Book of Boba Fett: A Template Laid Bare

 

The Book of Boba Fett premiered on Disney+ on 28th December, providing a treat for Star Wars fans around the world during the festive period.

Using a now common narrative tool of dual narratives - we begin where the post-credits Mandalorian sequence ended with Boba Fett taking the seat once held by Jabba the Hutt in his eponymous palace flanked by Fennec Shand.

The episode starts with Boba in a tank recuperating from exertions and his nightmares return as he reflects, with us the viewer thrust into his dreams as he is within the Sarlaac Pit where he famously fell during the Return of the Jedi. We see Boba fight out of the creatures stomach, his hand bursting through the sand a la many a horror imagery, reaching for the sky.

Once out of the desert, he lays awaiting rescue. Unfortunately, the first people to encounter him are the scavenging Jawas who strip him of his mandalorian armour leaving him to waste away. Then he is taken in by a Tusken raider tribe where he has to endure slavery and torture from a youngling raider who is going through a rite of passage with Boba as the task at hand to overcome.

This story of Boba overcoming adversity to reach the level of nomadic stature when we encountered him in the second series of the Mandalorian where he retrieves his armour is next to the story of him becoming a crime lord in the same guise of Jabba. He meets many a new suitor, people wishing to win his favour and encounters a representative of the Mayor of Mos Espa, Tatooine's second city. Usually these people pay the crime lord, but the majordomo wishes for payment from Fett. 

Boba wishes to meet the Mayor but as they leave The Sanctuary they are ambushed and the best set piece of the first episode takes place with plenty of action, fighting and the opportunity for Shand (Ming Na) to parkour around buildings chasing the attackers.

That strand of the episode ends with Fett on his haunches being held up by now loyal duo of Gamorreans. We then return to five years prior where Boba is in servitude to the Tusken raiders - he and a Rodian have to dig for water by the teenage Tusken. They then encounter a Harryhausen-esque creature with four arms.

Boba shows industry and inventiveness to defeat the monster with only his hands and the chain that binds him. The Tusken allows Boba to walk unaccompanied back to the village where he is given a gourd - a sign of respect and that he is made in their eyes. He is now on a voyage to learn the ways of the desert which takes us up to his first (re)appearance in the Mandalorian when dressed in Tusken robes and garb.

While the episode is not as kinetic or thrilling as other chapters of the Mandalorian would eventually be, yet if memory serves the first ever episode of that series was along the same lines with the need to build up character and atmosphere. There are going to be lulls in this series due to the quiet intense character that Boba is along with the equally reserved Shand.

The bond between Fett and Shand will be key to this series - the mutual respect the two have for each other as outlaws in an albeit lawless galaxy - this wish to live and die by their own sword; they share looks that speak volumes to each other and can say things with a raise of an eyebrow merely to instruct the other. This is empowered by the totem that is Temeura Morrison as the title character, years of wear and tear on his face and body exuded a host of emotions to convey.

Directed by Robert Rodriguez and written by Jon Favreau, the template of the western has long been establised with the outsider being welcomed into a forbidden tribe to earn his spurs so to speak, to then rise up and take control of a town or county through his grit. In this instance, the western genre has been extrapolated and put onto the science fiction/fantasy world of Star Wars again to winning effect.

Whilst watching I may have been guilty of looking at my phone on occasion, but there was enough to maintain my attention and ultimately look forward to the next episode on Wednesday in the New Year. As always, this is appointment viewing and not to be missed.

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