The Mandalorian Episode 1 Review - 6 Ups And 1 Down
2. The Team Up Between IG And The Mando
Disney+
Taika Waititi was kind enough to grace Star Wars with a turn as assassin droid IG-11, an IG unit who resembles one seen in 1980s The Empire Strikes Back. His voice is instantly recognisable and, while it's a minor role, he leaves one heck of an impression by the time he departs in the episode's final minute.
Chapter One included plenty of action, but director Dave Filoni saved the best set-piece until last. As the Mando approaches the compound holding his target, it appears as though an IG unit from his bounty guild has beaten him to the punch. The element of surprise is lost and so the Mando resolves to bargain with the droid to ensure he still gets paid. The bartering process is hilariously dry, while the novelty of seeing an assassin droid in action won't be lost on the Star Wars faithful, who've been dying to see how an IG-unit would actually work for a pretty long time.
This is also where the action reaches his peak. Pascal's gunslinging prowess really comes into focus, as does Filoni's direction and Greig Fraser's cinematography.
It's a tremendous sequence, and one that only hammers home the western vibe further.
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.
