The Mandalorian review: “Chapter 9: The Marshal”
By WiC Staff
The Mandalorian roars back with a super-sized, crowd-pleasing premiere that brings in stuff from the bigger Star Wars mythology without feeling overbearing.
The Mandalorian is back on Disney+ for its second season, and we’re all looking forward to the new adventures of Dyn Jarren, Baby Yoda and company. While fresh intergalactic action and mysteries surely await, we’re also eager to find out the answers to a lot of pressing questions:: what fresh hell might the power-mad Moff Gideon be cooking up to spring upon our heroes? Can Mando both keep the enigmatic Child safe and manage to return him to the care of his own unknown kind? When is Boba Fett gonna show up, and how?
Finally, we’re gonna find out.
RECAP
The Mandalorian is drawn to the Outer Rim in search of others of his kind.
Arriving at a Gamorrean gladiatorial arena, Mando and Baby Yoda are immediately betrayed by the
underworld boss Gor Koresh (John Leguizamo), who wants to off Mando for his beskar steel armor.
Mando dispatches Koresh’s crew and learns there might be another Mandalorian on Tatooine. Leaving the little green dude with Pelle Motto (Amy Sedaris), Mando sets out for the ghost town of Mos Pelgo to seek them out.
Once there, Mando meets Cobb Vanth (Timothy Olyphant), a guy who wears Mandalorian armor but may not actually Mandalorian. He serves as the Marshal of the town. Barely avoiding a showdown over Vanth’s use of beskar armor, Vanth convinces Mando to help him rid the town of a terrorizing krayt dragon. Enlisting the help of Tusken Raiders and the residents of Mos Pelgo, they hatch a plan to defeat the acid-spewing monster.
REVIEW
The Mandalorian season 2 comes storming out of the gate with “The Marshal,” and right away, we can see that it’s BIG. The opener offers a wide, cinematic scope, runs longer than its
predecessors (the show uses the extra time to exult in the layered atmosphere) and fully embraces the show’s wild west aesthetic and themes: the wandering gunman and the beleaguered sheriff team up on a quest to help rid the local townsfolk and their indigenous foes of an overpowering threat. The final battle is a high-powered, big-budget CGI-augmented romp.
Mando’s return to the hive of scum and villainy on Tatooine is exhilarating, and it’s
great to see Pelle Motto return to action. Loaded with the usual nods to previous Star Wars films, The Mandalorian works hard at building its own fun mythos, and by and large it’s successful. You can feel the vibrations of great old Western movies like The Magnificent Seven and
Lone Plains Drifter flowing through the blood of this sci-fi series.
Jon Favreau and the other creatives behind the show have started season 2 with a fan-friendly bang, delivering wild west action that’s firmly in the look and feel of the original Star Wars movies, even bringing us back to familiar haunts like Tatooine. Vanth, too, is drawn from established Star Wars mythology — he appears in some novels — but he doesn’t feel shoe-horned in. It’s all
wonderfully smooth and entertaining.
And who the heck was that guy in the final shot at the end? Boba somebody?
Game of Thrones prequel won’t be a “cover of the song you’ve heard before”. dark. Next
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels