Review- The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land

Photo: Lucasfilm

Written by Jon Favreau and directed by Robert Rodriguez, The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 1: Stranger in a Strange Land opens with everyone’s favourite anti-hero Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) healing in a Bacta tank dreaming of his past. We see images of the Battle of Geonosis where a young Boba Fett picks up the helmet of his father Jango, who was just slain by Mace Windu and continue his legacy. Then suddenly we are inside the Sarlacc in the Great Pit of Carkoon and see how Boba escaped and what happened after that, including being captured and enslaved by Tusken Raiders.

Boba is then awoken by Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) where various V.I. P’s of Mos Espa offer tribute to their new crime lord. Boba also acquires two Gamorrean Guards (played by Frank Trigg and Collin Hymes) as well as ends up in a slight stand-off with the Mayor of Mos Espa’s Majordomo (David Pasquesi). Later, whilst making his rounds around Mos Espa Fett meets casino owner Garsa Fwip (Jennifer Beals).

Following the meeting with Fwip, Fett and Shand are attacked, with help from the Gamorrean Guards they fight off their assailants and Fett is taken back to his Bacta tank where he dreams of a time he was enslaved by the Tusken Raiders and forced to dig for water by a Tusken youngling (Wesley Kimmel). Following an attack from a huge creature, Fett kills and decapitates the creatures, breaking his slave chains in the process. He then returns to the Tusken camp with the youngling, who carries the creature’s head. It would seem Boba has allowed the youngling to take credit for the kill. As the youngling runs around the tribe showing them the head, the chief (Xavier Jimenez) comes up behind Boba and offers him some water- acknowledging without speaking that he knows the true story of what happened.

Verdict: 8/10. A solid enjoyable start to the series that allows new viewers time to easily catch up. The main problem I see developing though is the morality of Boba Fett. This man was the Galaxy’s most feared ruthless bounty hunter. Now he seems to have developed some moral code. The writers need to remember that what made characters like Tony Soprano and Jax Teller so scary was the fact that you would be rooting for them at one point then suddenly be disgusted by the horrible things they did the next. It was these jarring moments that made them iconic characters. Boba Fett is in danger of going too far down the moralistic route and loosing what made him popular to begin with – “If he dies, he dies.”

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The Book of Boba Fett trailer released