The first episode of the latest Star Wars series has just arrived on Disney+. It picks up directly after the events of the last episode of “The Mandalorian”, with Boba Fett and mercenary Fennec Shand taking control of Jabba The Huts palace, becoming the new crime lord of Tattoonie.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Coming in at around 40 minutes long, the first episode in this new series is basically split into two storylines. One is all about establishing Boba Fett as a new crime lord, who wants to rule by respect rather than by fear, but the locals aren’t used to that and quickly put his new methods to the test, by pushing back to see how he will respond.

While the second plot involves flashbacks to the events right after “Return Of The Jedi”, when Boba was thrown into the Sarlacc pit, and we see how he escaped, but more importantly, how he lost his armour to the Jawas and then became a prisoner/slave to a clan of Tusken Raiders.

One of the things I really enjoyed about this episode, was how it pulled in the events of the previous films through flashbacks, especially of his childhood days on Kamino and the moment he saw his dad killed.  The use of Boba’s bacta healing tank was interesting, as the use of flashbacks makes sense, when used as a dream.  We don’t tend to get many flashbacks in the Star Wars universe, but by using the bacta tank, it feels natural.

There’s plenty of action in this episode, with a couple of crucial scenes.  One involving Boba and Fennec Shand dealing with some local thugs, resulting in a big fight scene, followed by a parkour scene of Fennec chasing after some thugs, bounding over items, above the streets of Mos Eisley.  This parkour scene just felt a little out of place.

Whereas, the other big action scene involved a beaten down Boba going toe to toe with a giant monster, which reminded me of the old “Clash Of The Titans” films.  Something about the visual effects of this scene just didn’t work for me.

Once again, the music in this series works perfectly, with a different musical style to “The Mandalorian”.  I also liked how this episode pulls in on that sand planet vibe.  The colours are stark, with just layers of brown, yellow and beige.  And the lighting is either very dark or very bright.  You can just feel that desert, the hot sun and sand in every crack!   Which makes Boba’s bacta tank even more inviting, as a way of just cooling down, relaxing and healing.

I’m still not convinced that Boba Fett is a character I want to explore, as he’s been such a mysterious character for so long, that this series is just taking all of that away.  For most of this episode, we see Boba as a beaten-down old bounty hunter.  He’s making mistakes as a crime lord, and while he might have gained the respect of the Tusken Raiders, he still looked weak for the majority of the episode.  As someone who grew up with a Boba Fett action figure and his Slave 1 spaceship, the character didn’t have any backstory, so it made him more interesting.  The Boba Fett in this episode, just doesn’t feel like the same character.

The return of Star Wars certainly feels refreshing after so many Marvel shows in a row, and with 2022 set to have multiple Disney+ series, it’s going to be a great year for Star Wars fans.   So I love that this series feels very different to “The Mandalorian” and to the Star Wars movies.

Overall: The first episode of “The Book Of Boba Fett” was a solid start to the series. However, I wasn’t blown away by anything.  I enjoyed it and am certainly looking forward to seeing where this series goes.   They also managed to avoid the usual “big reveal” finish to hook viewers into the show, but this feels like a series that could have benefited from a double episode premiere, to really get its claws into the viewer.`

Rating 4 out of 5.

The first episode of “Star Wars: The Book Of Boba Fett” is available on Disney+ now, with new episodes dropping weekly afterwards.

Roger Palmer

Roger has been a Disney fan since he was a kid and this interest has grown over the years. He has visited Disney Parks around the globe and has a vast collection of Disney movies and collectibles. He is the owner of What's On Disney Plus & DisKingdom. Email: Roger@WhatsOnDisneyPlus.com Twitter: Twitter.com/RogPalmerUK Facebook: Facebook.com/rogpalmeruk

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