The Book of Boba Fett (2022)
As of today, the final episode of The Book of Boba Fett has aired on Disney + and this spinoff show from The Mandalorian has finished its first season. It has been a curious seven part story and not at all what I was expecting. Initially focusing upon the trials and tribulations of the iconic Bounty Hunter Boba Fett as he fights for Jabba the Hutt’s former territory, the story creatively explained what happened to him after he was swallowed by the Sarlacc. However, the plot took an unexpected turn focusing upon the fate of Din Djarin and Grogu from The Mandalorian, before the climatic final instalment. It’s certainly been an entertaining ride but the show’s somewhat eclectic nature has been a little confusing. Having a dedicated story about Boba Fett and then undermining it by focusing upon other iconic characters seems somewhat contradictory. Thankfully, the final episode put both shows back on track.
I am still of the opinion that as a franchise, Star Wars works best on TV in an episodic format. George Lucas often cited cliffhanger serials such as Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers as a source of inspiration. The reason that The Mandalorian works so much better than the last three Star Wars feature films is because the writing is consistent. The former was obviously conceived and planned in advance by a single writer/showrunner and their support team. Whereas the movies seemed to be “made up as they went along”. The changes in writers and directors clearly had a negative impact on the way the franchise was received by viewers. It ultimately seemed to self plagiarise and contradict its own lore. This has not been the case with The Mandalorian and now The Book of Boba Fett which seem to be very aware of established lore and adept at drawing upon it.
I am not a scholar of Star Wars lore and have watched only the feature films and very little of the animated shows. Nor have I read many of the books, graphic novels and comics which have flooded the market over the last 25 years. Much of these are no longer canonical. Hence, my viewing of The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett has not been hampered by an excess of fan based baggage. I have watched these shows for entertainment first and fandom second. Broadly speaking I have enjoyed them and they deliver what I want and expect from the franchise. They certainly feel more like direct “relatives” of the original trilogy than the three Disney feature films. Creator and writer Jon Favreau seems to grasp how Star Wars works better than J.J. Abrams. I haven’t liked all aspects of these shows. The Mod gang of Mos Espa was a homage too far in my opinion but it’s not a deal breaker.
Some folk seem to have a problem with the idea of Boba Fett’s character arc and the franchise reinventing him as a “good guy”. I do not. There are lots of both fictional and historical characters that have changed due to personal circumstances as well as the political and social realities of the world. As so much of The Book of Boba Fett seems to be couched in Western mythology, I’ll cite Wyatt Earp or Pat Garrett as examples. Plus there is human nature to consider. Many real soldiers tire of their profession and look to escape it all in later life. Plus if you consider the character of Boba Fett just on the strength of his appearances in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, then there isn’t really a lot of backstory or narrative depth. He is a bounty hunter and beyond that pretty much nothing is established. That’s a blank canvas as far as I can see.
One of the most enjoyable aspects of The Book of Boba Fett has been the way the show draws heavily and not too subtly upon a lot of classic cinema. Some of these homages are quite obvious where others are more low key. Certainly the entirety of Boba Fett’s time among the Tusken tribe, is straight out of A Man Called Horse. The idea of the outlander who is adopted by a tribe and then eventually becomes its ruler is an established literary trope. The Pyke Syndicate spice train attack was also a major nod to David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia. There are also numerous references both big and small to the works of Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone, especially with the introduction of Cad Bane. Then we had a bomb in a club which was straight out of Brian De Palma’s The Untouchables and you’d have to have a bag over your head not to spot the King Kong reference in the season finale.
I consider all of these cinematic references to be a good thing. If it encourages younger Star Wars fans to watch these films and widen their knowledge of cinema, then I deem that to be a good thing. Overall I found The Book of Bobba Fett entertaining. It does Star Wars “well”. I’ve read some reviews that imply that the show is poking fun at fans and that it isn’t as deep as the original movies. I consider this perspective to be risible. Star Wars is a lot of things but it has never been “deep”. It is effectively a Western style soap opera set in space. It has always been entertaining, popular entertainment. It deals in archetypes and established tropes but it has never been a cerebral competitor to other popular franchises like Tolkien’s legendarium or Frank Herbert’s work. The existing TV format seems to be a perfect fit for the franchise and I hope it continues in this idiom. No more bloated films driven by focus groups and corporate memos, thank you.
