IronWatcher’s review published on Letterboxd:
Watched on Disney + from April 20th until April 27th
For my episode reviews of this miniseries, please feel free to visit my Serializd account: srlzd.com/u/IronWatcher
When the surprising announcement was made in the finale of the second season of "The Mandalorian" at the end of 2020 that they would be returning a year later with "The Book of Boba Fett", there was a great deal of excitement, but also confusion, because the question quickly arose as to whether the story of the Mandalorian had been told, whether Boba's story would be the actual third season, and how all of this should be evaluated in general. In the meantime, of course, we're all wiser, and the fears that we wouldn't see Din Djarin and Grogu again any time soon have been dispelled, at first in words, but now also in the audiovisual sense. Even if it is far from me to spoil the story of the season, it is now an open secret that Mando and his ward are already celebrating their comeback and underline that Boba's story is a spin-off and basically only functions as a part of the big picture, which has also caused much - basically justified - criticism of the series. With just seven episodes - most of them a solid half hour plus overlong credits - the series is even tighter than it already is, and after several episodes in which Boba predominantly reminisces while lying in a Bacta potion, one might well ask where this is supposed to lead and whether there might have been an overarching concept at all.
Here, what made The Mandalorian so varied and entertaining proves to be disturbing, because while it makes sense for a traveling professional mercenary to stumble into a new adventure week after week, it seems rather irritating for the now almost elderly Boba Fett, who tries to bring a city under his control, when every week a new adversary and a new problem gets in his way. In any case, the Boba we are presented with here seems basically tired of fighting and is only too eager to retire to his residence to watch over Mos Espa and all of Tatooine as the new Daimyō. Unfortunately, that's where the dramaturgical problems begin, and at times "The Book of Boba Fett" seems like poorly written fan fiction, because as easy as it may have been to strike down Bib Fortuna and sit on his throne, it seems absurd to the point of idiocy that Boba now thinks he can present himself as the new boss - completely without an army, troops or even a retinue. Yes, he soon takes two (!) Gamorrean guards into his service (who tried to kill him before), but that doesn't really make things better. As far as the overarching plot of positioning and establishing himself as the new Daimyō is concerned, the series seems somehow immature and as if the budget was lacking, even though it really can't have been due to that - as you can see elsewhere. The series reaches a premature climax of the pleasurable trash level when Boba - again from the spot - puts a group of punk kiddies and body modders in his dineste, because as much as they stand out from the crowd, they hardly fit homogeneously into the otherwise so dreary Mos Espa. It's funny, though, that Sophie Thatcher, who had already been in front of the camera with Pedro Pascal for Prospect a few years earlier, is involved.
Speaking of Pedro Pascal, you finally realize what you might have been missing in the series when in the fifth episode he does return. Boba is promptly banned from his own series for an entire episode, and I understand all those who are annoyed by this, especially since it becomes even clearer what Boba Fett is missing, even though he sometimes takes off his helmet and shows facial expressions, because regardless of this, he remains a blank space in his own series in terms of character and motivation most of the time, a big, unspoken question mark. Motivations are sought non-verbally or cobbled together flimsily in the last third, but it's actually hard for the viewer to really understand why Boba does what he does. Instead, a lot of effort is put into absolving him of his former existence as a bounty hunter and staging him as the sympathetic figure he didn't need to be (to this extent) for "The Book of Boba Fett" to work. Temuera Morrison, who once again steps into the role he's been committed to since 2002 - back when he was Boba's father, Jango - does a solid job of it, and is certainly not to blame for Fett's hesitant rise in profile.
I'm aware of how negative this all sounds so far, but fortunately the series also has some qualities to offer, because the flashbacks, for example, which are almost omnipresent, especially in the first episodes, know how to please and take you atmospherically into a completely different world, when the bounty hunter, who has barely escaped from the maw of Sarlacc, comes across a group of Tusks, whose respect he will gain in the further course. Logically, these parts don't require a lot of words, but they all exude a primal fascination for the world of Star Wars, if you're willing to get involved. Beyond that, it is of course a question of attitude, of perspective, of personal preference, whether one condemns the fact that Fett is temporarily marginalized in favor of "Mando" or not, because if one considers the two productions as part of a larger whole, which will be complemented by "Ahsoka" in June (and perhaps a Rangers of the New Republic series after all, as a certain scene in the end credits tentatively leads us to hope), then it's again the case that such crossovers are highly popular and underscore how closely connected the individual stories are to one another.
It's a shame that the episodes focused on the Mandalorian are the best, but they are still part of "The Book of Boba Fett" and should be appreciated accordingly, especially since everything really comes together in the finale and leads to a brilliant showdown that is truly worth seeing and in many ways makes fans' hearts beat faster. In the end, perhaps the biggest problem with the series is that they wanted to cover way too much in seven episodes, because from Boba Fett's desert odyssey and his accompanying transformation to the desperate struggle for recognition and respect, there would have been enough to fill the episodes with content and when he is then opposed by other Hutts, an angry Wookiee (which you can know) and the Pyke Syndicate, it's almost a little much. Be that as it may, there's a lot of fun to be had with the series, and I basically enjoyed every single episode, but of course I also enjoyed the masses of fan service, applauding every familiar face and delighting in every shred of what you get to see of Mos Espa and environs. What I want to say is simply that this is more than ever a series for fans, because detached from Mando's adventures you hardly need to watch the whole thing (and would be extremely confused to bored in the meantime), so that in the end it is part of the truth about this series that it is "only" The Mandalorian season 2.5. How you evaluate this for yourself, you have to decide, but in the end, most of the episodes convinced me again with their flair, the visuals, the soundtrack, the characters, even if there could still be one or two lessons in dramaturgy for the creators.
