Talk of a live-action
Star Wars TV series started when George Lucas was still in charge of the franchise but it's only now, with the launch of Disney+, that it's finally happened. With an incredibly talented group of filmmakers working on the series, including Jon Favreau (
Iron Man) and Dave Filoni (
Star Wars Rebels), expectations have been high for
The Mandalorian to deliver, especially now that the creative decisions made in movies have become an extremely divisive topic for fans of the franchise. Thankfully, the show not only lives up to those lofty expectations but it also delivers what looks set to be one of the best
Star Wars adventures of all-time.
With a brief running time of less than 39 minutes (including the credits), we don't really get to familiarise ourselves with many of the show's characters - most of those we've seen in marketing materials don't even appear - and the Mandalorian himself is clearly going to remain something of a mystery who's personality and motivations are slowly revealed over the course of this first season. That's no bad thing, though, and if the goal was to leave us intrigued and desperate for more after this premiere, it's fair to say that Disney+ has most definitely succeeded. Talking of the show's title character, he's definitely one of the best
Star Wars protagonists to ever grace the screen and a presence who is in equal parts compelling and exciting thanks to Pedro Pascal's unmissable performance.
Visually, it's clear that
The Mandalorian has been inspired by the original trilogy and it feels considerably closer to those than the glossier movies which have graced the big screen since 2015. There's clearly a lot of inspiration taken from Westerns as well and the combination of the two results in one of the year's most distinct looking TV shows. It's the action where things really soar, though, as it's surprisingly brutal but still very
Star Wars-esque. Honestly, there's a gunfight in this premiere which is quite possibly one of the best action sequences to have ever been seen in a Galaxy Far, Far Away (it's certainly up there with that Darth Vader scene in
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and if that's what we can expect every week moving forward, this show is going to end up blowing a lot of minds!
Finding the right balance of the familiar and the new,
The Mandalorian already
feels like the most exciting
Star Wars project since
The Force Awakens was released a little over four years ago. Set shortly after the events of
Return of the Jedi, it provides both our first real look at what became of the Galaxy following the fall of the Empire along with a darker, more violent side where Bounty Hunters track down their targets in exchange for very little as everyone struggles with the reality and hardships of no one being left to rule (perhaps Palpatine really was keeping things in order, eh?). Throw in some massive surprises and a heap of intrigue and we already have every reason we need to sign up to Disney+ right here.
The Mandalorian is everything fans could have wanted from a live-action Star Wars TV show and with a killer performance from Pedro Pascal, it's already clear this is going to be appointment viewing each week.