I’ve whistled at the Lucasfilm logo in a packed opening-night theater. I’m not saying my inner 8-year-old didn’t momentarily think it was wizard when a voice (belonging to Star Wars Rebels’ Steve Blum) crackled across the Razor Crest’s cockpit speakers and said, “This is Mos Eisley tower.” At some extreme saturation point, though, fan service does a disservice, and “The Gunslinger” was one nudge nudge and knowing wink away from Obi-Wan asking Anakin
Why do I get the feeling you’re going to be the death of me?” This week, we didn’t learn much about Mando, his mysterious Client, or his precious, pint-sized companion. Instead, we took a pointless Star Tour of the franchise’s most familiar landmarks, and for the first time, a needless nostalgia trip led the series astray.
“The Gunslinger” was written and directed by Dave Filoni, a protégé of George Lucas who’s assumed a central role among Disney’s post-Lucas crew of creators. Filoni’s labor on Rebels and The Clone Wars delivered some of the freshest Star Wars storytelling since the original trilogy, even as it resurrected relics of a discontinued canon, but “The Gunslinger” was more of an homage than a new voice putting its own stamp on Star Wars.