IR TV Review: THE MANDALORIAN - CHAPTER 12 ("The Siege")[Disney+-S2]

The essence of good action can be old school but it depends where and when the creativity comes from. Chapter 12 of "The Mandalorian": "The Siege" is much more reminiscent of the old Star Wars films with a lot of harks back but also sheer muscle. What is interesting is that the episode is directed by Carl Weathers. Now while it is FX heavy, the intensity and balance of old school cool 80s action with its sense of personality is very present here. Considering this is Weathers' first foray into directing this kind of genre, it woud be interesting to see where his vision ends and Favreau's begins. That said, it is one of the more engaging episodes by its sheer action but action that has a point to a bigger concept of the story. While last week's episode focused on overlays of Mandalore, this episode had a lot of hark backs to "Return Of The Jedi". Without giving too much away, Mando comes back to a planet he left and he has friends there, but before he moves forward, he needs to get his ship back into full shape. Perfectly understandable. But it is always a trade for a trade. There is also a little mythology teased out at one point in the episode...and honestly The Child always had character but here with very small character beats he continues to be that balance of humor and fun when Mando's mission might be a little dark. But that said, "The Mandalorian" with this season, as with the last, has found its groove. A-

By Tim Wassberg