The Book of Boba Fett 3 and 4

It’s something a departure for this website, but I’m actually going to try and stick with the whole Boba Fett saga as it unfolds on streaming channel Disney+, a live, on-the-spot reporter covering all the twists and turns of the Star Wars buckethead bounty hunter as it develops. What kind of curtains does Boba Fett have? If he adopted a pet, what would it be like? And what kind of undergarments does he wear? These, and other crucial questions will be answered in due course…

Episode 3 has already generated some controversy amongst Star Wars fans by the introduction of a speeder bike gang of cyborgs whose brightly coloured vehicles are a nod to the hot rods George Lucas’s American Graffiti; as a bit of fan service, it seems to have alienated much of the target audience. But we haven’t seen many young people in Star Wars, and this IS, like it or not, a Disney production, full of funny robots, crazy creatures and zesty adventure, so why not jazz things up a little?

You really do need to know your rancor monster from your sarlaac beast to follow the action in episode 3, The Streets of Mos Espa; Boba Fett, who since his bonding with the sand people has taken on somewhat pious, Gandhi-lite mantle, is horrified by the massacre of his tribesmen and vows revenge. But he doesn’t take it straight away, preferring instead to build bridges with the cyborg bikers and survive an assassination attempt by funky Wookie Krrsantan before using his jet pack to sort out a Back to the Future-style speeder chase through Mos Espa involving a fleeing politician. In short, not much happens in part three, although we do get to see Boba Fett cutting around in his under-crackers, which turn out to be boxers

Episode 4 The Gathering Storm peps things up to some degree as Boba Fett gives us a good look at his billowing tan curtains but also gets his revenge thing on by killing those responsible for the massacre of his tribe, which he does in a brief but dramatic ‘death from above’ scene. He forms an alliance with Krrsantan, fights some cookery droids and rescues Fennec Shand (Ming Na) from certain death with the help of a pop-star cameo from no less august a figure than Stephen Bruner aka Thundercat. Boba also nips back to his old foe the sarlacc monster and pops a sonic bomb up its wazoo before pulling together the local crime bosses to help him organise a defence for the coming war. Quite a shopping list of activity, but it wouldn’t be bad-ass Boba Fett if he didn’t have an unexpected act of kindness, and that comes he adopts a weird rat-catching robot-anteater as part of his menagerie when he takes over as the new management at Jabba’s palace.

While episode three felt like treading water, episode four managed to get some momentum into Boba Fett’s saga. There’s usually something for kids to enjoy in terms of action, but the big success of the series so far is the way that the visual style has imitated the original 1977 movie, using special effects to replicate the physical effects of the first film and not the CGI atrocities that followed, which is something of a joy for purists. Fett’s use of the word ‘bugger’ is harder to defend, and opens up a few difficult questions, but all in all, the mid series lull hasn’t been too painful. With three shows left, there’s plenty of evidence that Boba Fett is going to kick ass and take names in the remaining episodes, and I’ll be there to write it all down and tell you all about it after I’ve had it explained to me by videos like the one below.