Temuera Morrison brings grit and dignity to the title role in Disney Plus’s new ‘Star Wars’ series, ‘The Book of Boba Fett.’
A franchise under threat of extreme overexposure could do worse than to return to basics. “The Book of Boba Fett,” the latest extension of the “Star Wars” franchise, comes at a precarious time; the big-screen strategy for the Lucasfilm universe ran into creative exhaustion by the time 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker” disappointed hardcore and casual fans alike. In the intervening time, TV’s been the staging-ground for “Star Wars” adventures, with the giddy serial “The Mandalorian” repairing some of the damage. And in its first episode, dropped on Disney Plus Dec.29, “The Book of Boba Fett” suggests a potential way forward. It’s early days for the series, which launched with one episode (no further episodes were made available to critics). But say this much: The pilot, directed by Robert Rodriguez, evinces an elegant refusal to lard on undue narrative or aesthetic complication. This story — depicting the rise of the legendary bounty hunter — begins with clean narrative lines, crisp visuals, and a compelling central performance that takes off Fett’s helmet but preserves his mystique.
