This shouldn't really come as a surprise anymore, given the money behind Disney and the efforts the company is going to in order to convince audiences that their platform is an essential component of their many, many franchises, but boy does The Mandalorian look gorgeous.
And I mean that in several ways. The cinematography is splendid as usual, with the opening episode featuring plenty of gorgeous shots of Tatooine, while the costume design is also on-point. The Mandalorian has carved out a reputation for blending the best of both worlds effects-wise, utilising practical makeup and sets but also deploying CGI effectively when necessary.
It imbues the show with a suitably cinematic feeling, and affords it the freedom to make even the most "small scale" of adventures feel grand.
In short, The Mandalorian still feels like it's in the galaxy far, far away. A given, perhaps, but it's still worth pointing out just how technically impressive it all is.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
