Jon favreau book of boba fett

Produced by John Bartnicki
Starring Temura Morrison, Ming Na Wen, and Pedro Pascal
Distributed by Disney Platform Distribution
Rated TV-14 for action and violence.

If you ask Star Wars fans, or even average cinemagoers, what they like about the franchise, you may hear answers along the lines of lightsaber fights, epic battle sequences, cool spaceships, and so on. But these things, though they are fun, are not what makes Star Wars great.

Rather, the original Star Wars trilogy (1977–1983) was great for two principal reasons: It told a clear, moving story about good triumphing over evil; and it did so with likable, interesting characters. The Empire is undiluted evil, destroying planets and enslaving populations. The Rebellion is unabashedly good, fighting for freedom and peace against all odds. Both sides are fleshed out with powerful, intriguing characters whose stories the audience cares about deeply. The heroes, importantly, are relatable people whom the viewer is happy to see and wants to root for.

Subsequent cinematic installments drifted further and further from this successful recipe. The prequel trilogy (1999–2005) was an interesting, albeit flawed, exploration of Anakin Skywalker’s descent from good to evil; and the collapse of the galactic Republic into the Empire, with some likable characters and some poorly developed and poorly written ones. The sequel trilogy (2015–2019) relied heavily on recycled plot, characters, and visuals instead of offering an interesting new story.

After its conclusion, further feature film installments were canceled or postponed, and the franchise moved to the small screen. This provided an excellent opportunity to take Star Wars back to the powerful storytelling that made it successful originally. A ten-episode TV series is long enough to develop more complex plotlines and ideas than is possible in a single movie. The first of these live-action series, The Mandalorian, largely succeeded in this regard. It tells the story of the titular Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal), a man raised in a restrictive, religion-like tradition, whose worldview is thrown into disarray when he develops a close bond with an alien child whom he swears to protect and return to its people—enemies of the Mandalorians. Despite some weak episodes, the show was fun and engaging, and it pioneered a radical new method of achieving CGI backgrounds, giving it some truly stunning visuals. Most important, Pascal manages to turn a monotonal masked bounty hunter into a relatable protagonist that viewers passionately root for.

When the second season of The Mandalorian ended with a promise that it would be followed by a series called The Book of Boba Fett, fan expectations were high. The character of Boba Fett, with a considerable backstory from the original and prequel film trilogies, had appeared in the second season of The Mandalorian, so in a sense this new series would be a continuation of its predecessor.

From the first episode, it was clear that The Book of Boba Fett was going for a different tone than The Mandalorian. The pace of the storytelling is far slower, awkwardly jumping back and forth between two points in time. In the show’s present, Fett is struggling to establish control over various crime organizations on the planet Tatooine. In the past, he is building a relationship with the tribal sandpeople, whom he finds and is saved by after barely escaping with his life from the belly of the sarlacc, the giant carnivorous creature into which he falls in Return of the Jedi (1983).

The problem with the “present-day” story line is that the audience has no clear reason to root for Fett in his battle for control. His character is flat and uninteresting, which isn’t helped by Temuera Morrison’s bland performance. Moreover, Fett is trying to establish himself as a crime lord, and although he tries to rule with a softer hand than his enemies, he is still a crime boss. He is neither morally good nor likable.

The “past” story line is even harder to engage with, consisting mostly of drawn-out sequences where Fett tries to communicate with the tribal sandpeople and learn their customs. His behavior in later episodes suggests that he developed a close bond with the tribe, but what we see on-screen doesn’t convey such a strong emotional connection.

The decision to set the series on Tatooine, a crime-ridden desert planet that’s already been the setting for numerous Star Wars stories, makes the show feel trapped in this “hive of scum and villainy,” disconnected from the galaxy-spanning good-versus-evil story lines that define the best of Star Wars.

The Tatooine setting hints at another of the show’s failings—a lack of originality. In addition to the heavy reliance on familiar Star Wars imagery, a feature of every installment since The Force Awakens, the series constantly references other productions, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, A Fistful of Dollars, Pacific Rim, and King Kong. A little tribute here and there is one thing, but this series feels like a fan film for much of the sci-fi and Western genres. Nothing is more jarring, however, than the heavy influence of the 2021 film adaptation of Dune. Although the original Star Wars took inspiration from Dune (the novel), this takes it to another level.1 From a desert full of wandering tribes and giant monsters to battles over control of a powerful “spice” that’s more valuable than virtually anything, The Book of Boba Fett is so packed full of Dune references that it seems like an attempt to cash in on that film’s success.

The series is not without its positives, however. The visuals, as in The Mandalorian, are excellent and make the less dull parts of the story a joy to watch. The fifth and sixth episodes, which focus on the Mandalorian’s story rather than Boba Fett’s, are far more engaging than the rest, showcasing the Mandalorian’s moral clash with his culture. Keen Star Wars fans will enjoy the return of the dramatic and shadowy Cad Bane from the Clone Wars animated series, the first time we’ve seen him in a live-action series. But for other viewers, there is precious little to get excited about besides some good action sequences. In terms of casting, Ming Na Wen is excellent as Fennick Shan, a character on The Mandalorian and regular on The Book of Boba Fett, but the stage-stealing performances come again from The Mandalorian regulars Pedro Pascal and Amy Sedaris when they return in episode five.

The Book of Boba Fett is a disappointing entry in the Star Wars franchise. It fails to live up to The Mandalorian in story and character development and to deliver the kind of strong moral themes found in the original and prequel trilogies. The series seems underwritten and rushed, perhaps a consequence of the same pressure to produce several live-action shows each year for Disney+ that has resulted in the variable quality of the recent on-demand series in the Marvel franchise. With several more shows on the horizon, such as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Ahsoka, and likely a third season of The Mandalorian, let’s hope the producers remember the importance of compelling storytelling, relatable characters, and a good moral message in making a quality Star Wars production.

About Thomas Walker-Werth

Thomas Walker-Werth is associate editor at The Objective Standard and a fellow at both Objective Standard Institute and Foundation for Economic Education. He hosts the podcast “Innovation Celebration” with his wife Angelica. See more of his work at walker-werth.com.

View all articles by Thomas Walker-Werth →