By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – December 27, 2019) With every step Jon Favreau takes with The Mandalorian, it’s so much easier to understand why The Rise of Skywalker was so underwhelming. There’s a school of thought, not inaccurate, that Star Wars is often held to a higher standard than many other properties, but here’s the…… more
By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – December 19, 2019) CHAPTER 7: THE RECKONING (Jon Favreau, Deborah Chow) If there’s one take I’ve gone to more than any other in the world of covering television, it’s this one. When it’s time for the penultimate episode of a season or a series, you’d better expect the worst for…… more
By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – December 18, 2019) It’s got to be tough to take the single most successful film franchise in history, spawning countless spinoffs, both live action and animated, zillions of licensing dollars, video games, and everything else under the sun, and somehow continue to try and recapture what made the first two…… more
By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – December 14, 2019) Another week, another attempt on Mando’s life. This is the Star Wars equivalent of “same old, same old,” but I’m not growing tired of it. While this was the longest episode of the series thus far, and it didn’t need to be, it was a well-crafted story…… more
By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – December 8, 2019) CHAPTER 5: THE GUNSLINGER So, whose boots did we see… and HEAR… at the end of the episode? That might be the biggest takeaway from another Mando quest and another close shave for the Child. The past few installments have been standalone in nature, but that’s to…… more
By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – November 30, 2019) We’ve reached peak Baby Yoda, as Fortune magazine counted around 60 different GIF moments from the child in the fourth episode, which also happened to be the longest installment of the season thus far. It made more sense for this one to have the extra few minutes…… more
By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – November 23, 2019) CHAPTER 3: THE SIN Mando made a decision; one that will likely have ramifications for quite some time, especially as he attempted to kill Greef Carga in order to rescue Baby Yoda. Is it fair to wonder whether people believe he’s trying to steal the asset after…… more
By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – November 22, 2019) CHAPTER 2: THE CHILD I won’t even front, this is the show I’ve been waiting for that I never knew I needed. There are questions to be answered, but there’s a satisfaction in both the first two episodes with what’s occurred on screen. Maybe most of all, I…… more
By JASON MARTIN (@JMartZone – November 19, 2019) Well, that was fun. That was my initial takeaway from the opening 40 minutes of Jon Favreau’s latest effort, and it left me eager for The Rise of Skywalker and just as eager for more of The Mandalorian. It’s a little rare these days for a service…… more
