Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Pedro Pascal, Carl Weathers, Werner Herzog, Omid Abtahi, Nick Nolte, Taika Waititi, Gina Carano, Giancarlo Esposito, Emily Swallow, Amy Sedaris, Jake Cannavale, Ming-Na Wen, Mark Boone Junior, Bill Burr, Natalia Tena, Clancey Brown, Richard Ayoade, Ismael Cruz Cordova.
Just when you thought a franchise had no chance of recovery, from out of the darkness comes a different type of light, not one controlled by The Force, but one of actual in-depth characterisation, of thought-provoking subplots and two leads to whom have arguably become one of the great partnerships captured on screen for a long time.
The way an audience views anything to do with the Star Wars saga will undoubtedly change as other serials are created in its name, but as with all endings, there must be a new beginning, and in Disney’s The Mandalorian, that moment is one of celebration and foundation, of bringing back to life which was arguably losing its will to live.
It is to the special episode feel that makes The Mandalorian excel and thrive, a nod to the 1950s cinema experience where the audience did not just have the film of their choice to watch, but that week’s episode of science fiction or western-induced drama that would whet the appetite of those in the theatre for what was to come. To create such an atmosphere in your home is not unknown, but to see an offshoot of Star Wars delivered in such dramatic fashion, is to applaud loudly, it is also to add satisfaction and belief once more to those who feel that the films in the series have undoubtedly lost their way.
This is not to be critical of the way that the franchise has been handled in the past, but to highlight such a programme in which the selling point is also is also its passion, conceived, written, and directed by those to whom the whole ethos of the saga is one of dedicated joy and belief.
The Mandalorian also shows that the art of the graphic novel approach transferred to the screen is not just confined to cinema, that there is a place in which sagas, whether they belong to Marvel, D.C. or the imagination of what was brought to life by George Lucas, can survive on television, can have a fandom reaching out beyond their perceived catchment area and bring others into the all-important conversation.
Whilst Pedro Pascal only makes a fleeting appearance in the flesh of the main character, the way the voice carries, the inflection and tone of delivery, the part would surely have suffered in another’s observation, and with excellent performances by Werner Herzog as The Client, Gina Carano as Cara Dune, and the whole team who brought The Child to life, then The Mandalorian has a case for being the Star Wars series the audience didn’t know they needed, but to one other’s will be judged against.
Mind-blowing, full of humour and pathos, a creation which adds so much to franchise, The Mandalorian is sensational.
Ian D. Hall