Jango

review written 7/2/2003

Mongarfilm is one person. I just figured this out now. And Gary Mongar's follow-up to Showdown on Coruscant works. Well.

I love the brassy SW logo and classy opening title. I also like seeing Jango suiting up. It reminded me of Batman. The digital set of Jango's pad looks neat, as does his costume. (Mrs. Fett's costume could use some work, it looked like you could buy it at Target.) I do wonder why they gave Jango the dent in his helmet. Didn't he get that in AOTC? Or was that another dent?

Another breathtaking digital set: Jango's hangar. But Mongar doesn't just make neat sets; he knows how to shoot them with a fluid and dynamic virtual camera that makes the action more exciting.

There are some bad-looking digital characters in Jango's hangout. Really bad, in some cases. But I'll forgive them.

Oh my God, we actually see Jango use the wrist blade. I'm in geek heaven. This is the number one fan film for Fett fans. No contest. And not just the toys. He gets some nice dialogue ("do I have to move you" is a good example), and Mongar does a fine job of portraying him with a sinister edge, even if the accent is inaccurate. Mongar plays a bunch of characters in this film, always with nifty makeup. It's always amusing to watch multiples of him in the frame.

The plot takes a turn for the unhappy in a frankly predictable 'twist'. But it's not what happens, but what we see Jango do with it that makes it count. We get some neat AOTC parallels; I particularly applaud the choice of reversing Jango's direction of travel toward the place he plans to take revenge. Anakin moved to the left and away from camera in AOTC; Jango moves toward camera and to the right. Not only is this a great film for Fett fans, but for AOTC fans as well. You'll get the fan film perspective on some canon.

The ending credits could use some work, though. Too long and slow for a film with only eleven minutes of actual content.

I was impressed. I was floored. I was tempted to call the film Fett-tastic. In fact, maybe I will. This film was Fett-tastic.