He is Boba Fett

I was looking forward to The Book of Boba Fett more than I've looked forward to anything Star Wars in several years. Or anything, really. Robert Rodriguez directing Star Wars? One of the most talented action directors of the past thirty years who happens also not to be shill? Sign me up. I knew there was no way the show could live up to those expectations but it was pretty damned good. The first episode was better than any episode of The Mandalorian except maybe the Taika Waititi episode or the one also directed by Robert Rodriguez. But, as is so often the case with a show I love, a lot--not all and not even most--of the viewer reaction seems to be along the lines of, "That was boring! Nothing happens!" I've been looking for reviews and reactions in the hopes that other people love it as much as I do and so far it seems the critics are on my side, at least. YouTube critics seem to love it--then I scroll down to their comments, many of which are variations of "It was okay but no Mandalorian" or "It was boring."

There are many movies and TV shows of the past few years that have produced a big divide between critics and general audiences but I don't think it's always for the same reasons. Sometimes I think it's because critics get paid off, or bribed by other means, to give good reviews, sometimes I think bad audience scores are coordinated troll efforts. In the case of Book of Boba Fett, I think the issue is more along the lines of Twin Peaks: The Return. I often think about one review I've read of the David Lynch series that remarked on how, for most shows nowadays, you don't really need to see it, you just need to hear the dialogue to know what's going on. You can't be texting or doing homework while Twin Peaks is on and expect to get anything out of it.

People talk about how TV shows are replacing movies but TV is still much more dialogue driven than film--that's why we usually look at the writers, not the directors, as the showrunners. To watch and appreciate The Book of Boba Fett, you have to watch it.

The first ten minutes or so of the episode has little to no dialogue, We lucky viewers get to watch Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) escape the Sarlacc pit. Which was nice and satisfyingly disgusting. Rodriguez does a much better job than any previous director of making the effects backgrounds feel organically integrated with the foreground live action. The sandstorms and Boba's fatigue distorted vision after he's captured by sandpeople help give the situations an emotional and visceral reality.

That's the flashbacks. We also have scenes set in the present where Boba is learning to manage the criminal empire that once belonged to Jabba. A lot of viewers expected him to be more ruthless but there's nothing really previously established about Boba that would indicate he has no sense of fair play or code of conduct. He's a bounty hunter, not an assassin. This might make him a bad fit for a crime lord, though, which I don't see as a flaw in the show's premise but rather as a perfectly credible flaw in Boba Fett's character--he's too good for his own good and he's lucky he has Fennec (Ming Na Wen) to encourage him to kill people.

I did think it was a bit implausible when the two of them walked out into the middle of the street without their helmets. Both characters should know better. But that's a problem with Jon Favreau's teleplay. Everything else works. Fennec chasing the thugs over the rooftops of Mos Espa (it's not Mos Eisley, as some critics have mistakenly called it) is a prime example of how expertly Rodriguez shoots action and of how good he is at blending effects backgrounds with footage of actors.

Temuera Morrison is terrific. He's a bit bulkier than Boba Fett looked in the original trilogy but he's so good I don't mind. Some actors can exude the aura of a coiled spring and that's often what makes someone a great action star. Jason Stathem has it, Toshiro Mifune had it. Temuera Morrison has it. I can see why he must have been so good as an abusive husband in a pair of successful movies in New Zealand in the '90s (Once Were Warriors and What Becomes of the Broken Hearted). His Boba Fett is a man whose sadistic rage seems to be just an inch behind the curtain. Which makes the fact that he's trying to be the nice crime boss an interesting paradox.

Disney is squeamish about on-screen kills but the makers of the show do get away with showing Boba obliterate a guy with a rocket launcher and a few other definite deaths. But I suspect at some point learning the lesson that he needs to rule with fear is going to be more like letting himself off the chain. Machiavelli said it's better to be feared than loved, though he also said the worst thing you can do is be hated. I'm not sure Boba's up to finding that balance and the finale might just be his daring escape from Tatooine. But I'd be down for either outcome.

The supporting cast is all good. I've always liked Ming-Na Wen and it's nice to see her finally, after all this years, in a solid production. David Pasquesi was an impressive standout as the mayor's Twi'let major-domo and Jennifer Beals was pretty hot in her brief scene as another Twi'lek. It's nice they're letting female Twi'leks be sexy again instead of trying to prove they can also be pilots and senators. Come on, they're non-existent aliens, surely they don't need any chaste representation.

But, despite all its many other good qualities, the highlight of the episode was Boba's fight with that desert monster. I wouldn't be the first to say it looked like a Ray Harryhausen monster and, egad, was that homage a smashing idea. It was the best cgi Star Wars monster since General Grievous.

The Book of Boba Fett is available on Disney+. For the love of God, watch it. Give it ratings. Give it all the ratings.

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