Original series streaming now.
The Book of Boba Fett (also known as Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett) is a 2021/2022 space Western series directed by Robert Rodriguez, Steph Green, Kevin Tancharoen, Bryce Dallas Howard, and Dave Filoni, created by Jon Favreau, produced by Lucasfilm and Golem Creations, and distributed by Disney Platform Distribution. It stars Temuera Morrison and Pedro Pascal. This is the second Disney+ Star Wars show, although the third season of a Disney+ Star Wars show. It acts as a sequel to Return of the Jedi and season two of The Mandalorian. It will be followed by season three of The Mandalorian and Ahsoka.
"People like us don't get to decide when we're finished." - Fennec Shand
Plot
After taking over Jabba the Hutt's position in Mos Espa, Boba Fett must form new alliances and resolve conflicts to earn respect as the new Daimyo. As things escalate, Fett must turn to old friends to stop crime and terror in Mos Espa once and for all.
Episodes 5 and 6 / The Mandalorian / Cad Bane / Flashbacks / Story / The Pyke Syndicate / Staying on Tatooine / Characters / Grogu's Choice
The Sweet
The best stretch of The Book of Boba Fett was the end of episode four to the middle of episode seven. Mainly episodes five and six. They were fantastic. Had those two been episodes of The Mandalorian, they would've been two of the best episodes of TV, like, ever. Episode five is a fabulous pilot for Mandalorian season three and episode six acts as a perfect Star Wars nostalgia-fest. It says something about your show when your main protagonist is in thirty seconds of the two best episodes of the season, though. The episodes work outside of The Book of Boba Fett. But when they are a part of The Book of Boba Fett, it dampens their greatness. I know this is supposed to be the positive section, but it just frustrates me.
The Book of Boba Fett works better as season 2.5 of The Mandalorian. It develops Mando much more than Boba. I'm more invested in Din's character. He's more interesting and cooler than Boba Fett. They do a better job of setting up season three than they do of actually telling Boba Fett's story. Once again, I love what they did to set up season three, but it frustrates me that is takes away from the quality of The Book of Boba Fett.
The best part of this show, in my opinion, was Cad Bane. I haven't seen Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but I know the characters. And I thought they translated him into this show perfectly. He doesn't have a lot of screentime, but he's so cool, so menacing, and so memorable. I don't think he's dead, but it will make me mad if he is. I hope we do get to see more of this character in the future, because he was awesome.
The main story of this series is a complete dumpster fire, but the flashbacks in the first few episodes of the season were good. It showed why Boba Fett had turned good, and I thought that there was enough emotional weight with the Tusken Raiders to make their death pretty upsetting. I liked the flashbacks. They did the most development of the character of Boba Fett, so I appreciate them for that.
The Sour
Unfortunately, I just don't think The Book of Boba Fett had a good story.
The show spends the first two episodes splitting between flashbacks and present, meaning we don't get a lot of development for the actual story. It moves at the pace of a snail, which might be okay if it had satisfying payoff. The third and fourth episode still barely moved the story forward, and then episodes five and six depart from the main story. This means that we've gotten four episodes of slow setup that don't really have a ton of actual plot development by the time we've reached the finale. That's just a terrible structure and terrible storytelling.
Because there isn't a ton of actual plot development, there isn't really a main villain. The villains of the season are the Pyke Syndicate, a group of assassins that first appear in the flashbacks. I don't really remember when they were introduced. I never really understood why they posed a threat to Boba. And they were never compelling or menacing. The lead Pyke should be this scary, memorable villain that wants to kill Boba Fett...but he isn't. He looks the same as the rest of the Pykes and doesn't have any kind of commanding screen presence. The villains (besides Cad Bane) were such a disappointment in this show.
Star Wars has a strange affection with Tatooine. In a galaxy full of lively, fun planets, they love to just stay on the boring desert planet. I understand that the Star Wars saga started on Tatooine. But, dude. Disney+ is a way to travel across the galaxy, and both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have been primarily located on Tatooine. It isn't an exciting planet. It's just so plain. Hopefully Obi-Wan Kenobi takes the adventure to another part of the galaxy.
Besides Mando and Cad Bane, the characters in this show are so lame. Yes, even Boba Fett. I was always cynical of this show, because I thought Boba Fett was cooler when he was just the silent, mysterious bounty hunter. As soon as you give him a show where he's the protagonist, he becomes less interesting. And the supporting cast is terrible. Fennec is bland. Boba Fett's biker gang is awful. They are one of the worst and cringiest Star Wars things ever. None of the characters (besides Mando and Cad Bane) are remotely compelling.
My final complaint is one that really urks me. In episode six, we are re-introduced to Grogu. Mando tries to go see him to drop off a little Beskar suit for him. Luke gives Grogu a choice; he can take Yoda's lightsaber and continue his Jedi training or take the Beskar armor, leave the Jedi, and return to the Mandalorian. And he takes the Beskar. We aren't even in season three of The Mandalorian and they have already undone the main goal of the first two seasons of The Mandalorian. The whole point of the treacherous quest of The Mandalorian was to return Grogu to the Jedi. And that has already been undone. Which bothers me.
Final Score
I didn't have high hopes for The Book of Boba Fett, and my expectations were correct. This show was a complete mess and dampens the coolness of the titular character.
I have to go Sour. Age range is 7+.
SWEET N' SOUR SCALE
Sweet (Great) Savory (Good) Sour (Bad)
Moldy (Terrible)
"The Book of Boba Fett"
Fun Factor: 6/10
Acting: 5.5/10
Characters: 5.5/10
Story: 2/10
Quality: 4.5/10
Created by Jon Favreau
Rated TV-14 for sci-fi violence and action, thematic elements
Released on December 29, 2021
Episode runtime: 42 minutes
Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett
Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin / The Mandalorian
Ming-Na Wen as Fennec Shand
David Pasquesi as The Twi'lek Majordomo
Jennifer Beals as Garsa Fwip
Carey Jones as Black Krrsantan
Sophie Thatcher as Drash
Corey Burton as Cad Bane
Amy Sedaris as Peli Motto
Timothy Olyphant as Cobb Vanth
Matt Berry as 8D8
Jordan Bolger as Skad
Danny Trejo as the Rancor Trainer
Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka Tano
Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker