The Mandalorian (Star Wars Live Action Series)

[j97e1]

It's all fiction anyway, created by a slew of different authors and authorial teams over the years with different objectives, so I don't find myself obligated to get behind every installment in a franchise spread across time and multimedia.

'Star Wars Fan' isn't something I give a lot of thought to. I like some of it, think some of it is trash. Am I a 'fan'? Am I not? I don't care.

My thoughts exactly. Here's my scale: A. This was good. B. This sucked.

I don't think the saber is long enough to cut thru the person and the bell


P.S. - Hate the name!!!!

 

[Sassafras]

I have not gotten to her in Rebels yet.. I was wondering if that is what I might be missing with RD version of her.. She lacked that ***** but I realize it might be because she is older. Loved her look though an I completely bought into this being AT. Her intro was fantastic.. Loved jumping the wall also.. Felt straight out of the cartoon series.. In a good way.

I was not as crazy about the chorography. Lots of more complex moves that the actors had to slow down which took away the feel of complexity Does that make sense?

I am sure she will get better as the series moves on..


Is she really getting a spin off?

Also thought she lacked charisma and/or wasn't compelling - even compared to Rebels - and it's not the actress. In hindsight could also be Filoni's directing. Far as I know an actor usually doesn't re-interpret they way they want.

I'm really HOPING she gets a spin-off, 'coz was furious that with only 8 episodes I got a dose of a Rebels sequel, including a name drop at the end. I don't watch this show to see the Rebels/Clone Wars parade of hits. And if you've never seen CW/Rebels think you'd be baffled.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...-mandalorian-details-footage-unveiled-1201931
But these are new characters and new stories, so it's a great way to invite new people in."

My disappointment cannot be overstated. Not to mention IMO the clumsy script seems perilously close to TROS level writing. Guess thanks to Covid the continuity editor - or whoever gets hired in productions to make sure from scene to scene there aren't glaring issues - was too scared to point some things out to Filoni.

This episode could have been so much more, depth-wise.

 

[chrisstbh]

Also thought she lacked charisma and/or wasn't compelling - even compared to Rebels - and it's not the actress. In hindsight could also be Filoni's directing. Far as I know an actor usually doesn't re-interpret they way they want.

I'm really HOPING she gets a spin-off, 'coz was furious that with only 8 episodes I got a dose of a Rebels sequel, including a name drop at the end. I don't watch this show to see the Rebels/Clone Wars parade of hits. And if you've never seen CW/Rebels think you'd be baffled.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/h...-mandalorian-details-footage-unveiled-1201931
But these are new characters and new stories, so it's a great way to invite new people in."

My disappointment cannot be overstated. Not to mention IMO the clumsy script seems perilously close to TROS level writing. Guess thanks to Covid the continuity editor - or whoever gets hired in productions to make sure from scene to scene there aren't glaring issues - was too scared to point some things out to Filoni.

This episode could have been so much more, depth-wise.

She's like 45 now, she's not the same person she was before especially with everything she's been through, The Clone Wars, Order 66, living in hiding for almost 20 years and fighting for The Rebellion, finding out who Vader is and what he's done. All of that is bound to take its toll on a person. I never once thought "that's not Ahsoka" when I was watching it.

Filoni created Ahsoka, he probably had the majority say in who was cast as her, he directed and wrote this episode. This was his vision for Ahsoka, she is his baby.

 

[Sassafras]

The striking blue marble contacts she had on looked super uncomfortable

Yep. And that chest fold in the costume isn't doing her favors, tho am sure the HT will fix that in 1/6 scale. Or some Mando armor.

(And I don't blame the actress, someone in the costume department didn't think it through. Took me a while to deal with Kylo's mask also.)

 

[Sassafras]

She's like 45 now, she's not the same person she was before especially with everything she's been through, The Clone Wars, Order 66, living in hiding for almost 20 years and fighting for The Rebellion, finding out who Vader is and what he's done. All of that is bound to take its toll on a person. I never once thought "that's not Ahsoka" when I was watching it.

Filoni created Ahsoka, he probably had the majority say in who was cast as her, he directed and wrote this episode. This was his vision for Ahsoka, she is his baby.

I know that. Still. Reminds me of some comment about a side character in one of the POTC movies, when a critic pointed out the side character radiated more menace with a few lines than the main villain.

I also think of the first appearance of Alec Guinness in SW and there's just that SOMETHING about him.

It's not that I thought she didn't make a perfectly good Ahsoka; it's that to me she came off as stiff. Like someone working very hard to be what you describe vs. - well Alec Guinness or Harrison Ford as Han. That doesn't mean I think she was awful. She wasn't. But for the first time I wondered what it would have been like to have Eckstein in the part. Tho making her look like Ahsoka would be a problem.

 

[The Buffinator]

Absolutely. Or they could have had Lang surprise Mando with the fact that he had gone and abducted Grugo for himself.

I can picture a cool scene where Lang opens his pack, shows Baby Yoda, and forces Mando to drop his pistol. Lang smiles and says. "You're right, he does bring luck" and then raises his pistol toward Mando. Mando says "Yes, but not for you" and then "Grogu!" and reaches for his own gun, Grogu makes it fly back to Mando's outstretched hand and *then* he beats Lang to the trigger. That would have tied in the Mando/Lang luck conversation, Grogu's training, and his the revelation of his name all in the same moment.

Ah well, we probably saw the limits of Filoni but it was a killer episode nonetheless.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one as he would have had to suspect that Mando would join up with Ahsoka, and there was no indication that was the case. Plus he would have had to send out spies to follow Mando/locate the RC, confirm his suspicions and then get inside the RC and grab Grogu after M & A left to attack the village. Based on the opening sequence I think Ahsoka would have sensed their presence nearby (his minions weren't exactly stealthy lol) and dispatched them in short order. IMO Filoni would have had to change A LOT to make that scenario work.

But, yes it would have been a cool scene!

 

[jye4ever]

Absolutely. Or they could have had Lang surprise Mando with the fact that he had gone and abducted Grugo for himself.

I can picture a cool scene where Lang opens his pack, shows Baby Yoda, and forces Mando to drop his pistol. Lang smiles and says. "You're right, he does bring luck" and then raises his pistol toward Mando. Mando says "Yes, but not for you" and then "Grogu!" and reaches for his own gun, Grogu makes it fly back to Mando's outstretched hand and *then* he beats Lang to the trigger. That would have tied in the Mando/Lang luck conversation, Grogu's training, and his the revelation of his name all in the same moment.

Ah well, we probably saw the limits of Filoni but it was a killer episode nonetheless.

Damn that sounds epic

Dude for those that always said that Disney would always keep SW rated G this show is nothing but brutal death being rained down upon the imperials lol

 

[The Buffinator]

I know that. Still. Reminds me of some comment about a side character in one of the POTC movies, when a critic pointed out the side character radiated more menace with a few lines than the main villain.

I also think of the first appearance of Alec Guinness in SW and there's just that SOMETHING about him.

It's not that I thought she didn't make a perfectly good Ahsoka; it's that to me she came off as stiff. Like someone working very hard to be what you describe vs. - well Alec Guinness or Harrison Ford as Han. That doesn't mean I think she was awful. She wasn't. But for the first time I wondered what it would have been like to have Eckstein in the part. Tho making her look like Ahsoka would be a problem.

It would have sucked.

 

[jye4ever]

It would have sucked.

Look all due respect to Eckstein she is a darling BUT HELL NO lol

She would still look like cosplay no matter what.

 

[The Buffinator]

Look all due respect to Eckstein she is a darling BUT HELL NO lol

She would still look like cosplay no matter what.

Exactly. Nothing against Eckstein (I wouldn't like the character as much as I do without her contributions), but even if they could make her look good we still have no idea if she can actually act in front of a camera. Heck, can she even effectively do the voice of an older, more mature Ahsoka?

 

[ZE_501]

Damn that sounds epic

Dude for those that always said that Disney would always keep SW rated G this show is nothing but brutal death being rained down upon the imperials lol

Just remember that Disney blew away Bambi's mother and threw Simba's daddy off a cliff.

 

[ZE_501]

[...]
It's not that I thought she didn't make a perfectly good Ahsoka; it's that to me she came off as stiff. Like someone working very hard to be what you describe vs. - well Alec Guinness or Harrison Ford as Han. That doesn't mean I think she was awful. She wasn't. But for the first time I wondered what it would have been like to have Eckstein in the part. Tho making her look like Ahsoka would be a problem.

I thought she did an excellent job overall -- and it was a tough hand she was dealt getting such a beloved animated character to play.

It also doesn't help that a lot of viewers would have suffered cognitive dissonance trying to separate the well-known Rosario Dawson from Ashoka the character.

Eckstein was the voice of the character for years, but I don't see her being able to pull anything off in terms of live-action acting.

 

[Khev]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on that one as he would have had to suspect that Mando would join up with Ahsoka, and there was no indication that was the case. Plus he would have had to send out spies to follow Mando/locate the RC, confirm his suspicions and then get inside the RC and grab Grogu after M & A left to attack the village. Based on the opening sequence I think Ahsoka would have sensed their presence nearby (his minions weren't exactly stealthy lol) and dispatched them in short order. IMO Filoni would have had to change A LOT to make that scenario work.

But, yes it would have been a cool scene!

Thanks, lol. Yes logistically they probably would have had to tweak some prior scene for the pieces to properly fall into place. Maybe Lang went after the kid *assuming* that Mando was going to lose to the Jedi and then found himself with a very valuable hostage when Mando is revealed to be alive.

 

[Khev]

Damn that sounds epic

Dude for those that always said that Disney would always keep SW rated G this show is nothing but brutal death being rained down upon the imperials lol

No kidding, lol. I even thought that Ahsoka herself was pretty brutal to the guards in the forest. But then they did make a point to show her letting the one scared guard on top of the wall run off with his life.

 

[Khev]

But for the first time I wondered what it would have been like to have Eckstein in the part.

It would have sucked.

I agree, certainly compared to what we got with Rosario. I can't help but wonder how the character would have come across if they let Ashley dub Rosario's voice though. They probably thought that'd be too insulting to RD though.

As far as I'm concerned they FAR exceeded my expectations for bringing such a fan favorite from another medium to life in live-action so I'm not going to fret too much about what could have been better. I probably put RD's Ahsoka in the same camp as Alden's Han. Not a "perfect" translation of an established character but perfectly acceptable and entertaining in its own right. And man did they nail her look.

I did find it interesting that they retconned her long Rebels head tails though and went back to TCW length. I can only assume that they initially did try to match her proper continuity and then just didn't like how it screen tested.

 

[Khev]

For me - the charm of the Child has been the utter innocence combined with apparently being an uber-Force user. So u never knew when he'd use the Force, or even if he fully understood the danger he was in at times. This show to me clumsily torpedoed that - oh, no, no, he had a lot of training; he's just been hiding what he can do all this time. In theory it's like the Child's age/skill set jumped from toddler to teenager with a single clumsy script. Baby has just been STUBBORN about his abilities. Or AFRAID.

Funny, I feel the exact opposite. Revealing that he'd had formal training for decades actually "fixes" what could have been a pretty problematic aspect of his character, IMO. It's one thing for someone with a super high "M-count" to have visions or super fast reflexes because they "see things before they happen" (TPM Anakin.) Quite another for a completely untrained Force user to lift enormous beasts, Force choke, heal, etc. From the very beginning I felt that he *had* to have some formal training or that F & F just went way too far off the rails with his abilities compared to even the Chosen One himself. Unless they want to say he's yet another illegitimate offspring of the most powerful Sith in the universe.

Now that we know that he was formally trained it does canonically throw out my notion that Force healing was something that was either a lost skill that Rey rediscovered in thousands year old texts or that if it wasn't lost that it was only trained to super high masters. If Grugo learned it while still in Force preschool then it *does* beg the question as to why Obi-Wan didn't heal Qui-Gon, lol. But that issue is on F & F now and not TROS.

Until it's revealed otherwise I'm just going to assume that it is *not* openly taught and that it's a super rare and special skill that only a small number of Jedi can perform. Kind of like how Ezra surprised the much more seasoned Kanan by being able to use the Force to talk to animals.

 

[Khev]

I thought everything about this episode was epic. RD absolutely nailed Tano as a character. Filoni's best episode by far. Loved the darker Japanese tone. Just fantastic overall.

Yep, final showdown between Ahsoka and the Magistrate felt like a cool throwback to Uma and Lucy at the end of Kill Bill 1, even if it couldn't live up to its predecessor. Too bad QT hates SW, he'd be a perfect candidate to step in and direct a brutal little episode like this just like his buddy RR.

 

[xipotec]

She's like 45 now, she's not the same person she was before especially with everything she's been through, The Clone Wars, Order 66, living in hiding for almost 20 years and fighting for The Rebellion, finding out who Vader is and what he's done. All of that is bound to take its toll on a person. I never once thought "that's not Ahsoka" when I was watching it.

Filoni created Ahsoka, he probably had the majority say in who was cast as her, he directed and wrote this episode. This was his vision for Ahsoka, she is his baby.

I said the same thing.....and maybe that race has it tentacles shrink as they age or as they get depressed...

Anyone else think some of her tentacles were cgi in spots?


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[Khev]

Maybe she had just gotten out of the pool, lol.

 

[chrisstbh]

I said the same thing.....and maybe that race has it tentacles shrink as they age or as they get depressed...


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They grow as they age though. Look at every other Togruta in The Clone Wars or even Shaak Ti.