The Mandalorian's last two episodes were better than the last five Star Wars movies

Forbes

While the five films in the Star Wars universe since 2015 have divided fans, there has been universal praise for The Mandalorian, especially for Season 2. "The Mandalorian, mainly due to Jon Favreau’s writing and Dave Filoni’s characters and influence, has been firing on all cylinders and has created some of the most memorable onscreen Star Wars interactions and fight sequences in series history," says Paul Tassi. "But it’s not just that, as the Mandalorian has established true emotional stakes with the relationship between Mando and Grogu, which is why episodes like 'The Tragedy' can live up to their namesake. Mando is at his lowest point right now, Grogu yoda-napped, the Razorcrest destroyed, and now he has two episodes left to assemble his own Avengers squad to get him back. I agree with calls for Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni to essentially be put in charge of Star Wars from here on out, as they seem to really be the only ones to 'get it' these days. J.J. Abrams was just trying to make flashy blockbusters with characters people recognized. Rian Johnson was trying to totally reinvent the wheel and deconstruct the entire franchise. But Filoni and Favreau are a balance, able to create blockbuster action with heart and humor and most importantly, stories that just feel like Star Wars." Tassi adds: "Disney is lucky that The Mandalorian managed to salvage Star Wars fandom after the string of movies they released. No, Star Wars fandom will never 'die,' but it sure seemed like it was going into post-prequel style hibernation after too many underwhelming entries and no clear direction for the series. Now? It seems like it has that direction, thanks to The Mandalorian as a new center."

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• The Mandalorian shouldn't have brought back Boba Fett: "Disney owns Star Wars now, and so it was inevitable that The Mandalorian, which is a very good show, would be forced to pay obligatory nods to other hallmarks of the Star Wars universe," says Drew Magary. "Baby Yoda is not THE Yoda, but you got a mention of the genuine article in 'Chapter 13,' which also happened to feature a surprise appearance from Rosario Dawson playing Ahsoka, a prominent character on the Clone Wars animated show. I haven’t seen that other show and am under no obligation to. But even though The Mandalorian is meant to be a Western that’s about a lone galactic marauder, they continually weigh poor Mando down with the kind of extended storyline baggage that has plagued Star Wars for decades now. Hence, Baby Yoda. And Ahsoka. And now, Boba Fett. I can’t get it up for Boba Fett’s miraculous return, even if actor Temuera Morrison does a perfectly cromulent job of playing him. Ironically, this was the best episode of the show I’ve ever seen, because they let El Mariachi legend Robert Rodriguez direct it, which meant it was a nonstop barrage of incredible fight sequences, including one at the very end that features Boba Fett rocking some secondhand Mandalorian armor while ruining everyone else’s sh*t. But I didn’t NEED it to be Boba Fett for that sequence, and for the episode as a whole, to work. The writing and the direction were enough."
• Temuera Morrison recalls the meeting confirming he was joining The Mandalorian: "I was just listening — I wasn’t discussing anything," he tells The New York Times. "I’m just nodding, going, yes, yes. Obviously they had their ideas about what they wanted to do, and they must have told me that they wanted me to play the role again. But I was so nervous that some of it was just going straight over my head. I was just going: 'Wow! This is great.' It wasn’t until I got back in the car after the meeting that I went, 'Is this actually going to happen?' But as you saw, it happened, all right."
• The Mandalorian actually makes you care about Boba Fett: "The Mandalorian chooses to show us what he can do instead of talking a big game," says Mae Abdulbaki. "It goes a long way in living up to his legacy. Maybe it’s the fact that 'The Tragedy' humanizes him to some degree before he steps back into his armor. We meet Boba Fett the man before witnessing all that he’s capable of in the field and it’s enough to make me interested in his character for the first time ever. This guy even does the classic walk-away-during-an-explosion move and it works on every level. A thousand points to writer Jon Favreau and Rodriguez for finally making me a Boba Fett fan. I’m very much looking forward to what he does next and what new information we’ll discover about him."
• Stop body-shaming Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett!: "People who suck (that’s how I’m referring all these rude people and I’m not sorry about it) decided that they wanted Boba Fett to look EXACTLY like he did in the original trilogy and have taken to shaming Temuera Morrison’s body on Twitter," says Rachel Leishman. "Like … I’m sorry, but Boba Fett rolls up, kills like 13 troopers right off the bat, AND THEN blows up two ships with one rocket, and your first instinct is to mock his body?!!?!?!"
• Boba Fett was much better as the Star Wars franchise's most tragic doofus
• How is Boba Fett still alive? (and other burning questions from the most recent Mandalorian episode)
• Nerf's replica of The Mandalorian's Amban Phase-pulse blaster costs $120