Critic Reviews

Yes, Baby Yoda remains as cute as ever, but more importantly, the show’s titular anti-hero will do what’s right when the time is right, but isn’t afraid of grey areas in other circumstances. In those moments, The Mandalorian is at its boldest and most fascinating.

It's the second episode that fully solidifies that this new season is a turning point for The Mandalorian's storytelling—the world may still feel small around Din, but it's growing by leaps and bounds too.

The first episode of The Mandalorian is a nostalgic blast that's thrilling, fun, and respectful of its roots, which we can't say about all things Star Wars these days. But it's the perfect fit of its western tone that makes it great.

This is a visually stunning, consistently entertaining space-spaghetti-Western serial.

Left with mostly just his voice to act with, Pascal gives Mando some hints of snarkiness, if not humor; by and large, he comes off as a business-first ballbuster. (And truth be told, no one wants a quippy Mandalorian.) Weathers and Herzog fit comfortably into this world, in their brief intros, and it’d be great to see more of Nolte’s Kuiil.

The sets for the show, on which no expense was reportedly spared, have a wonderfully textured, dusty, lived-in quality to them. ... While The Mandalorian’s debut is pretty thin, it’s also got a lot of wide open spaces to expand into.

The cinematography, creature work (both CGI and practical), and the action direction in “The Marshal” are all excellent: sweeping, exciting, and gorgeous to look at. ... The adventure story was compelling as well.

While the Mandalorian's lore is doled out just enough to keep things interesting and mysterious, the supporting cast is a little more frustratingly obscured early on in the series. ... What The Mandalorian does exceptionally well is give us a well-tempered bounty hunter with a heart, an antihero who will happily dispatch dozens of armed alien guards and is quick to execute an ally when the situation demands it, but won't mindlessly kill a baby alien just because the bounty demands it.

There’s not a lot to say yet except to report the good news that it is very much in keeping with a Star War — visually intriguing, amusingly adventurous and light on its feet, a space-western comfortable with the tropes of cinema culture and common reference points.

Mainly, the charm of “The Mandalorian” is in its relative removal from Resistance-centered adventures bound to frequent reminders of Jedi and light saber battles. Placing the action in the outer reaches of civilization lends more of a spaghetti-Western-meets-ronin-samurai vibe to the narrative, and this feels like a more intriguing and sustainable fuel for the longterm. ... “The Mandalorian” fulfills its overall mission. Our curiosity has been ignited, granting us hope that this expansion of the mythology may be worth our faith. It gave us that tingle, in other words. Let’s see if we’re still feeling it eight weeks from now.