Welcome back oh Readers of said
Rotten. I thought we would take a small break from Indie Horror and
Indie Action and go the franchise that many new and old fans are
enjoying this particular creation of Jon Favreau (Swingers,
Made, Zathura, Iron Man, Iron Man 2 and Cowboys & Aliens)
as Disney carries on the galaxy far, far away.
This is The Mandalorian Season 2.
Well, this is another fine mess you have gotten us in, Mando.
Catching back with the Mando (Pedro
Pascal of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Sisters, The Good Wife, Lights
Out, The Adjustment Bureau, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe, Sweet
Little Lies, Red Widow, Game of Thrones and Graceland) as he
is now a clan or tribe of two. His mission is to watch over the
child and bring him to his own people. To do this, he will have to
find fellow Mandalorians and his best best is hitting the Outer Rim
systems. With hunters chasing the Razorcrest down, plus Remnants
of the Empire in full swing, the sky is getting crowded.
Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito
of Miami Vice, Sweet Lorraine, School Daze, Do the Right Thing,
Malcolm X, New York Undercover, Big City Blues, Homicide: Life on the
Street, The $treet, Girls Club, Chupacabra Terror, South Beach,
Breaking Bad and Payday 2) current commander of the former Imperial sector has need of the child as he has exhibited a high
degree of natural force control. Most likely another means to an
end.
Beskar's chafing my ass, Phil.
Mando can't always be the lone
gunfighter. He has made quite a few enemies but thankfully he also
has allies. Greef Karga (Carl Weathers of Rocky, Rocky II,
Death Hunt, Fortune Dane, Predator, Action Jackson, Tour of Duty,
Street Justice, In the Heat of the Night, Happy Gilmore, Assault on
Devil's Island, Brothers and Magnum P.I.) running the
township of Nevarro, alongside former Rebel ground trooper Cara Dune
(Gina Carano of Blood and Bone, Haywire, Almost Human, In the
Blood, Heist, Deadpool, Daughter of the Wolf, Mandness in the Method
and The Mandalorian) With the shadow of the Empire's end and
the light of the New Republic being formed, the galaxy is quite busy.
This season pushes the conventional
story telling bringing in new threats, new character and reprise
characters you have encountered before. Guaranteed to offer
something you may have or not seen before.
Mon Calmari's tough on drunk spacing.
Following a trail of bread crumbs,
Mando is trying his level best to watch over the child, contact those
that could instruct the boy in the Force and handle bounties as
always. Going from being a manhunter to being a guardian is a shift
in his character's dynamic and he wears it well, in spite of being
out of his element.
What makes this series highly
enjoyable, is the simplistic writing but complex characters. Almost
every facet of it feels like the proverbial Spaghetti Western. The
lone gunslinger helping the helpless, facing bandits, back shooters
and existing government men. All the while, it incorporates the Star
Wars legacy of stories yet to come. From effects, costumes and
vehicle set and planetary set designs, you cannot help but feel you
have sat through a Star Wars mini-movie. Heroes, villains and
everyone caught in-between, this is the Star Wars continuation that
you look forward to.
As a child of the original era, I can
say I have thoroughly enjoyed these two seasons and really look
forward to seeing the next adventures to come.
Good day my readers and welcome back.
So with the pandemic I have been asked to do a few
outbreak/plague/zombie movie reviews and...no. I will maybe partake
in a little of that click bait later but as of now, I would rather
talk about a decent series instead. With Disney behaving like Skynet
consolidating multiple companies under the Conglomerate of the Mouse,
it leaves us wondering how will the Disney Star Wars hold up. Well I
enjoyed Rogue One, The latter sequels have a varied effect (we
won't be going into that right this minute) and the Solo prequel
was...a film. So instead of that, the flavor of the last 5 months
has to be the lone hunter roaming the planetary systems...catching
bounties. This is The Mandalorian.
Better than Boba, baby!
As it was written following closer to
the Expanded Universe (Star Wars Novels) we have a tale of a
capable hunter (Pedro Pascal of Good vs Evil, Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, Without a Trace, The Good Wife, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam
Axe, Red Widow and The Mentalist) from the Mandalorian tribes
as the planetary system of Mandalore was long since attacked and
unified under the Empire during a military campaign simply known as
The Purge. Yeah I may have read a few Star War books. Our hunter
is hot on pursuit claiming bounties left and right as a true
Mandalorian does, the art of the hunt is very much part of his
culture, as is wearing and brandishing weapons a part of his religion.
They reveal themselves to no one as the helmet and armor is their
identity. They can chose to reveal their name but it is rare the
trust outside of the clan is warranted.
It's a living...
Head of the Bounty Hunter's Guild,Greef
Karga (Carl Weathers of Rocky, Force 10 from Navarone, Rocky
II, Death Hunt, Rocky III, Rocky IV, Predator, Action Jackson, Street
Justice and In the Heat of the Night) is doling out bounty
contracts left and right but pickings are slim. Not everyone in the
galaxy like paying Guild costs but a private customer wants a job
done and done right. The contract has been open to anyone thinking
they can do the job so Mando has quite a bit of competition to deal
with. Meeting with the Ugnaught tinkerer/farmer/ Blurrg rancher
Kuiil (Nick Nolte of Rich Man, Poor Man, 48 Hrs.,Under Fire,
Farewell to the King, Another 48 Hrs., The Prince of Tides, Blue
Chips, Mulholland Falls, Nightwatch, Affliction, Hulk and The
Beautiful Country) , Kuiil begins to warn Mando how many
strangers are on this rock of a moon he has claimed for his own.
Including one of those damn IG (Assassination Droid or Combat
Model) that operate on pure logic and no emotional or behavioral protocols. Nevertheless IG-11(voiced by
writer/director/actor Taika Waititi of Thor Ragnarok, Jojo Rabbit
and What We Do in the Shadows)find the asset to find out it
is an infant. A species of slow gestation period and this puts Mando
on the spot.
The commission puts our gunslinger in a
moral quagmire. On one hand, he is honor bound to fulfill his
contract. With the other is the contract is an abduction and handing
it over to the Remnants of the Empire as his client. So what is a
well-armed, well-trained fella to do?
The prophecy spoke of this one. He who will save the franchise.
Mando feels a certain responsibility
for this young charge and cannot believe how much the little one's
bounty has gone up. With "fellow" hunters, cut throats,
raiders and the like are gunning for this child, Mando has to keep a
clear head, watch his alliances and hope his skills last.
On the run, he encounters a former
Heavy gunner Cara Dune (Gina Carano of Blood and Bone, Haywire,
Fast & Furious 6, Almost Human, In the Blood, Heist, Extraction,
Deadpool, Kickboxer: Vengeance and Scorched Earth) a woman
wearing her heart on her sleeve and haunted by her demons and loss of
friends in the war. Survivor's guilt for a warrior without a war.
What this show is ultimately is Space
Spaghetti Western. A lone gunslinger with his own code and honor.
Ruffians, back shooters and cowboy trash hate him because he is one of
the best at what he does. Clients are thrilled how effective and
thorough he is for each job and his liaison for the Guild loves how
much money this man rakes in for him.
Thinking of his own childhood and how
everything went pear shaped for Mando, he worries for the child and genuinely has feelings for him.
For those paying attention, our
conflicted gunfighter has a rapport with the master armorer (Emily
Swallow of Southland, The Good Wife, Monday Mornings, The Mentalist,
Adoptable, Timeless and Castlevania) while she makes him the
finest armor of Beskar Steel (strongest steel of Mandalore),
she asks him of his hunts and if they have been successful. There is
a distance between them but you almost feel as though she still
considers him a young charge and not the seasoned hunter he is.
For the more keen eyed Stars Wars buff,
you damn right we got Easter eggs. I will give only one spoiler
though. Salicious Crumb (Jabba the Hutt's little puppet friend
that attacked C-3PO in Return of the Jedi), one of his species is
roasting on a spit. Damn near choked on my drink.
With director/producer Jon Favreau
(Swingers, Made, The Big Empty, Dinner for Five, Iron Man Iron
Man 2, Cowboys &Aliens) along side writer Dave Filoni
(Star Wars Rebels, The Mandalorian, Star Wars Resistance and
Star Wars: The Clone Wars) basically reworking episodes of
Westerns worthy of Gunsmoke and the Virginian, the lawlessness of the
galaxy is shown, mercy is in rare amounts and people tend to not
stick their neck out, even for a worthy cause. But like the morals
of the first three films, there will always be dreamers, warriors and
adventurers in the strangest of settings, looking for a cause or an
out of their own lives and fight for what's right.
Plenty of references to the original
trilogy so nothing gone wrong there and saddle up cowboys, Season 2
has to be a go. They would be damn fools to let this potential
goldmine sail away. Between Cosplayers already building this armor,
Halloween costumes at the ready, action figures of the series and yes
more than a fair share of Baby Yoda prototypes in the mix, this
should do well for itself and gives us old fart Star Wars fans hope
that good writing will prevail.
