The Mandalorian Season 1 & 2 review by Bobby Blakey
When Disney+ launched in 2019 one of the first series to premiere was The Mandalorian, the first live-action TV series from the Star Wars universe. The series was created by Jon Favreau and launched a new era in the galaxy far, far away. Clone Wars producer and Rebels creator Dave Filoni worked alongside Favreau to help usher in this new direction for the franchise that has now finished out three seasons.
Sadly, none of these shows were available outside of the streaming service until the release of Loki: Season One and WandaVision this year. Now Disney and Lucasfilm are bringing the first two seasons of The Mandalorian to 4K and Blu-ray as well in all-new steelbook editions. The series stars Pedro Pascal, Gina Carano, Carl Weathers, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosario Dawson, Katee Sackhoff, Emily Swallow, Taika Waititi, Temuera Morrison, Timothy Olyphant, Bill Burr, and Ming-Na Wen throughout these two seasons.
The series also features a variety of directors at the helm of each episode including Bryce Dallas Howard, Rick Famuyiwa, Carl Weathers, Peyton Reed, Robert Rodriguez, and Taika Waititi as well as Jon Favreau and
Dave Filoni stepping in as well. Each of these directors brought their own visions to the episodes while keeping it feeling unified throughout.
The Mandalorian follows the travails of a lone gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy far from the authority of the New Republic after the fall of the Empire and before the emergence of the First Order.
I remember getting to see the trailer for this first season at Celebration and was blown away by how great it looked. Could we actually get a cool Star Wars TV show? The answer was a resounding yes. This first season brought a western vibe to the show which helped it not only feel like the original trilogy films, but also just something different. This is helped all the better by the way Mando carries himself, walks and fights. This is thankful to the guys that actually play the character inside the armor with the fight work done by Capoeria Maestre Lateef Crowder and grandson of John Wayne, Brendan Wayne doing all the rest of the overall character. Pascal is fine as the voice, but alone it is nothing and these guys deserve way more credit than I think they get.
The storyline here is interesting and brings everything we love about Star
Wars back to the forefront while not just mimicking everything they usually do in the series. I was so ready to get something not connected to the Skywalkers and even no lightsabers. It’s a fun call back to the galaxy and allowed them to give iconic characters like Jawas actual stuff to do as opposed to just standing around. Filled with action, heart and great characters, this first season knocked it out of the park complete with numerous surprise moments making fans eager for more.
In season 2, The Mandalorian and the Child continue their journey, facing enemies and rallying allies as they make their way through a dangerous galaxy in the tumultuous era after the collapse of the Galactic Empire.
This season dived right back in with the adventure, this time getting further into Mandalorian mythology as well as bringing in more characters from the world of animation into live action to great success. The hype for Grogu was massive after the debut in the first season, but thankfully we figured out the name this time around and could try to put a stop to the “baby yoda” annoyance. This season also brought in fan favorite Ashoka to live action and while I love Rosario Dawson and she is great in the role was disappointed that they didn’t use Ashley Eckstein. That being said, it was an awesome addition and helped to take the series to a new familiar level while still holding onto what makes it great.
I loved this follow-up season and brough even more surprises right up until the awesome finale that further set up the possibilities of not only this series, but the future of the franchise. I have to admit that the whole Grogu story started wearing thin for me and was ready and hoping that the series would take all these new characters and direction. The finale here does seemingly put it to an end, but we all know that didn’t fully stick, but doesn’t diminish necessarily what they pulled off.
This show has its ups and downs in storytelling, but is perfectly executed complete with great action, character and iconic moments that fans will surely love. In addition to all the episodes from the two seasons, each of these sets offer up bonus content including never-before-seen bonus features with cohesive and collectible brand-new box art designed by popular artist Attila Szarka and collectible concept art cards.
Grab your copy of The Mandalorian Seasons 1 & 2 when they hit 4K and Blu-ray Steelbook on December 12th from Lucasfilm.
