The Book Of Boba Fett Reviews: How Are Critics Reacting To The Star Wars Show

Season 2 of The Mandalorian ended on a dramatic cliffhanger with Luke Skywalker’s surprise appearance. After that, fans of the franchise have been eagerly waiting

By Ishita Chatterjee
December 30,2021
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Season 2 of The Mandalorian ended on a dramatic cliffhanger with Luke Skywalker’s surprise appearance. After that, fans of the franchise have been eagerly waiting for the galaxy far, far away to return to the silver and small screens.

Thankfully, The Book of Boba Fett is here to give fans respite and answer some of the lingering questions from The Mandalorian. The Boba Fett show follows up on where viewers left the iconic bounty hunter.

He has now taken over Jabba the Hutt’s criminal empire on the desert planet of Tatooine with the help of his right-hand woman Fennec Shand (played by Ming-Na Wen). The series premiered a couple of days ago and has kicked off Lucasfilm’s 2022 Star Wars Disney+ slate.

As The Book of Boba Fett begins its run, many fans are wondering if it’s even worth checking out. After all, it will certainly be hard to reach the benchmark set by The Mandalorian. So does it live up to the legacy of its predecessor or will it crash and burn?

Critic Reactions To The Book Of Boba Fett’s Disney+ Premiere

Critics praise the pairing of Boba and Fennec
Critics praise the pairing of Boba and Fennec

Since the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett has premiered so fans, as well as critics, have shared their reactions to it. This time we are getting reactions from critics and fans at the same time because early screeners weren’t given to the press this time.

IGN’s Hanna Ines Flint praised Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen’s performances saying:

“Excellent performances from Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen are the highlight of a slow but strong opening episode.”

Similarly, Cleveland Plain Dealer’s Joey Morona also praised the leading duo of the show saying that:

“The combination of Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen make The Book of Boba Fett instantly watchable.”

Collider writer Maggie Lovitt also loved Morrison and Wen’s pairing. She said that it created a “very exciting energy.” Here’s her review:

“The first chapter may be a bit of a slow burn, but The Book of Boba Fett was well worth the wait. Morrison makes for a spectacularly fun lead, bringing new life to the Bounty Hunter, and he pairs nicely with Wen, creating very exciting energy when the pair are in scenes together.”

Empire’s Ian Freer loved Boba’s criminal paradise, but he critiqued the show for having a slow start. He said:

“As a series opener, it’s an entertaining, low-key start with Fett’s gangster’s paradise the most compelling aspect. But, even for a first episode, it needs a bit of jet-pack propulsion.”

Next up is Entertainment.ie’s Brian Lloyd. He said that he was excited to see where the show goes from here. Here’s his review:

“Boba Fett has predominantly been a character that’s existed in the background or working as a henchman for some larger threat. Given that the character still holds this fascination, it’s going to be interesting to see where it goes from here.”

The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian
The Book of Boba Fett and The Mandalorian

Drew Dietsch of Giant Freakin Robot said that the show will satisfy fans till season 3 of The Mandalorian hits.

Total Film’s Jack Shepherd said that the show was a great start to Boba’s journey, but that there wasn’t anything unexpected:

“The Book of Boba Fett establishes the badass bounty hunter as a new force in the galaxy but does little unexpected to draw us in.”

National World’s Alex Moreland said that the series shows early promise. But he also said that it doesn’t have much ambition. He said:

“The Book of Boba Fett shows some early promise but very little ambition.”

Huw Fullerton from Radio Times described the first episode as “slightly unremarkable” for this reason:

“Overall this is a solid, slightly unremarkable first episode that leans a little too much on the past, in a series that’s arguably doing that with its entire concept.”

Roger Moore of Movie Nation was critical of the first episode of the series for having “a lot of boredom crammed into 38 minutes.” He said:

“Almost everything about this is perfunctory – a slow-footed ambush by parkour-trained space ninjas, assorted brawls with the club-wielding Sand People. That’s a lot of boredom crammed into 38 minutes.”

At the time of writing this article, The Book of Boba Fett had garnered a critic rating of 85% and an audience score of 82% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Is Disney+ Star Wars Show The Book of Boba Fett A Hit?

The Book of Boba Fett's Temuera Morrison and Ming Na Wen
The Book of Boba Fett’s Temuera Morrison and Ming Na Wen

Right now, it looks like most reviewers agree that the show has started off positively. Almost everyone also agreed that the series showed a lot of promise.

Along with this, critics are also loving the leading pair of Temuera Morrison’s Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen’s Fennec Shand. Many have highlighted their chemistry and appreciated their standout performances.

On the critical side, most reviewers have noted the slow pacing and the overall expectedness of the plot. As in, there wasn’t anything that stood out to viewers.

However, there are still plenty of episodes for Boba Fett to speed up its pacing, and deliver unexpected plot twists and introduce characters.

The Book of Boba Fett Episode 1 is streaming now on Disney+.

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