to the Mandalorian and the child? Find them all in this amazing series

End of Brief Story Line

This series was totally amazing. From the moment I watched the opening of the first episode, I already had a good feeling about it. It looked professionally made with wonderful visual effects which certainly satisfy fans of series with such attributes. Should not be a surprise considering they were done by Industrial Light & Magic who were behind the effects of Star Wars movies. And when the main character the Mandalorian was introduced, he gave the aura of mystery, cool and could really kick-ass. So it was a great feeling to see how all my expectations were fulfilled. Plus when the storm troopers were shown, it added the excitement for me.

By the end of the first episode, I was totally hooked and could not stop watching it. I could imagine the shock and surprise of the audience who watched and saw what happened then. But as I already had brief knowledge about it, there was no shock feeling and instead a pleasure of watching it for the first time. Throughout the whole season, I was always happy seeing him (surely you would know what I meant, except if you have not watched it either like me).

The journey that the Mandalorian had was quite familiar and might not be the most original premise. In fact I thought it was probably influenced by other movies. It has a strong Western feel (like the story of a cowboy during the wild west period) and the one-man-army type was something that I had seen numerous times from the 80s even till now. However, what captivated me was how well it was written and the creativity of inserting the story into the Star Wars universe. I really ought to applaud Jon Favreau the creator/co-executive producer for creating such interesting character.

During the whole 8 episodes, the background of the Mandalorian was revealed very little, making me intrigued in finding out more, especially the fact that he never opened his helmet. The suits he wore were just amazing (even if it reminded me a lot of the suit worn by Iron-man where Jon Favreau happened to be director of its first two movies). I thought Pedro Pascal fit nicely into this character. There were also other notable co-stars such as Gina Carano (Fast & Furious 6, Deadpool etc) as Cara Dune, Giancarlo Esposito (The Jungle Book live version, Line of Duty etc) as Moff Gideon, Nick Nolte (Angel Has Fallen, Warrior etc) as the voice of an Ugnaught, Taika Waititi (What We Do in the Shadows, Green Lantern etc) as the voice of IG-11 and Emily Swallow (Supernatural TV series etc) as The Armorer.

Most of the episodes in the first season were not too long, with one or two even had less than 40 minutes duration. I think the longest was the finale which to my personal opinion was the best episode. It has everything from the drama, the suspense, the fantastic action sequence and even some emotional moment. And the ending was satisfying with brief hint of what to expect in second season. Btw, the closing credits were also quite well done, showing few scenes as if they were illustrated. And the music score were very nice as well.

Overall this was simply a great series. My only regret was not watching it sooner. But it's better late than never, right? If you are fans of Star Wars (and anything related to it), then this would definitely satisfy you. For me there was only 1 thing that bothered me a bit, which was the effects of The Child seemed not too perfect. I know they used animatronics and puppetry for it, but it just felt a bit off, and at certain times I felt like watching the effects from the early 2000 movies. Other than that though, everything was just fantastic. The series was even nominated and won several special effects awards. So definitely watch this one, if you want to complete your Star Wars experience. 

Mike's movie moments rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars