Ever since Disney bought Lucas Films, plenty of Star Wars content went straight to Disney+. “The Book of Boba Fett” came out on Dec 29th and garnered mixed reactions. Boba Fett made his first appearance in the original Star Wars Trilogy, the 1980s film “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”. Many Star Wars fans were hyped to see an original character return, but some were concerned that the show might be overhyped.
The story follows the original bounty hunter Boba Fett and shows his big escape from the Sarlacc Pit and his journey to rule Jabba the Hutt’s castle. The story engaged its audience through dramatic action sequences and callbacks to other Star Wars content. As each episode progressed, the story began to engage the audience more and more. For example, the story would introduce elements from other Star Wars content and early fans could recognize these features, while others may have a hard time. They also kept a constant Western theme paired with the futuristic themes in Star Wars itself.
The show takes place on the desert planet Tatooine which adds to the show’s Western theme. The planet made its introduction in the very first film, “Star Wars: A New Hope”. This callback to the previous films brought a smile to my face. Along with the attention to detail, scenes were shot in Los Angeles, California at the StageCraft video wall. These walls allow directors to change the screens to whatever set they feel. After some extra lighting, the show looks like it’s filmed in a desert. I am amazed at how real the set looked, if someone told me they did production in a desert I would have no doubt in their claim.
It brings plenty of characters back to the screen along with a few new friends and antagonists. They even bring certain characters from the animated side of Star Wars, such as “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” and “Star Wars: Bad Batch”. Boba Fett presented the biggest character flaw, with a sudden character shift. The series painted him as weak, while the films presented him as strong and powerful. Every other character presented on the show came on strong and most of the time likable.
The lineup for directors caught the attention of many viewers. It caught my attention because I noticed Jon Favreau did not have direct involvement with the series. Favreau helped make “The Mandalorian”, one of the best Star Wars shows. There were other directors such as Robert Rodriguez, who worked on the “Spy Kids” series, and Dave Filoni, who also worked on the hit Star Wars series “The Mandalorian”.
Overall, I found the series to be one of the better Star Wars projects. The series did not live up to its predecessor the “Mandalorian” because the characters were not as developed or enjoyable. Although, it surpassed the newest Star Wars films. I would give this series four out of five stars.
