Right, I’ve just watched

Book 5

So here’s some feedback!

Firstly, a bit of a review. This was absolutely brilliant. People had a lot of issues with the Boba show, and your edit fixes them immensely. The mods are minimised, the characterisation and action is way tighter, it’s fantastic. And as much as the flashback content was cool, focusing on the present day keeps the Boba story tight and focused. (Plus, mixing flashbacks with earlier Mando content as you have in other movies works best.) If you wanted a movie version fixing all of those things as your ‘Mando season 2.5’, this is the one. The content from the original episode 7 in particular was impeccable, so this whole thing just ends on a real high. So like your other movies already for me, this is archival.

Onwards to considerations! I’ve also reviewed all of the original episodes in parallel. And none of these are vital - the movie absolutely works excellently as it stands.

I do think the scene of Boba taking Bib Fortuna’s throne works better as the previous movie’s stinger than this movie’s opening. It just has the feeling of a “tune in next season”. I’d potentially still start on a flashback, but you have other options, such as Fennec and Boba’s fireside chat where he talks about wanting to build a house, or even a little ‘previously on’ supercut.
Opening on Boba already respected in the town was a great move, though the prior scene mentions that people are “lined up” to see Boba, which we don’t then see as he’s walking the street. I don’t know if there’s some other content showing respect you could play prior to the street walk, or perhaps that line just needs cut, but it felt a little bit like “oh, we’re not seeing that then”. You definitely did the right thing to use the original line up content at the end though, so I wouldn’t revert that.
I really enjoyed your cut to the would-be assassin in the street. Knocks a guy to the floor then we cut to him in Boba’s palace. However, I don’t know if the palace scene is necessary - there’s no key content there that couldn’t be implied by just cutting to them frog marching him to the mayor, and you’d skip the weird implication that they dropped him into the rancor pit and he somehow didn’t die (since we see later that he does currently have a rancor). That scene’s also a bit odd since Boba says the prisoner needs his head, but then drops him into the pit, which isn’t specifically a head-removing act.
There’s a good line from Fennec at 03:00 in episode s01e03, “The mayor has no power, somebody else is behind that play.” Could be useful in a few locations in your movie to emphasise that it all links back to the Pykes.
I really liked how you handled the mods throughout. Absolutely minimal, and they were played in a way where Boba kind of got them because he was desperate but also in a way that he wasn’t entirely taking them seriously. I think everyone assuming they’re pretty crap (because they look like shit) and then having them turn out to be passable in the final fight makes them way more acceptable than badass teenagers who Boba actually respects from the beginning. To that end though, I think a better placement for them would be AFTER the other local crime lords agree to neutrality but no support. That way, he has no good options for allies, so literally just picks up these goofy looking kids off the street to act as local lookouts and little more. The only thing you’d have to cut to achieve this is the mod who appears on the phone when the Pykes arrive in force, which I think you could do without comfortably. It lines up neatly with your intentions, I think.
The first cut from Boba to Mando didn’t feel ‘heavy’ enough, the music didn’t really carry the transition there. Maybe adding Mando’s theme over the transition is the right move here. It also felt a bit weird placed as the answer to the question “if not us, then who?”, since that isn’t really the role Mando plays… it’s supposed to be rhetorical and imply that, yes, it should be Boba.
That said, I’m not sure if we really need that bounty hunting scene, though I appreciate it’s where Mando gets the leg wound. But perhaps then we don’t need the scene where he turns it in - since we’re cutting away to Boba maybe he turns it in offscreen, and then we pick back up with him on the same location heading to his culvert.
The focus on Garsa’s Sanctuary instead of anything with the Twins was great. I felt a little like we ducked in and out of Garsa’s a little too frequently, but I think a slightly modified intercutting with Mando’s content just to pace those visits out a little more might remedy that nicely, as it’s clearly a place that’s good for connecting to the pulse of the town.
Speaking of which then, there were a couple of places where I felt we spent a little too long on Mando before cutting back. The scene where Mando talks to the Armorer and then they forge the spear into Grogu’s armour could have been two scenes, letting us cut back to Boba sooner.
I’d reintroduce the first scene of Cobb, from s01e06. It gives good context on what the Pykes are actually doing, and also explains why he draws their ire. Early-middle of the movie feels about right to me.
I loved how you used the rancor, but I think we need to explain to the audience that this is an all-new one after Jabba’s original was killed in ROTJ. Just a line where he references it would be useful. Perhaps just using a fuller version of the assassin-rancor scene, without revealing that there is none, but having Fennec call it the “new” rancor? [audio: “n” + “you” if you can’t find “new”, and “ny” from “any” might help smooth that too.] I agree with your cutting of the training scene though, since Mandalorians both in the lore and in the TV shows are already shown to have great beast taming skill, so the suprise reveal near the end of the movie works best this way.
I don’t think we need to show the armorer giving Mando Grogu’s chainmail wrapped in cloth, since it’s clear that he’s having something forged “what shall we forge…?” I also don’t think we need to see Mando getting on the space bus (him arriving on Tattooine on one is plenty), but that said, there’s nothing weak about the scene, it is kind of fascinating. I’m mostly presenting these just for an extra consideration pass.
I’m not sure if it’s because you cut something from the dialogue, but I found Viszla’s anger in his fight with Mando to be a bit out of left field. It didn’t seem super well justified, and as it stands it would feel more appropriate if he was just seeking to test himself honourably and respecfully.
I’m not sure if we need the chase between the mods and majordomo - perhaps majordomo just successfully does a runner and the main characters work out why? Not sure if that’d work though. Maybe even more trims to the chase could work, as if the mods have set up an ambush in anticipation? Or maybe we cut the scene very early and a little differently, to imply that Boba sees the Mayor is gone before the majordomo tries to escape, implying they keep him captured? Or, just use his dialogue “The mayor’s gone, he’s working with the Pykes” as he’s standing during that discussion, but when we don’t see his face, and imply he stuck around with Boba after that, either under duress or not.
I’d maybe re-add the comments between Fennec and Mando about Boba having weak forces - I think it is relevant to the final fight (and also emphasises how they don’t expect much from the mods, as the audience also don’t.)
The explosion at Garsa’s could have done with more tense music before it happened, if possible. The moment felt just a little too chill for the sudden explosion. I know the explosion is intended as a suprise, but I’d have added just a hint of “something’s not right”.
I’d split between the explosion at Garsa’s and Boba and Fennec showing up. We cut away to a few other plots around this time, I’m sure something can fit into this slot to let it breathe.
I did think we spent too long rebuilding the N1 starfighter, testing it, and dealing with the Republic. In context, this all slowed us down from the meat of the episode. It’s all nice content but for a movie it felt like too much distraction for me.
When the crew show up at Garsa’s bombed-out place for the second time (weird that they go in and out twice too, I thought…) I’m not sure if you made a couple of cuts but this was the only scene which felt a little edited. When Mando draws the gun, and when Cad Bane shows up, in particular.
Smudger had a good idea and used Fennec’s “Hello Bane” and Bane’s “Fennec Shand” from their meeting in the Bad Batch as Fennec leaves the bombed sanctuary.
Finally, a slightly separate thing. Ending on an extended epilogue of Luke did kind of work fine (though I might have wrapped up all of the Boba stuff with the new respect before catching up with Mando at all). And in fact, now I think about it, the earlier Luke moment kind of distracted from the Boba focus earlier in the movie too. However, maybe this movie doesn’t want the Luke/Grogu/Mando content at all? Maybe you release just an intermission, call it Book 5.5, for this? (As an even more separate thing, I don’t think Mando episode 12 fits in either the preceding or following movie either, so I’d have that as intermission 3.5 too.) I appreciate that’s a little odd, making this five movies and two intermissions, but I think ultimately it gives a balanced viewing experience where the movies get to really excel with movie pacing, but a couple of short bitesize episodes complete the story. That said, it does totally work as is.

As before, I’ve gone through your changelog and love every other change you made. LOADS of extremely smart stuff.