"The Book of Boba Fett"

⭐⭐

Unlike my reviews of the Star Wars movies, the review that follows is spoiler-free, with only a general description of the plot and my thoughts.

"The Book of Boba Fett" is a seven episode space western spinoff series from Star Wars. Each episode is approximately 45 minutes long (give or take a few minutes). When we last saw Boba Fett in "Return of the Jedi", he supposedly met his demise when he was swallowed up by a gigantic sea monster.

"Nevermind!" says "The Book of Boba Fett". It turns out, the bounty hunter who we love to hate managed to survive that whole ordeal. Talk about beating the odds! Even for Star Wars, I have a difficult time accepting this. If his return in "The Book of Boba Fett" had been better, I might be okay with it. Unfortunately, such was not the case.

It's too bad because this series had a lot of potential. Very early in Chapter 1 (the episodes are called chapters), we find out how Boba Fett managed to survive being swallowed up by the giant sea monster. We also learn that in order to heal, he must sleep submerged in a water bath. When he sleeps, he dreams and we see flashbacks of what exactly happened to him.

In his waking present tense hours, the series follows Boba Fett's quest to rule where Jabba the Hutt was once in charge and Boba Fett vows to be more good-hearted. Okay, so I guess trauma can change a person. However, there are, of course, obstacles standing in his way.

With the exception of the character Fennec Shand, played by Ming-Na Wen, the acting was really good. I didn't like the way the character of Fennec Shand was portrayed. I realize she was supposed to be serious...like really serious... most of the time, but it was overdone. Other than that, the acting was impressive throughout the series.

This serious also had some of the best action scenes I've seen in Star Wars and they truly did have a western vibe, in an alien sort of way. My favorite action scene involved a train. As I've mentioned before, I love train scenes in movies. This one was both unique and entertaining. The one action scene that I felt was too drawn out was in the final episode. It was pretty obvious what it was all leading up to based on what we had seen before. The build up could have been shorted and I would have enjoyed it more.

Flashbacks were necessary and I benefited from a small dose of them, but there were too many of them and some of them were too long. Some episodes were almost entirely flashbacks. This disrupted the flow of the series. I've seen this style of filming done really well, such as in "Greta Gerwig's Little Women". It was too choppy in "The Book of Boba Fett".

I really enjoyed the return of some familiar characters from "The Mandalorian", but there are a couple of episodes where Boba Fett hardly makes an appearance and I questioned whether I was watching season 3 of "The Mandalorian" (set for release in February 2023) or still "The Book of Boba Fett".  Sadly for Boba Fett, those episodes were my favorites in the series. 

The series went off in too many different directions. It all came together in the final episode, but until then, it was unfocused and disjointed. Unlike "The Mandalorian", I think "The Book of  Boba Fett" would have been better as a movie, but even then it would have needed to be refined. I honestly couldn't wait to be done with it.

I was left feeling hopeful, though. It's a nice setup for the upcoming season 3 of "The Mandalorian". If you're planning to watch season 3 of "The Mandalorian", you'll definitely want to endure "The Book of Boba Fett" first. And if you do, don't forget to stick around for the mid credits scene at the end of Chapter 7.