The Book of Boba Fett episode 2 review: A rite of passage for Boba

Rating: 3/5

Story:

Boba and Fennec confront the mayor after the assassin from the previous episode, who belongs to a group called Night Wind, claims that the mayor ordered the hit on Boba. The story then shifts to the older timeline focusing on Boba as he bonds and learns the ways of the Tusken warriors.

Review:

Disney flexing its financial muscle for a new Star Wars series should not come as a surprise. But what is surprising is that each episode has the visual quality of a major blockbuster film. The CGI for certain characters, in particular, could rival major blockbusters. The cinematography gives The Book of Boba Fett an air of an epic odyssey. The setting of Tatooine and the visual aesthetic aids with the overall narrative. It’s almost similar to Denis Villeneuve’s critically acclaimed film Dune.

Unlike the previous episode, the series has added humour to the narrative in typical Disney fashion. But thankfully, they have not overdone it like several of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films. The humour is kept at a reasonable level and works with the ongoing narrative. Whether this continues to work moving forward in the series reasons to be seen. But if taken as a self-contained arc, the humour has surprisingly blended well with the narrative, considering Boba Fett is far from what one considers a character that entertains comedy. But it is refreshing to see that Boba has a lot of personality underneath his helmet.

The larger part of the episode’s runtime focuses on Boba's time with the Tuskens. While it halts the overall narrative to a standstill, it helps flesh Boba’s character arc and puts the Tuskens in an empathic light. The flashback scenes also offer excellent fight scenes and fast-paced action. There is a hint of Mad Max added in the armoured train sequence. The armoured train is in fact a homage to the real-life trains used in Russia and the Ottoman Empire in Turkey in the early 20th century.

The end of the train sequences explores the larger lore of Star Wars. The ending seems to suggest that the Crimson Dawn syndicate from the 2018 film, Solo: A Star Wars Story could be integral to the plot in the coming episodes. This could mean that Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke could reprise her role as Qi'ra in future episodes. It could be one of the reasons why very little information has been revealed about the series so far.

Verdict:

The episode excels in certain areas but is at times bogged down by its predictable tropes and storylines, which has been borrowed from other sci-fi tales. However, its entertainment value cannot be denied and has shown plenty of promise that the series could be a success.