'The Mandalorian' Review: Disney finally creating something decent with Star Wars

There's no doubt that Disney's attempts to revive the Star Wars franchise have been laughably embarrassing, with their attempts feeling like rushed, mediocre blockbuster cash grabs that we're all so familiar with in today's high-end film industry. With only a few entries, it's evident that the franchise is already experiencing fatigue as a result of the lack of creativity and innovation the company has introduced into an existing rich history of narrative.

Since every company is bringing back the days of cable television launching their own subscription service catering to the world of streaming content both new and old, the evil mouse has also jumped onto the trend with their own service: Disney+, of which I have not signed up for to view the very show I'm going to be writing about: The Mandalorian.

This show displays the stark contrast between Disney's creatively bankrupt cinema practices and the outcome of hardwork and creative storytelling when shilling endless merchandise isn't the priority of the creation itself. It's almost depressing to see how decent of a show The Mandalorian is compared to the awful trilogy that has a franchise's fanbase so tired and unwilling to trust over the company that owns the product itself. This is a show that effectively all Star Wars fans have wanted since Disney took over the reigns and announced fresh content.

The Mandalorian follows a bounty hunter, much like the famous Boba Fett, tasked with various neutral jobs throughout the galaxy, with one being of significant importance for the Empire: a child, but not any child, the child of Yoda. At the young age of 50, Yoda's child is essentially a baby, but one with incredible powers and opportunity. Thus far, three episodes in, the narrative is simple, and there's not too many characters for one to feel overwhelmed -- again, this is something that the films suffer from.

This narrative simplicity results in the world building and character development to unfold slowly and at a decent enough pace that these snippets of the world stick with you. Comedic elements are done right and don't feel forced, and again the character development and world building take the place of what's usually necessary forced comedic elements. The lack of these forced comedic elements has the show's darker tones hold a significantly larger amount of weight on the screen. Scenes with intense violent acts feel serious and more threatening to the protagonist for obvious reasons. It's certainly refreshing.

Darker tones feel ripe in the Star Wars universe, for sure, and it stems back to the original trilogy in which darker moments featuring gore or not-so-painless deaths are used to highlight key moments or objects: a lightsaber's power to remove a limb easily, or a crashing horrifically in a spaceship. In the case of The Mandalorian, the violence is used to speak on the harsh, dangerous job of being a bounty hunter, where death and killing is simply another part of the job. This works greatly with the fact that our protagonist rarely has a lot to say, nor do they intend on showing their face. This disconnect between gruesome deaths and their refusal to display their most human traits is amplified by the show's more serious tones.

With this approach, the art direction and cinematography feel very, very different to the films. The Mandalorian's locations feel much more real, much more authentic to the Star Wars universe. Costumes look very much like they belong to each character, and define their characteristics, rather than the film's lazy approach to throwing whatever on characters -- and let's be real, the costumes of Star Wars are a huge reason as to why those characters became so significant: they managed to stick out and be remembered. An obvious statement to make is that Darth Vader's helmet is his defining characteristic. In The Mandalorian, we see the protagonist using his earnings to smelt down and create much better armour to be worn, these small elements of narrative expand into character development and allow the audience to feel much more connected to the character throughout their adventurers and improvements.

It's incredibly refreshing to see a show in the Star Wars universe, and one that sticks true to the franchise's core. It even feels strange to admit that Disney has managed to throw out something in the Star Wars universe, that at least thus far, is pretty decent. Is it worth a Disney+ subscription? Certainly not. No single show is worth that. Is it worth torrenting? I mean, I'm not saying no...