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The mandalorian review
2019 was not a good year for Disney movies.
While Toy Story 4 wasn't nearly bad as I feared; most of the secondary already known characters were useless and the ending of the previous one was simply a tough act to follow. The remake of Aladdin was just unnecessary, not helped by Jaffar being one dull villain and the pointless song they gave to Jasmine. The Rise of Skywalker while it had its pros like Kylo Ren's development, for cons two words: Rey Palpatine. Maleficent 2 was just a big obvious vanity project; and The Lion King cg remake (Yeah, it counts as animation), just watch:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fL5PYT8PdFU
Avengers Endgame was pretty good (though some of the jokes were annoying) and Captain Marvel wasn't that bad (could it be that I watched it with the lowest expectations?). So when Disney announced a series focused on a Boba Fett look alike I was very skeptical. But all the good comments made me consider to give it a shot. After all, the praise for the first Knights Of The Old Republic game is 100% deserved. Surely this can't be as bad as Rebels, right?
First of all, the setting being shortly after the original trilogy was just a great idea as this is the beginning of a different era, in this case the New Republic. And the execution was impressive as we see only original characters and learn how this affected them in positive and negative ways. Even in one episode we see a town totally isolated from the war.
The titular character is a bounty hunter whose main job is capture wanted people through the Galaxy and reclaim the money in a mercenary guild. But one day he accepts a job by imperial officers for a big reward to bring them something from a fortified base; which turns out to be a baby from Yoda's species. But shortly after giving it to the imperials, feels bad and retrieves the child from them, which will make him a target of many bounty hunters and imperial officers.. Though not everything is just them running from the people who want the child, at least 2 were completely irrelevant to the story (at least so far) and surprisingly they were the ones I liked the most.
The main character, known by many as Mando (Though in the last episode we learn his real name) is your typical traveling badass with a dark past. While that may sound clichéd, what gives him a different layer is the creed that he must never take his helmet off when in presence of a living being, also his relationship with the other mandalorians, the child and his dislike for droids. While this may not surprise anyone who is used to western series and/or movies but in the case of the franchise it does; Have you noticed that there are many stories where the main lead is a young fellow learning the ways of the Force and saves the Galaxy from an evil empire? not only talking about most of the movies...
The child is a delight to look at as the animatronics really looks like a real living being, he steals every scene he is in, being a cute but also curious character and shows different emotions and even (spoiler alert) when he shows to have Force powers that might rivals Rey's fast learning abilities (spoiler end)
The secondary characters. Cara Dune was fun, being a former rebel soldier who lives for the action and liked how while only liking to do things her way she shows some loyalty to the New Republic and still dislike imperials, especially after what we learn from her past. Greef Karga (the Mercenary Guild owner) was a very complex character. I liked how nice is when it's time to negotiate but becomes ruthless and even kind of threatening when Mando takes the child with him or when one bounty hunter fails in a mission. Also liked how when he appears later he is not just wanting to kill the main characters but willing to collaborate. Liked the ugnauth mechanic Kuiil also, in every episode he was a very valuable helper and liked how has a lot of knowledge in different languages, mechanics and his animals. Of course the IG droid was incredible, every scene where he appears was amazing to see how it moved in a live action series (the only time I have seen one of these moving was in the n64 game Shadows of the Empire and one episode of the first clone wars series) and all the episodes he appears makes him probably the best written badass droid on screen (Sorry K2). The rest weren't that memorable except the other mandalorians.
The villains, where there were different kinds. Some random people who attack Mando to get their hands of the child or get a bounty (which were okay) or some Bulldog looking raiders that attack a town (I liked the battle but aside from that, they were kind of forgettable) , or a bunch of bounty hunters (which were pretty cool as their actors really looked that they were having fun in their roles). For Lastly, the Imperial Moff that appears was really memorable with his ruthless attitude that scared two speeder bike scouts, really gets informed about his enemies and got the closest to kill the character. (Spoiler alert) The best thing is that he actually survives so he might get more development later on (spoiler end)
And in case somebody ask, yes, we see the Force and the Jedi get mentioned, but not they aren't seen. Which considering the time this is set...this is the way.
Anything I didn't like? actually 2 things:
1.) Some references. Look, I understand that most people who will watch this series are fans, but I know people who started watching Star Wars with The Clone Wars CG series so of course some may watch this series not having seen any material of the franchise. And while some references are clever enough to please the people who are way into the characters, they are still good scenes by their own account like every scene where we are shown the New Republic symbol. However when we learn the planet where Cara Dune is from only one who has seen the first movie will understand. Also wondering if Mando is a gungan... dude, you are making newcomers watch Episode I!? shame on you!!. (spoiler alert) I learned when the main villain is confirmed to survive is shown with a black light saber that from I what I heard was first seen in Rebels. and what worries me is to watch that series instead of making this series more self contained.
2.) Mando's flashback in the final episode: (here comes a big spoiler) When we are shown our main character's past for the first time I though "he lost his parents during the Clone Wars" . But then we learned that Moff Gideon was involved on this so...were those droids reactivated by the Empire? Kind of wish we got a better explanation of what happened. (end of spoiler)
You may think I'm being nitpicky and...you are right. So the flaws aren't really that big.
While we don't get so many memorable songs aside from the one in the end credits, especially if someone expected John Williams to participate considering he was on charge of the soundtrack all the trilogies, but I never minded that much. And let's face it, this gives the series more of a personal identity.
Seeing all these new characters and planets (though we see one very known and even then in a different way) in this series that aside from the setting aren't tied to any of the other movies actually make me invested in them and not gone to foregone conclusions (only a newcomer watching Rebels would actually believe Ezra and friends would be important to defeat the Empire). Also good to watch some rebel troops more like the standard military and even with their improved models of battle droids. Along with the harsher tone and the cinematography makes this series a prime example of a spin off done right.
Whatever season 2 turns out to be, so far it's a great experience I would recommend to any Star Wars fan (save those who are way into the Jedi/Sith), but not a newcomer.
I have spoken.
The introduction text tells us about that people have been hearing the voice of Emperor Palpatine through recent recordings, while Kylo Ren keeps investigating, Rey is continuing her training with the Force. We discover that the former big baddie was cloned, though he is still recovering and the First Order apparently was working in Star Destroyers with cannons as powerful as the Death Star. The main group of the resistance (Rey, Finn, Poe and BB8) along with Chewie and 3PO, helped by a traitor of the First Order discover that they can get to find the Emperor's location by discovering some ancient device in a planet from the Unknown regions.
Did this movie did have good things? sure
Objectively speaking, Kylo Ren was the more developed character in this trilogy, the actor really did made him believable and in this movie we saw him being more than a match for Rey, I still think that if Leia didn't intervene, she might have been killed or at least get one arm ripped. While their kiss was...weird, his redemption and demise was really well handled.
Finn didn't disappointed me, It was good to see him in a more central role. and even became a leader when Rey leaves. Not bad for a renegade storm trooper that just wanted to run away from the war. I didn't have any complains about him, and really liked his relationship with the main group.
The traitor being General Hux was neat, liked how while helping our heroes, he still did it for his own agenda. a simple detail but satisfying to me.
I liked Rey for the most part, her relationship with Kylo Ren, how while more experienced, also screwed up in the fights (which makes me think she only won in Force Awakens because Kylo Ren was injured) and when trying to save Chewie. Her relationship with ghost Luke and the epilogue of her in Tatooine was a perfect way to bring the planet and end this trilogy.
It was interesting seeing how C3PO got a more central role, kinda like Return of the Jedi; and Chewie being the veteran that accompanied the most the main generation was neat and surprising. Lando was okay, didn't do much but then again while a popular character, never was that important to the plot compared to the others in the original trilogy.
The new characters...I personally liked all of them, the traumatized droid felt relatable and did help, the female assassin who had a past with Poe, the renegade Stormtroopers (Thank you for not making the female black woman related to Finn). Still, they didn't steal the attention from the main group.
I liked the snowy planet, the dark atmosphere, the town of people being forced to pay taxes to the First Order and even when it exploded, I really felt sorry for all the people, making the destruction of a world more effective than ever in any movie. kudos to that. the rest of the new planets were...meh, Still liked that the already known planets didn't appear much (more on that later)
The flaws...oh boy
First of all, Snoke being a clone was weak, also Palpatine reviving....WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!!??? not only this destroys the ending of the original trilogy, but also, when did he was cloned? did his spirit passed to the clone? We don't get a real answer.
Rey being Palpatine's grand daughter... Nobody complained when Obi-Wan told Luke that his father was just a random pilot who was strong with the Force. Also...who was the poor woman that Palpatine well...you know...? who was the descendant? where was he or she during the Original Trilogy events? see how problematic that answer of Rey being powerful with the Force is?
The climax was good with when it focused on the space ships and space stations. but when it focused on Force Users...I mean, Rey is fueled by the voices of past Jedi? Palpatine wants her to kill him to possess her but when she kills him does it for good? this is stupid.
This mostly a nitpick, but the pacing sometimes felt too fast, while I prefer straight to the point scenes, the whole everyone heard Palpatine was confusing and I don't remember hearing any of the new planets names.
The only other complain I had is probably Leia, I mean she was fine, but you can notice she is not really there as they used erased scenes in order to put her. Which is understandable since the actress died. I have more of a mixed feeling about this.
So, was it worse than the prequels? Well, these flaws on this movie really hurt the rest of the trilogy as it seemed that both directors had different ideas of how the story should go (specially for Rey's past in this movie completely contradicts The Last Jedi), still there were big improvements over them:
-Justified already known characters appearing: R2 working for Leia's mom? kid Boba Fett meet Obi-Wan? If Chewie fough with Yoda, how did that Wookie forgot about the Jedi? Can't buy Luke's uncles would know that well Anakin by seeing him one afternoon. In Force Awakens we see Leia in the Resistance along Ackbar, R2, 3PO and...that other big eared guy who was with Lando. Seeing all the already known characters in the prequels actually made the Galaxy felt shorter while in this new trilogy seeing them from the perspective of new characters gave them a new layer (although Yoda appears only to Luke but I liked the whole "failure is the greatest teaching")that can be appreciated the moment they meet Han and Chewie or Lando Calrissian. All had a reason to exist and had their own story (except hearing all the Jedi voices in Rey's head during her final battle), and speaking of making the Galaxy feel big...
-More new planets and avoid recycling them: Sure, Jakku felt like Tatooine part 2, but the ones from The Last Jedi really were different and some of this one too. Since in the previous movies we only saw new planets, seeing the already known felt nice and the only one we saw in all the installments was the sea one were Luke was. In contrast the prequel trilogy always used Naboo, Coruscant and Tatooine. While that sand world was inevitable to see in Episode 3, seeing it always changed the status Luke told 3po"if there is a bright center to the universe, this is the planet that is the farthest from it" and the whole incident with Anakin's mother made the Jedi look worse that Lucas intended. Naboo shouldn't have been used in the other two installments, because why would you return to the planet that you most likely be found? as well as missing one big chance to use more Aldeeran, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Coruscant...should have been used less probably.
-Less villains, more development: Just saying, we never learn why Count Dooku became a Sith or where was he in Episode I considering his former apprentice died in that movie, General Grievous was a joke (but not in his Expanded Universe debut) without any back story and Darth Maul...no comments. While Kylo Ren did nasty stuff, got a flashback, and he being the son of Han Solo makes easy to see some of his issues considering how short tempered the former smuggler was. General Hux did showed that he is ruthless, dislikes Kylo Ren and is not taken very seriously by the higher officers. And Snoke... liked his scenes, but he should have been one of the counselors of Palpatine from Return of the Jedi.
-Light saber duels: Sure, the fight of Darth Maul vs Obi Wan and Qui Gon looks appealing but since they were separated from all the other characters and seeing how they move too much the sables felt more like an spectacle, a problem that got worse in the later movies. Even the really important battle of Obi-Wan and Anakin felt too distracting how the keep jumping to one place to another, light saber dances and the fact that the scene keeps going and going, as well in Palpatine and Yoda fight, which should have ended with the green Jedi breaking one leg, that way it would make him using his cane more believable and dramatic. Here the duels were shorter but more focused, even in the Last Jedi the producers really though outside the box as the red guards use different weapons and in this one Rey and Kylo Ren fight but the waves get in their way but still focused on the characters.
-Every movie felt important: When re watching Episode 1, It was so baffling to see how insipid was, watched later Episode 3 and pretty much everything important that justified the existence of the trilogy happened there, later watched Episode 2 and realized that you might only need it to know who was the fellow cloned for the army. In contrast, The Last Jedi directly follows the events from Force Awakens, and Rise of Skywalker did used the already established new and already known characters in ways that wouldn't have worked if this was just a standalone film.
However there was one big flaw on the prequels that the sequels share: Too little explanations. Why was Luke's first Lightsaber in Maz Katana's place? how did the First Order managed to make such a gigantic base in the first place? Who is this old man that had a piece of the map to find Luke? who were exactly the Knights of Ren? And all the questions raised by Palpatine being alive.
Time and acceptation might not be kind to this trilogy, but also I remember how HATED the prequels were and suddenly are BELOVED so who knows. Still, after watching this movie, now I won't feel as excited with the previous two as many of the questions raised weren't answered. For good and bad, the Expanded Universe is now as important as it was with Episode II as it ended with the start of the Clone Wars, as it will answer the questions that these movies SHOULD HAVE BY THEMSELVES.
Happy New Year, and may the Force be with you
p.s. Should I review The Mandalorian Series?
Another World of Warcraft expansion?
At least 6 years later the third game was released and it changed many things: the orcs were no longer the villains but the undead, the story was in chapters instead of campaign (yeah, like another extremely famous Blizzard saga), the debut of the Night Elves, every terrain had it variety of creatures, a story that shook the status quo and hero units that gain experience with every enemy they defeat and allows them to improve their powers and could also get or buy items. etc. The expansion was released with new units and heroes including mercenaries, but the story still left unresolved things like: what will the Lich King do now that he is free from his prision and the demons that hated him?
Blizzard then announced World of Warcraft, which was going to be an online role playing game where you chose species, profession and travel through the world to have adventures, fight monsters, etc. the big success led to expansions that also continued unresolved plots from the previous games, while I didn't played any of them (yeah, feel free to laugh) learned things like: the Lich King finally was defeated for good, The orcs got a new evil chief that started fighting the Alliance, and even traveled in time to improve things for himself (and also created the movie continuity), one human kingdom got transformed into Werevolves by a curse,a new demon invasion, etc. Then this was shown:
Which made me think: Blizzard, are you sure keep doing an mmorpg is the right way to go? maybe it's time to go back to the basics by doing another strategy game where you can chose the Alliance and or the Horde in a campaign.
There has been other people saying that for quite some time actually, but with this new video the wish goes stronger for me. The Alliance (specially the humans) wants to recover Lordaeron as it was taken away in the third game while the Horde (specifically the undead) wants to keep living they seem to be happy there and are no longer being tyrannized by the demons. That alone can set a story featuring two point of views , neither is 100% evil or good.
Some may argue that this sound like small potatoes compared to what happened in the third or even the second game but there have been others that while the story is not the best, the gameplay is what make them instant classics. In fact, some people have actually said that the World of Warcraft later expansions aren't very interesting in story. Though since the title is battle for Azeroth (you know, the whole world)...maybe the whole stakes haven't been show entirely in this trailer.
The approach of the units could be like the 2nd and 3rd games: soldiers would be human footman/orc grunt, the mages being night elves druids/troll voodoo priests, the distance attacking ones dwarven riflemen/undead archers, create new naval units probably, etc. Focusing in one hero in particular for the story and still show other creatures in the terrain that are neutral in this war.
And besides, other sagas have made this and it worked for them:
-Donkey Kong Country Returns: You control the main characters of the first one, collect bananas for and the letters from the word "Kong" to get extra life, mount Rambi the rhino and hidden rewards. But get a more challenging level design, new enemies, Diddy can use his jet pack for a short time and it takes 2 hits per monkey to lose, they can be separated while playing cooperative mode and buying from Cranky Kong the parrot Squawnks helps you to detect hidden items instead of getting it from a box.
-Final Fantasy 9: Brought back the medieval setting, character design and classes from the first games, though it still had the cinematic approach from the previous playstation installments and not controlling just one character, showcased combined attacks, quick time events, ultra forms, exclusive summons for one character, etc.
-Mortal Kombat 2011: This is the first trilogy with the same places and characters to pick (though in the ps3 you can get Kratos), however they get new powers, fatalities, different practice modes, the X ray attacks and even the story is pretty much an alternative rewrite of the story as Raiden tries to prevent the Armagedon as he got news from his future self as he is during the first tournament. Oh, also babalities again.
-Super Mario Galaxy: Aside from bringing the fire flower and invincible star back, there are some 2d sections and you even get to play as Luigi. However the bosses were different and more creative than your average Mario 2d game, the levels vary in many different ways, the introduction of the ice flower, the bee costume, friendly robots, the Toad squadron, the story of Rosalina, the way it pushed the capacity of the Wii controllers, etc. made this one of the best games from Nintendo.
-Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild: The original Legend of Zelda mostly consist on going from different places, you only speak to people in caves and with the exception of the last dungeon, the order of the rest where you can get the Triforce shard is by free choice. In this one, the whole kingdom of Hyrule feels deserted and the communities are pretty much hidden, but of course, some things vary if it's day or night, get ingredients to cook your food, different swords,clothes, etc. and of course, the champions, the Sheikah being in their own town, the zora having a more sophisticated city as well as other details like you can sleep to recover you hearts, made this probably the biggest game in scale but also very similar in idea to the first 8 bit installment.
Also with so many tablet devices, touch screen gaming and the success of the Starcraft 2 games (and the fact that the first one is still very popular nowadays), it's not very unlikely that this would work.
But who knows if they will do it, one can only hope.