The Book of Boba Fett

When Boba Fett showed up in “The Empire Strikes Back,” he made such an impact in his Mandalorian armor. The mysterious bounty hunger quickly became one of the franchise’s most popular characters despite his small role as a pensionary for Darth Vader and Jabba the Hutt.

The end of the original trilogy left Boba in the stomach of the powerful Sarlacc to be eaten for a thousand years, but now Disney had decided to resurrect the popular character giving him his own series, “The Book of Boba Fett,” streaming on Disney+ starting 2021.

In this series, Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) and his partner Fennec Shand (Mina-Na Wen) step into the power vacuum left by dead of Jappa the Hutt. When the two try to make Boba the ruler of Tatooine, they learn running a crime family is harder than hunting bounties.

Jon Favreau, who did amazing work on “The Mandalorian,” is the showrunner for “The Book of Boba Fett.” Disney’s Star Wars movies disappointed longtime fans, but Favreau’s sandy space westerns have proven to be the saving light for the franchise. Fans of “The Mandalorian” will enjoy this series too, but because “The Book of Boba Fett” feels familiar, it doesn’t produce the same excitement as the previous series, and some episodes feel slow.

Part of that slowness comes from extended flashbacks explaining how Boba escaped the belly of the Sarlacc and how he recovered from his physical and emotional damages. Collin Garbarino compared in his review, “These scenes feel akin to Disney’s recent trend toward rehabilitating classic villains like Maleficent and Cruella de Vil, and it’s a little sad to see the iconic character’s mystery dispelled.” However, the parts showing Boba and Fennec trying to brin order to Tatooine are much better.

Boba calls himself Tatooine’s “daimyo,” but he’s one crime lord among many wanting to force the others into submissions. Garbarino said, “Viewers get a glimpse of politics in a world devoid of legitimate government: Criminal families, bureaucrats, and local business owners all must negotiate a new normal to restore some semblance of order.” The question is: who will find themselves on top of that new order, and how will they achieve it?

Garbarino admitted, “The conflict over who will rule the unruly planet of Tatooine reminds me of Augustine of Hippo’s political theories. Augustine was a Christian theologian of the early church, living during the last days of the Roman Empire. In his book City of God, Augustine said without justice, a city’s government isn’t much different from a criminal gang.”

Boba might be a crime lord, but he wants law and order for the benefit of others. He’s a man of violence, but the goal of his violence is peace than exploitation. Throughout the series we see an unlikely hero promoting justice on a planet that doesn’t understand the concept, and the show asks us to consider whether it’s better o rule through fear or respect.

In all honesty, as much as I liked the show, most of it did seem to drag. The only reason why I say that is because half of the time Boba is in the Batha Tank with flashbacks and the other half is him and Fennec ruling Tatooine. People complained that Boba would act hypocritically on the show, and I can see what they mean. The last few episodes (spoilers) had Mando and The Child come back, which really excited me since they are the best parts of “The Mandalorian.” See the show if you would like, as it wouldn’t hurt, and it is not disappointing, but bear in mind, you will not be nearly as excited as you would be when watching “The Mandalorian.”

Tomorrow I’m going to look at the next MCU series in “Disney Month 2022.”