[Disney+] The Book of Boba Fett

[Daveman]

I thought it was a pretty poor ending to a series that never really came together. Random thoughts...

Spoiler:

- The fight scenes were just OK to me. I know it's Star Wars, so it's getting nitpicky but watching Boba's gang flee in straight lines down wide open streets while those heavy weapon droids just kept missing over and over and over was silly.

- We saw Fennec zip away on her speeder, but the cyber gang STILL seems to just tool around like they still have their training wheels on.

- I still never got Boba's deal this series. He's an evil bounty hunter who sort of had a rebirth in the desert with the Tuskens. Yet he shows up to take over Jabba's business because??? He seems to want to look out for the downtrodden but he's still doing business with the criminal elements, expects his cut, etc. His big plan was to rule with him, 1 assassin, 2 Gamorran guards, 5 or 6 cyber teens and a Wookie?

- Did he really think the crime families would choose him and his dozen people over the Pykes?

- I'm fine with the idea of Mando and Grogu reuniting but didn't expect it so quickly. Takes away from their separating in the first place at the end of Mando season 2.

So far the Disney+ Marvel and Star Wars productions have been excellent. To me, Book of Boba Fett is their Iron Fist. Leaves me less excited for Obi-Wan. Bring on Mando season 3 though!

[Blackhawk]

Whenever I see the closeups of the Droidpunk Gang on their speeders, I expect the camera to zoom out and show Boba putting another quarter in the little box for two more minutes.

[Sudy]

Spoiler:

How did Mother Mando know Grogu's chainmail size?

[Jaymann]

Spoiler:

How did Mother Mando know Grogu's chainmail size?

She looked it up on notajedi.com.

[hepcat]

Spoiler:

I'm fine with the idea of Mando and Grogu reuniting but didn't expect it so quickly. Takes away from their separating in the first place at the end of Mando season 2.

Spoiler:

This bugs me a bit more as I was really hoping we'd get away from full on puppet yoda in favor of some grittier mando action. Now I know season 3 of Mando will be more of someone pulling a string to make the puppet move and less about about Mando puttin' the beat down on some poor fool. The previous seasons really were good only AFTER the puppet was abducted.

[Smoove_B]

More to hepcat's point from Episode 6:

Spoiler:

If Luke came with Grogu to hand him over to the Mandalorian instead of sending R2 to do the dirty work, he could have likely ended all that Spice trading nonsense in like 30 seconds. What a dick!

I've also decided the aliens with the testicle chin faces (Aqualish?) really creep me out.

[hepcat]

I was honestly surprised that we didn't see

Spoiler:

Luke showing up and using the force to make Mando punch himself repeatedly while yelling "Why you hitting yourself? Why you hitting yourself?"

Jedis are dicks.

Also, I've decided that anyone from Twi'lek when shown from behind resembles a big ol' butt.

[Sudy]

I've also decided the aliens with the testicle chin faces (Aqualish?) really creep me out.

Oh... those are called Ponda Babas. Or perhaps it's Pondas Baba?

[Isgrimnur]

[El Guapo]

The finale was entertaining enough, though the show overall was a hot mess. Partway through the episode I started to wonder whether someone had a pitch based on some sheriff or rogue on Tattoine trying to clean up the planet in the aftermath of RotJ, but then after they pitched it some studio executive was like, "Sounds great! But we need established IP to make anything these days - can you make the sheriff Boba Fett??" The show overall just completely lacked any coherence or really any tie to Boba Fett as he existed in the original trilogy other than the armor.

Spoiler:

Also - did the show use up all its budget on the Rancor and deepfake Luke and so they didn't have any money left over to pay extras? Just continually weird how empty Boba Fett's palace was, and how he was seemingly trying to hold a chunk of Tatooine territory with one assassin, two gamorrans and a few surly teens.

I will also say that I loved Cad Bane. The actor / show did a really good job conveying his menace and badassery

.

[naednek]

Overall the series was disappointing but the last 3 episodes were great but that's because it involved mando and grogu. I'm hoping they shift more to that and be done with Boba Fett. The story and the feel of the show made it fun.

Sent from my Pixel 6 Pro using Tapatalk

[Sudy]

The Ahsoka show is going to be one scene of Rosario Dawson walking behind Din and Grogu as they pack the ship to go on a new 7-episode adventure.

[Holman]

Impression of the season finale:

Spoiler:

Meh.

Most of the episode felt like a LARP staged by cosplayers, and it wasn't very convincing as a battle at all. Tacking on a Rancor did nothing to save it, and the tactic of standing in the middle of street or running down it got laughable fast.

The early-series episode with Fett among the Tuskans was meaningful and interesting. It added something new to the Star Wars universe. Nothing since has.

[YellowKing]

Just finished the series today. Thoughts:

Overall I really enjoyed it. Did it have its problems? Sure. Boba Fett's morality was a constant source of puzzlement to me, and something I don't know that I ever quite figured out. I DESPISED the Apple Dumpin' Gang. And I think I've had enough Amy Sedaris to last a lifetime.

However, all that was balanced out by some absolutely spectacular sequences that made this Star Wars fan cheer. For every scene that made me roll my eyes, there was usually a scene that made me super happy.

One comment on a critical and controversial element of the series:

Spoiler:

I've seen some negativity on the Luke Deep Fake. I personally thought it was amazing. It's clear that at least for people we have video references of, this is the future instead of pure CGI. Was it absolutely perfect? No, but it was a damn sight better than the CGI Luke at the end of The Mandalorian. And that's how special effects grow. I've been a bit astounded by the number of comments I read bashing it and how they should stop using it. Imagine if we'd throw up our hands 30 years ago and said, "CGI's not perfect, let's just stop doing it."

I know there are moral issues that arise - do we resurrect dead people, are we opening up a Pandora's box of fake videos impossible to discern from reality? As for the former, I don't have the answer, and as for the latter, that genie's already out of the bottle. But looking at it from a pure special fx standpoint, we are well on our way to removing the uncanny valley. People 10 years from now will probably look back on this and the de-aging fx that are all the rage these days and smirk at how crude they are, but we're getting extremely close to making this stuff indistinguishable from reality. And that, to me, is super cool.

[Sudy]

Spoiler:

I've seen some negativity on the Luke Deep Fake. I personally thought it was amazing.

I agree that it's stunning, and they should definitely keep working on it outside of the ethical concerns you mentioned. What I personally have a problem with is that they've chosen to involve the character (for a second time), at all. The franchise has a sick obsession with nostalgia and making everything fit, even in its fresher properties, post-Lucas. I think it's a neat storytelling tool and I guess someday it's true, media will be dominated by technology indistinguishable from reality. But there's a healthy time to move on from characters whose actors are dead or have out-aged them except in very special circumstances. I get that there were decades of Hamill's life "we missed out on" when no Star Wars was being produced. But should we correct that by making a 1,000-episode series starring CGI Luke because we love the character so much? Especially when Hamill is still living, and probably looking for work that conceivably could be found for him in-universe?

It's definitely an interesting topic that brings out some strong opinions.

[Daehawk]

If we'd had this to watch in the late 70s and early 80s we'd been in Heaven.

[Skinypupy]

Late to the party, but we got around to finishing this over the weekend. While it had a couple interesting bits (the Sarlacc was cool), I could never shake the feeling that this wasn't really a story that needed to be told. It seemed to exist simply to

Spoiler:

reunite Grogu and Mando

, which could have just as easily been done with 5 minutes of dialog. Then again, I've never thought of Boba Fett as much more than a cool-looking throwaway character. Holman's reaction to the finale kinda summed up my opinion of the whole thing. The battles and action set pieces overall seemed to be very lackluster. There really just wasn't much that was exciting here.

Impression of the season finale:

Spoiler:

Meh.

Most of the episode felt like a LARP staged by cosplayers, and it wasn't very convincing as a battle at all. Tacking on a Rancor did nothing to save it, and the tactic of standing in the middle of street or running down it got laughable fast.

The early-series episode with Fett among the Tuskans was meaningful and interesting. It added something new to the Star Wars universe. Nothing since has.

I also had the realization as to just how entirely disposable all of the characters in these new series really are. I could probably name every single character - major or minor - in the original trilogy and even the prequels. But outside of Boba, Mando, and Grogu, I can't recall the name of a single other character in either Boba Fett or The Mandalorian. Even the "main" characters played by great actors like Weathers, Esposito, Burr, etc...I'm just drawing a complete blank.

[Jaymann]

Wasn't there a character named Dan, or Jan, or Van? Yeah, that's it. Van Down by the River.

[ImLawBoy]

I also had the realization as to just how entirely disposable all of the characters in these new series really are. I could probably name every single character - major or minor - in the original trilogy and even the prequels. But outside of Boba, Mando, and Grogu, I can't recall the name of a single other character in either Boba Fett or The Mandalorian. Even the "main" characters played by great actors like Weathers, Esposito, Burr, etc...I'm just drawing a complete blank.

Is that the result of the quality of the material or the reality of time? I mean, when the first Star Wars came out I was 6 and it became all-encompassing. I watched the movies a zillion times on cable, I played with the toys all the time, and my friends and I would pretend to be the characters as we played in the park. My allowance went almost exclusively to saving up money to buy another action figure (or when I was really ambitious, the Millennium Falcon). Between my brother and I, we collected the vast majority of Star Wars toys out there.

Now I'm 50 with 3 kids and a job and the worries of the real world. I'm guessing if I were 50 when the original trilogy came out I'd find most of the characters pretty disposable and forgettable.

[Blackhawk]

Hell, half of the characters in the original trilogy I only learned from the toys. I was a huge Star Wars fan as a kid, and for several Christmases, all I got was Star Wars. I was jumping up and down to see Empire and RotJ in the theaters when they came out.

But I didn't get to see Star Wars until well after RotJ. I was only four when the original was released, we didn't have a VCR until the mid-80s, and it wasn't on network TV until 1984, a full year after RotJ (which is probably when I finally saw it.) There were a huge group of characters I didn't know except for the toys. Greedo, not-undead Obi-Wan, etc.

[Unagi]

I'm guessing if I were 50 when the original trilogy came out I'd find most of the characters pretty disposable and forgettable.

Even Snaggletooth and Hammerhead !?!?

[Skinypupy]

Can't argue with any of that.

Still, it does feel like in both Mandalorian or Boba Fett, there's a distinct lack of establishing much of a persona for any character outside of "Gruff Exterior With Heart of Gold" or "Town Marshall" or "Wise Mentor" or "Big Bad". Everyone just sort of blends together to me...maybe it was just my general lack of interest in the Boba Fett series that kept me from paying enough attention.

[Daehawk]

I was 8 when Star Wars released but didn't see it.I dont even remember hearing of it. But I saw the next two in theaters.

[ImLawBoy]

Can't argue with any of that.

Still, it does feel like in both Mandalorian or Boba Fett, there's a distinct lack of establishing much of a persona for any character outside of "Gruff Exterior With Heart of Gold" or "Town Marshall" or "Wise Mentor" or "Big Bad". Everyone just sort of blends together to me...maybe it was just my general lack of interest in the Boba Fett series that kept me from paying enough attention.

Again, I don't that this is much different from the original trilogy. The most depth of the characters in the first movie was Han being both a hero and a scoundrel. Lando doubled down on that Empire. In ROTJ you had Vader killing the Emperor (spoiler alert!), and that's about it for the original trilogy.

Let's face it, the original movies were not deep or particularly thoughtful. They were new* and exciting and had the John Williams score and the toys - oh my goodness, the toys! They've carried an outsized cultural influence into the modern day given how ultimately lightweight the original movies were. It's to the point where the newest movies are criticized for failing to meet standards that the original movies never had to (or could) meet. Interestingly, some of the spin off stuff, including the animation (although I agree, not The Book of Boba Fett), has a lot more depth than the original material.

Anyway, not picking on you here, particularly since you're not really wrong about Boba Fett lacking depth (I think it's better in The Mandalorian, though). I found Boba Fett amusing, but I rolled my eyes at a lot of it, too. I just have a long buzzing bee in my bonnet about criticisms of the new Star Wars material as it relates to the original movies. (Which I loved! And I still love! But are really pretty silly!)

* And don't tell me about where they pulled their influences from - I know all that, but it was still an exciting new package.

[El Guapo]

Empire Strikes Back had depth to it. I'd say it's the only SW movie that genuinely qualifies as great independent of love of the setting.

But otherwise...man, I had forgotten how much of RotJ was quasi-filler or made almost no sense at all.

[ImLawBoy]

And yet Empire is still deeply silly. Everything about Bespin is weird. Why did Vader want to have everyone over for dinner? Was freezing in carbonite really such a great plan? Is a single test against one bound person really a good test scenario for someone who can use the force, let alone to be sure his prize would remain alive?

[Holman]

I still contend that the original Star Wars is the most perfect. This isn't because it was first but because it's an impressively tight and economical script. There's really not a wasted scene, and the exposition (always a risk in original world-making) is spare and well-placed.

In fact that's the sin of the series in every movie thereafter: everything is explained too much and elaborated too much. I think it tracks that the more you learn about the Force and the Jedi, the shallower the SW universe gets.

[Sudy]

I can see both sides of this discussion. Many of them feel superfluous in a now-oversaturated Star Wars universe. It's rare for alien puppet, costume, and CGI characters to wow us like they once might have. But it still takes some stones to hide multiple major characters behind masks/under prosthetics and pull it off. Of course, you're talking about character depth as well, and I think that's something that may only become apparent with repeat viewings/additional seasons. I'm not saying I think Book of Boba is worth a repeat viewing. But those who do will no doubt find something to love about its characters.

I think one of the main problems is pre-existing familiarity. Krrsantan is an interesting character to me. But so far he's mostly just another wookiee. And that's OK! I have room in my heart for multiple wookiees. But right now he's done little to differentiate himself from any other wookiee or tweener mercenary. (I think he's appeared in books or comics, but I don't have time for that.) The same thing for the hutts. I mean they're well done, but what do they stand for that's different from Jabba or all the other mediocre hutts we've encountered in the expanded universe? I'd have been happy to have gotten to know Garsa Fwip better. Peli Motto annoys the hell out of me but at least she's memorable.

A lot of the show's writing wasn't great. But it was only several episodes long when you consider the detour. Some shows have dazzled me with their characters from day one. But there are a lot of great shows that really haven't, and they grew into them in later seasons. (Though more of them die on the vine.)

These shows also do really need to get the hell of Tatooine. I adore Tatooine, but there could be so much more to this universe. When you're going to base a series or season around such a well known location, you're going to feel compelled to fill certain roles and make a lot of callbacks. As many have discussed, basing a show on Boba Fett seemed like a dumb idea when you already had The Mandalorian anyway.

[El Guapo]

And yet Empire is still deeply silly. Everything about Bespin is weird. Why did Vader want to have everyone over for dinner? Was freezing in carbonite really such a great plan? Is a single test against one bound person really a good test scenario for someone who can use the force, let alone to be sure his prize would remain alive?

Honestly I'm shocked that you described silliness in Empire without mentioning the asteroid worm.

Anyway, I'm not sure that it's possible to make a sci-fi / fantasy / action movie without some silliness. What separates great movies in those genres from silly ones is a mix of great performances, good character depth, and scenes with emotional resonance (and not too much wasted time). The Han / Leia / Luke stuff in Empire is just so good that who cares whether one carbonite test is enough. Or like The Dark Knight is incredibly silly at times, but the performances are so great and it does such a great job getting into issues of heroism and duty that who cares whether the Joker's plans make a whit of sense.

Whereas there's just no depth at all to any part of the Book of Boba Fett to overcome the immense immense silliness that fills each episode. Honestly you'd probably need a Citizen Kane performance to overcome that teen moped gang.

[El Guapo]

As many have discussed, basing a show on Boba Fett seemed like a dumb idea when you already had The Mandalorian anyway.

Yeah they based a show on a character that all we knew about was that he was a ruthless bounty hunter, and then they made a show where that character was a selfless man of the people with almost no explanation. I have half a hunch that someone pitched a different show about Tatooine in the aftermath of the fall of the Empire, and some studio executive forced them to make the main character Boba Fett.

[Unagi]

I wonder if this was originally just a Mandalorian plotline, that they decided to spare The Mandalorian and had Boba Fett just field it instead - a nice little throw-away series on the side.

[Carpet_pissr]

I did not read this thread, so as not to spoil anything since we just watched this. Apologies in advance, as I am sure some of these complaints have been made upthread.

Wow, what a difference between this and The Mandalorian.

My first reaction after watching BOBA was to see what bastard wrote it. Jon Favreau?!? OK, no way that the same person that wrote the script for Mandalorian wrote this (he's credited with both). Probably some of the worst writing (and possibly some of it due to bad acting, not sure), I have seen in a long time. My God...the slop, the cheese, the poor timing...everything! I honestly think the critics were a bit high on this one at 68% RT.

I very much enjoyed the first story arc with the Tuskens, but wow did it go downhill from there

Spoiler:

(Mando showing up was a bright spot of course, but even there the writing felt off)

Horrible writing, right? Or is it me?

Also, what was up with the effects this time? Janky walking baby Yoda walked like one of those cheap wind up robots you can buy in a dollar store! WTF. I also still have nightmares of Uncanny Valley Luke....gah! Those eyes!! Which one do I look at?!?

Love almost ALL SW media (excepting the Phantom Menace era garbage), including all the new movies, but this was just bad bad bad IMO.

Also, my son pointed out at the end of the last episode, that they were singing "BOBAAAAAAAA....FETT!!" in the chanting song. I was shocked to realize he was right, and wondered how in the world I missed that in prior episodes. Surely they didn't change it to be more...clear in the last one?

[Daehawk]

Watch Boba Fett Lord It Over His New Criminal Empire: Times Square

[stessier]

I just finished the show and thought it was pretty good. I should not have just read this thread.

[coopasonic]

I did not read this thread, so as not to spoil anything since we just watched this. Apologies in advance, as I am sure some of these complaints have been made upthread.

It took me three months longer to get around to watching it, but I finally did and I enjoyed it. I am particularly un-critical in my TV viewing and like a few mentioned here earlier, my love for Star Wars has waned a great deal in the past 40 years or so.

I guess I'm glad that I've learned to watch media uncritically. I can appreciate brilliant, but also enjoy mediocre. Also, possibly being unable to tell the difference much of the time.

[hepcat]

I guess I'm glad that I've learned to watch media uncritically. I can appreciate brilliant, but also enjoy mediocre. Also, possibly being unable to tell the difference much of the time.

Have I mentioned I own copies of The Postman, Soldier and Con Air?

Because I do.

But I recognize they're not very well written and rely on way too many tropes and easy emotional manipulation.. Still, I can sit and watch them enthralled...while still being aware they're not good.

Boba Fett didn't have that undefinable recipe for me though. It had all the tropes and easy emotional manipulation without the draw for me.

And the Cyber Newsies? I had to replace two tvs after I punched out the screen when they would show up.

[coopasonic]

And the Cyber Newsies? I had to replace two tvs after I punched out the screen when they would show up.

They didn't bother me that much because pretty much every time they were on the screen I was (w)racking my brain trying to figure out where I knew the girl from. I finally googled it after the finale (young Juliet Lewis).

[hepcat]

I had to look her up just now. I wouldn't know her from Yellowjackets as I haven't watched it yet. But I do know her from the excellent, low budget science fiction film Prospect. Which just so happens to also start Pedro Pascal.

[Skinypupy]

And the Cyber Newsies?

Side note: Newsies is apparently HUGELY popular with middle-schoolers, at least the ones around here.

Little B 13.4 came home during her last week of school absolutely ecstatic that it was announced as next year's musical. She showed me a video of the auditorium when they made the announcement...you would have thought Taylor Swift had just walked in the room with the amount of frantic, excited screaming that was going on. She and all her theater friends have watched the movie at least once a week since school let out.

I mean, it was a decent show and all, but not exactly something I expected 13-year-olds to be fawning over in 2022.

[Zarathud]

Boba Fett didn't have that undefinable recipe for me though. It had all the tropes and easy emotional manipulation without the draw for me.

And the Cyber Newsies? I had to replace two tvs after I punched out the screen when they would show up.

That’s because you’re a Trekkie. And dead inside.

And because the directors were so busy making references to other movies and having fun, they forgot to give it a cohesive heart. Which was Lucas’ own problem throughout, too. Which makes it even more Star Wars.