-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
The Book of Boba Fett |OT| Please...speak freely [SPOILERS ON EPISODE DROP - NO LEAKS]
- Thread starter WadiumArcadium
- Start date
- OT
That's odd. According to Wikipedia there are 6 directors working on the show. Is there a directing pair?
I assumed the 3 was a mistake and he was doing 2, presumably the premier and finale.
Rodriguez said himself he's doing 3 in recent interviews so we'll see what happens with the rest of the directors.
Definitely got Conan vibes from the pilot. Which makes sense if they are going to show him rise from a slave to a king based on cunning and strength.
Rodriguez was a last-minute replacement for that episode, chosen for his proven ability to shoot lean and fast. It was also the first Mando episode shot entirely on-location, which explains why it looks so different from the rest.
TBH I'm most excited for the Bryce Dallas Howard episode because "The Heiress" is by far the best-directed Mando episode. And I'm sure the Filoni episode will have some tasty lore shit.
I didn't know that. That's interesting. I remember people talking about how it looked like they went to some hills in California and made a fan film and people even saying they've been there lol
I do think the action was more exciting in that episode than this one, though.
I wish Famuyiwa was doing an episode of this. Episodes 2 and 15 were among my favorites of Mandalorian.
Mine too. Both were one of the few not written by Favreau too.
100%, but he deserves an SW movie at this point.
I can't argue that the writing of the Mandoverse can be pretty thin gruel at times, but it's been a reliable showcase for great directors. BDH and Filoni both improved hugely from S1, and Famuyiwa, Chow and Taika all fucking crushed it. Hell, the S2 finale is the best thing Peyton Reed has ever made.
Am I alone in thinking that veneers are extremely distracting? Sometimes it just looks so out of place for teeth to be that blindingly white and flawless. They are becoming so prevalent and they immediately stick out to me.
Yeah dude, it looks like someone put that snapchat filter that gives people a big perfe t smile everytime you see him.
Once you see it, it's hard to unsee it.
Kind of a boring start. However these guys have earned a little good faith from me. I'll give it another episode or two.
It's at it worst in westerns or shows where people are really grimy and dirty, yet have those unnaturally white teeth. It does break the immersion a bit.
That was honestly kind of shit. Like a 4 at best. I wasn't in love with The Mandalorian, but it's been a solid enough 7?
Eh, there's time for it to improve. But that was a bad first look.
Eh, there's time for it to improve. But that was a bad first look.
Right - why does Boba even want Jabba's throne in the first place? maybe it's so he can have the resources to help the tribe of Tusken Raiders that saved him...?
Bingo. It's exactly what I was saying, the flashbacks do not tie thematically with the present timeline.
I wonder if this is going straight down the fan service expressway, like Mando. Showing his full escape from the pit. They better not have a Raider take off their head cover. There is no benefit to explicitly spell out every element of this world.
Amazing look to everything, except one particular night shot but it's too nit pickey to write it out. The shield fight was underdeveloped with choreo and beat by beat plotting. Solid start though. There are so many details to pick out and all the HD shots in full desert sunlight, is a feast for the eyes.
Amazing look to everything, except one particular night shot but it's too nit pickey to write it out. The shield fight was underdeveloped with choreo and beat by beat plotting. Solid start though. There are so many details to pick out and all the HD shots in full desert sunlight, is a feast for the eyes.
I enjoyed the episode, and that bit of fan service at the start with boba fett climbing out of the sarlacc pit is basically some shit I wrote fanfics about when I was 12 and never in a million years thought it'd be real -- so when I see it it kind of feels like fan fic even though it's not.
So while I did enjoy it, I had a few issues/thoughts/knitpicks.
1) what's the point? I don't know how our protagonist got where he is, why, or what he wants. I guess that'll be cleared up soon enough, but it's a bit strange to get through an entire pilot and not know.
2) boba fett is too goody goody. I guess we never had a lot of information about what he's like in the previous films, but I never imagined he was the noble decent type.
3) we see his face constantly. I do not understand this, and I guess to some extent I have an issue with the series existing in general. All of this is kind of a weird contradiction or weird irony or something. Boba Fett became a fan favorite not because he was a nice old man who got his ass kicked and was bald and old. He was a fan favorite because he didn't talk much, we didn't see his face, and he seemed like a badass. We didn't know shit about him, and really there's almost nothing they can show under the helmet or details they can tell us about him that'd be better than the mystery. So it's kind of *weird* to have a character that is popular because of this mystery, and because of this popularity he got shoe horned into the prequels and eventually his own series, but those things serve to completely unravel what made him cool and popular to begin with. At that point, what *is* the point? Why not just make a brand new character? You want to have a show about a nice old bald man who gets his ass kicked all the time, then do it, I'd watch -- And you can do it with a new character!
edit: come to think of it, really, the mandalorian show would have been a good template for boba fett. A show where you basically never see the protagonist's face. That would have been good. The problem is they already did it with this new character, so they can't just do the same exact thing again.
4) The ninja battle was terrible. felt like something from power rangers.
5) Why did boba fett blow one of the retreating ninjas up with a rocket, and then *immediately* tell the girl to not kill them because he needs them alive? What sense does that make haha. makes him come off as confused and impulsive
6) why was there a stormtrooper in the sarlaac pit but no one from jabba's sail barge? That makes no sense. There were no storm troopers on the sail barge, we saw lots of jabba's people get thrown in, and yet only a stormtrooper is in the pit?
So while I did enjoy it, I had a few issues/thoughts/knitpicks.
1) what's the point? I don't know how our protagonist got where he is, why, or what he wants. I guess that'll be cleared up soon enough, but it's a bit strange to get through an entire pilot and not know.
2) boba fett is too goody goody. I guess we never had a lot of information about what he's like in the previous films, but I never imagined he was the noble decent type.
3) we see his face constantly. I do not understand this, and I guess to some extent I have an issue with the series existing in general. All of this is kind of a weird contradiction or weird irony or something. Boba Fett became a fan favorite not because he was a nice old man who got his ass kicked and was bald and old. He was a fan favorite because he didn't talk much, we didn't see his face, and he seemed like a badass. We didn't know shit about him, and really there's almost nothing they can show under the helmet or details they can tell us about him that'd be better than the mystery. So it's kind of *weird* to have a character that is popular because of this mystery, and because of this popularity he got shoe horned into the prequels and eventually his own series, but those things serve to completely unravel what made him cool and popular to begin with. At that point, what *is* the point? Why not just make a brand new character? You want to have a show about a nice old bald man who gets his ass kicked all the time, then do it, I'd watch -- And you can do it with a new character!
edit: come to think of it, really, the mandalorian show would have been a good template for boba fett. A show where you basically never see the protagonist's face. That would have been good. The problem is they already did it with this new character, so they can't just do the same exact thing again.
4) The ninja battle was terrible. felt like something from power rangers.
5) Why did boba fett blow one of the retreating ninjas up with a rocket, and then *immediately* tell the girl to not kill them because he needs them alive? What sense does that make haha. makes him come off as confused and impulsive
6) why was there a stormtrooper in the sarlaac pit but no one from jabba's sail barge? That makes no sense. There were no storm troopers on the sail barge, we saw lots of jabba's people get thrown in, and yet only a stormtrooper is in the pit?
Last edited:
5) my understanding is that boba wanted at least one of the ninja guys alive.
6) i think that was just a stormtrooper who happened to patrol around there a long time ago not recently. we noticeably don't see how much he's been digested by the sarlacc pit.
I was going to say maybe Boba's jetpack is still fucked up after Return of the Jedi, but then I remember it saw use in Mandalorian, and was even how Boba made his re-armoured entrance.
Guess jetpack fuel is pricey shit after the fall of the empire and Boba didn't refuel the tank.
That's decent motivation, though seems far too altruistic, calculating and ambitious for the character. But then again, the flashbacks can serve as insight into how his worldview changed. Still a poor first episode though.
Also, I'm wondering why the show is titled the way it is. Maybe the Raiders end up worshipping the dude or something lol. The Tusken Raiders seem ripe for Mongolian allusions, with their Tengri religion. (i.e - They end up believing Boba has received the mandate to rule the world according to their deity). We all know how lazy SW is with stereotypes...
There is a potential for a compelling hook buried in all this facetious brainstorming. Boba has been an outcast all his life, living on the edge of civilisation and acceptance. So having him interacting with Tusken Raiders who are also pariahs is a good call. Fighting for something other than himself for the first time in his life is a predictable but satisfying character arc (though similar to Mando, again revealing that Mando's existence makes Boba's pointless).
It's just a shame this episode was so boring and rote, revealing no compelling hook, nor even living up to the preconceived notion that it was going to be "gangsters in space". Boba walking down the street with a bucket of coins is the most pathetic image of 2021. :|
btw, happy new year everyone!
As someone else said, the implication is he only needs one person alive
I think the show is called The Book of Boba Fett purely for the alliteration and the renewed use of the naming convention The Book of _____ in popular media in recent years. I predict it's gospel/religious nature will not be relevant to the show at all.
Decent enough to keep watching. But I really wonder where they're going to take this. Boba as a kind ruler is boring.
The parkour was unusual and very strange to see. I did like seeing the robot dogs though, that's a nice use of practical real things.
The parkour was unusual and very strange to see. I did like seeing the robot dogs though, that's a nice use of practical real things.
Really? I thought it looked out of place and like a product placement lol. It was like if they whipped out Apple laptops out of nowhere
Was not impressed by the first episode. Was getting Hawkeye vibes the whole time...meaning show you can have playing in the background while you're doing other stuff. The show is just as goofy and not deep enough to warrant careful attention to not miss anything important.
Only EU I ever read was the zahn trilogy when I was 14 and I don't remember much but I don't recall boba fett being mentioned
Hawkeye is a good comparison because both shows (courtesy of Disney) feel really dumbed down and filtered to me. The premise of both stories could have been more adult in tone but in an attempt to appeal to all ages, they come off as silly. With Boba begging Tatooine for respect as a 'crime' lord, and Hawkeye's nonsensical paper-thin plot (law-breaking firefighting larpers!?) with terrible antagonists.
Both shows also constantly distract us with relentless references and pandering, which I'm beginning to think is injected at the expense of rich plotting and characterisation. Netflix's Daredevil is so far superior than MCU shows, and one of the reasons is that it didn't feel compelled to constantly force the viewer to become the Leo Dicaprio pointing meme. WandaVision didn't have to have Ralph Bohner as a stupid stunt, it could have spent all those precious minutes doing something meaningful instead. But the MCU is over 20 movies in, has a rich history, and now can't help itself. It's constantly pointing backwards. (or sideways, at Fox X-Men lol)
"Look, it's Wong fighting Abomination for no God damn reason in this scene! No we're not going to explain any of it, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the rest of the movie, plotwise or even thematically, it's just an easter egg haha!"
"Hey guys, check out this masked bounty hunter who blasted his way out of a monster and hung out with Tusken Raiders, even though you literally saw the exact same shit in Mando last season! Also, look its Max Rebo, 'member him!"
People like to talk shit about Mandolorian, but I remain impressed with how that show walked the line between original and nostalgia. Starring an original protagonist with a unique hook about him (adhering to a strange code where he chooses not to remove his helmet) and also surrounded by more original characters (Nick Nolte and Bill Burr's were standouts to me). While homaging the western and samurai genre, it also showed us things we didn't know we wanted to see, it fleshed out the post-ROTJ world of SW so much better than the sequel trilogy that JJ and co should be embarrassed of themselves.
So to sum up this breathless rant, I'm not only concerned with tone, but am now getting tired of the usage of callbacks and references. Not the references in themselves, but the way they're used. There has to be some effort. People criticise Mando 2nd season's last episode, but at least it built up to that cameo, it makes logical sense for a Jedi to look after Grogu, it didn't just throw a cameo in for a cheap Leo Dicaprio pointing meme.
See, this is where my 'what have you done for me lately' gene tuned you out.
Right, he's a bounty hunter who suddenly wants to be a crime lord? And all it takes is walking into the palace and ganking Bib? He has no staff outside of a single droid till he gets the gamoreans? Why would anyone bow to this guy who just walked in and is just basically 5 guys?
Yeah I will say I always feel the episodes for Mandalorian, Bad Batch, and now Book of Boba Fett simply aren't long enough. But I'm also someone who likes things to take their time and have lots of cool establishing shots and such so maybe I'm just craving Star Wars goodness for my eyes to feast on.
I'm cautiously optimistic that the pacing and general feeling of the first episode ("old man getting his ass kicked" like someone above me put it, and the the jarringly disjointed narrative) is supposed to be a red herring for what actually happens in this show going forward since I read that there haven't been any episodes sent out to any media outlets. Maybe there's a big twist coming. But maybe not, and this is it for the whole season. Half flashbacks, half gang warfare in Mos Espa.
I absolutely loved The Mandalorian, so I'm looking forward to the rest either way. It's still the same people involved.
I absolutely loved The Mandalorian, so I'm looking forward to the rest either way. It's still the same people involved.
Mando was filled to the brim with references to other SW content though. Every single episode of it. If Mando walked the line, then Shang-Chi or WandaVision are so far into 'original' territory you can't even see the line anymore. Mando, and now seemingly this show, exists to point to other Star Wars content. Not much else is being done. There is no MCU comparison. I can't even think of any other pop cultural comparison either, for that matter. It's pretty crazy how self referential current Star Wars is.
Mandolorian has a cast primarily of original characters and showed us new SW lore, cultures and planets. It's set within the confines of the franchise, so obviously it's going to have tons of references to SW stuff. But thus far in Boba, our two main characters were already introduced elsewhere, and it's seemingly set entirely on a planet we're all sick of seeing. There's no sense of discovery thus far, like there was in Mando. But we're only one episode in though, so it's too early for me to cast final armchair judgement just yet. But I am concerned with how lacklustre it all feels from the outset, it needs to justify its existence in my mind, beyond purely financial reasons.
also, hot take: some people complained about how Luke's appearance was nostalgia pandering, but instead I think Ahsoka was the one who was ungracefully shoehorned into Mando's narrative and was completely unnessary, than Luke ever was. Luke felt like a logical appearence, but Ahsoka to me was pure fan service. You take her out, not much changes, the writers could have pointed Mando to the Jedi ruin in another more seamless manner. But Luke was necessary to give Grogu, the lost padawan, a happy ending. Ahsoka's cameo ended up as a tease for a subplot (Thrawn) completely unrelated to Mando, so it felt jarring to me. Par for the course with these big franchises now though I guess.
Ah yes I fondly recall geeking out when Frog Lady finally made her return the Star Wars screen after her long absence since Episode VI. The whole time I was just clenching my jaw waiting for her to say that famous catch phrase we all know and love "eyyyy, whose been eatin my eggs around here!"