Change Your Image
coyotewoman-960-873203
Reviews
Ahsoka (2023)
The music is going to sink this series.
Not a bad start, but not a great one. If the music is any indication, Disney is planning to kill off everyone in this series. The opening theme sounds like Seriously, Dirge by the Deathwatch Beetle Symphony. A good theme can carry a slow scene.
Otherwise, it seems that Disney has forgotten how to tell a good story. These same characters were vibrant and active in Star Wars Rebels .
There seems to be a surfeit of estrogen in this series. Not that I'm sad to see equal representation by women because I am one, but can't we have a few guys to watch as well? This makes me think back fondly to Solo.
Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
At last, REAL Star Wars again!
It has a story arc. It has great action. It has a good cast. Most of all, it has writers and producers who understand that Star Wars is a galactic struggle with evil fought on a personal level, not a bunch of lowlifes squabbling over the underworld of part of one of the crummier spaceports. Much better story.
Peacemaker (2022)
Simply the Funniest Thing on TV
Despite being more gory and explicit than my usual preference, the action, dialog and pacing have me hooked. Forget The Boys. This is the best superhero send-up of all time. Was not a John Cena fan until I saw this, but it converted me. The dance in the opening sequence alone is worth watching the series. This is an exceptional blending of action and deep characterization. James Gunn has a hit with this show!
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 7: In the Name of Honor (2022)
Please stop making mono-urban scum-sucker-squabbles and go back to making STAR WARS!!!
Horribly directed, monolithically slow "action" scenes. A poor score. A rancor that keeps changing sizes. Baby Yoda saves the day. CAD BANE gets wasted in a pointless, posturing shoot-out. The Neon Cyborg Hover-Vespa Kids are back. Boba Fett apparently can't handle battle decisions. Pretty much everything that could go wrong, did. Blech!
Did anyone really expect Grogu to choose the Farmboy Force-wielder over the Beskar-dressed Hedge Knight? Not a surprise.
Was so hoping that this was the end, but was disappointed to find out another season is on the way. Give it a rest! I won't be watching it.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian (2022)
And now, something completely different...
Instead of another plodding episode of Boba Fett, we get and episode of The Mandalorian. What the hey, anything's an improvement at this point.
The good news is no bacta tank diving, no neon bikers and a few decent action scenes.
The bad part is after the action scenes, the mood gets cooled by building a starfighter. I'd rather rebuild a '57 Chevy instead of watching the restoration of a Republic antique, but again -- it's an improvement. Unfortunately, Boba Fett himself only appeared in the flashback scene at the beginning, but that turned out not to be so bad after all. Pedro Pascal's Mandalorian is still a sleepy watch, but a big jump up from what was being served. I might stick around for the end, after all.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 4: The Gathering Storm (2022)
The Book of Boba Fett hates Star Wars fans
This episode supposedly shows us why Fennec Shand has pledged allegiance to Boba Fett. It just leaves us flat. Does Boba fly to rescue her from an army of attackers? Nope. He just happens to see where she's been dumped, gut-shot, on the sand, takes her to a cyborg chop shop, and forks over some credits to get her fixed. You'd think it would take more to win over a cynical "Master Assassin." But, apparently not, because she agrees to help him recover his ship from Jabba's former palace. We don't even get to see how Fennec got vented, nor by whom.
The low budget really shows in the sparseness of entities in what used to be a teaming center of crime and villainy. The few action scenes fall flat due to poor staging, lack of emotion in the actors, and the lack of a moving soundtrack, which is something that has plagued this whole series. You really need a good soundtrack for action -- something other than four moody notes on a recorder, anyway.
It almost seems like the writers blocked out a period of time for the story, and then went back and cut out any interesting action that could have happened. There is also a real lack of good dialog, good action staging and effective editing. The original Star Wars movies had a lot of good one-liners, and though there is some attempt at that in this episode, they all fall flat as does every action scene.
Star Wars at its best was a fast-paced action Space/Western with just enough plot and sparkling dialog to hang it together. This is a pondering, posturing Lucha Libre soap opera that promises action at every breath and never really delivers. It seems as though everyone has gotten tired of doing Star Wars, and is trying to bore its fans to death so they'll never have to hear, "More Star Wars!" ever again. I'm certainly considering dropping my Disney+ subscription if this is what is to come with the franchise.
There were a few bright spots: Boba is finally done with the bacta tank. There were no neon cyborg hoverbike riders to be seen. The droid torturer from Return of the Jedi has been demoted to sous chef. But, that's about it.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 3: The Streets of Mos Espa (2022)
More ponderously slow political posturing
The quality gained in last week's episode is falling away due to some spectacularly bad writing and pacing of what are supposed to be action scenes. Once again we are "treated" to another nothing scene of Boba pickling in his bacta tank. If you're going to tell a story through flashbacks, just flash back! There is no need for this gimmicky resort to the bacta tank dreams.
BAD WRITING POINTS:
1.) While defenseless in a bacta tank, Boba apparently has NO ONE on guard, which allows a Wookie mercenary to get the drop on him and nearly kill him. In fact, he should have been dead, because (for the baddest bounty hunter in the galaxy) he did an incredibly poor job of defending himself against said Wookie. And if Bab did have someone on guard, why didn't he have their guts for garters for their failure? That's very poor discipline for a daimyo.
2.) After hiring a crew of cyborg hover bike riders as part of his miniscule staff just because they have the nerve to sass their daimyo to his face, he sends them after a fleeing city employee with only the instruction to, "Get him!" What does he want them to do? Kill the guy? Detain him? Make him play Parcheesi? Luckily, after the galaxy's slowest, most boring hover bike chase, his goons make the right choice and hold the guy for questioning.
3.) After sending the previously mentioned Wookie to kill Boba, the twin Hutts who seek to regain Jabba's throne show up with a young rankor as a gift to Boba! Why? And why, after the assassination attempt, does Boba not just kill them? The only answer for the Hutt's continued survival lies in an earlier episode where it was stated with no further explanation that to kill them, Boba would have to "get permission." From whom? Is he a daimyo or a plate of chopped liver?
The rancor monster introduction was one good thing, with Danny Trejo showing up as the rancor's trainer, but the staging of the rancor's imprintation on Boba was shot in such as way that it was obvious that the trainer and not Boba would have been the "first human that it sees." Although Boba's stated objective of riding the beast might earn him back some of the respect and prestige that he is throwing away right and left with his weak decisions. The prospect of seeing a rancor mount is exciting, provided that the action is not as glacially slow as nearly all the other action scenes so far.
Also, the re-use of the scene where Boba is in Kamino watching his father blast away in the lamprey ship was just a waste of story-telling time, where it had been a hopeful hint of more in-depth insight to young Boba in the previous episode. I think we'll be as tired of seeing it by the time this series is done as we already are of Boba wallowing in his bacta tank.
The concept art has far more storytelling and action depth than the main show, and I can't help but wonder if that would not have been a much better way to go than this ponderous live action.
I had very high hopes for this series when it was announced, but those hopes are dwindling quickly now. The whole thing suffers from poor pacing and an obvious lack of budget. Too bad. Still hoping it gets better, but even Temuera Morrison looks bored with it now.
The Book of Boba Fett: Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land (2021)
Getting Better
Although I was disappointed in the first episode, this one is definitely watchable. We finally see Temuera Morrison bust out his acting chops, and there are more and better action scenes. Stopping the train was a very good action sequence. The initiation ceremony of the Sand People was quite beautiful. However, the confrontation with the twin Hutts was pointless and more boring than a good use of foreshadowing. Overall, the pacing is still far too slow, and I have already seen too much of Boba Fett pickling in a bacta tank. As a plot device, it's hackneyed. We get it; he's still scarred from the pit; he has bad dreams. Every bounty hunter should. If you need to tell all the action in flashbacks, just get on with it. On the bright side, we did get a flashback to young Boba on Camino watching his father boost away in the lamprey ship. I'm hoping this heralds many more scenes from Boba's earlier life. Looking forward to the next episode.
Star Wars Explained: Book of Boba Fett EPISODE 1 BREAKDOWN (2021)
Much Ado About Meh
After all the build-up, I was quite disappointed with the first episode. I would have liked to have seen more about what Boba did during the Star Wars years than after the Skywalker saga came to an end. The life of a bounty hunter is much more exciting than the life of Jabba the Hutt's second successor. It's not as though Jabba's old business required a lot of action acting, and it doesn't look, based on the first episode, that there is going to be much more now, except from Fennic Shand. She is the lone bright spot in the series so far. Temuera Morrison is a great actor, but there's just not much "there" there, as far as acting opportunities go, either. Stoic silence does not make for exciting viewing in large doses, and that's what has happened so far. I'm hoping for better, but I'm not holding my breath.
The Water Phoenix (2017)
A very good short movie.
I kept wondering where you shot the underwater sequences because you used the space so well. WHERE CAN I BUY A COPY?
Snowpiercer (2020)
This is why it's gotten such harsh reviews.
This is based on one of the dumber science fiction movies of the last few years. Supposedly, all that's left of humanity is on a huge train that makes a circuit of the frozen (-190 degrees C) earth once a year. Every human alive is on that train. See the stupidity? Why don't they use the power from the train to stay still in a deep place and grow more food? Until Earth loses its molten core, it's 52-55 degrees down there and not that far down either! Who maintains the tracks? The people on the train while it's going non-stop at bullet train speeds? And how do the rails respond to that much cold? Every alloy we know or can even theorize gets very brittle at those temps. There's supposed to be enough science in science fiction to aid suspension of disbelief. I have seen worse shows, but at the moment can't think of any. Ick.