Movie Review: ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu’

Opening in theaters on May 22 is ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,’ directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor. The film stars Pedro Pascal (‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’), Jeremy Allen White (‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’), Steve Blum (‘Transformers One’), Jonny Coyne (‘The Toxic Avenger’), Martin Scorsese (‘Killers of the Flower Moon’), and Sigourney Weaver (‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’).

​Opening in theaters on May 22 is ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,’ directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor. The film stars Pedro Pascal (‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’), Jeremy Allen White (‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’), Steve Blum (‘Transformers One’), Jonny Coyne (‘The Toxic Avenger’), Martin Scorsese (‘Killers of the Flower Moon’), and Sigourney Weaver (‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’).   

Opening in theaters on May 22 is ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,’ directed by Jon Favreau from a screenplay by Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor. The film stars Pedro Pascal (‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’), Jeremy Allen White (‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere’), Steve Blum (‘Transformers One’), Jonny Coyne (‘The Toxic Avenger’), Martin Scorsese (‘Killers of the Flower Moon’), and Sigourney Weaver (‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’).

Related Article: ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Trailer Reveals Martin Scorsese Voice Role

Initial Thoughts

The good news is that one doesn’t have to really brush up on the three seasons of the Disney+ streaming series ‘The Mandalorian,’ or any other related or recent ‘Star Wars’ media, to walk into the first ‘Star Wars’ feature film in seven years, ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu,’ and understand what’s going on.

Of course, it probably does help to have some idea of the basic premise behind the show, and diehard fans will undoubtedly spot a lot more Easter eggs (while also naming all the many alien species in the movie) than the average viewer. But the movie is designed as a standalone adventure – or adventures – which will come as a relief to both general audiences and Disney execs.

At the same time, ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ doesn’t quite feel like a feature film either. It’s episodic, the stakes are low, and by the end of the film there’s no particular growth for either of its title characters. Some parts of the movie feel and look big, while others play out in bland, rote fashion. It’s entertaining enough, but can it bring ‘Star Wars’ back to cinematic glory?

Story and Direction

‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ sets us right in the middle of the action. A brief interstitial – sort of the cousin to the famous opening crawls of the mothership movies – explains that Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his adopted child Grogu are now working for the New Republic, helping to rout out Imperial warlords who are still terrorizing various systems and trying to keep the Empire alive (this film, like the TV show, is set between ‘Return of the Jedi’ and ‘The Force Awakens’).

Following a thrilling opening sequence in which the Mandalorian and his tiny sidekick blast one such warlord, his troops, his base, and his Imperial walkers into oblivion, Mando and Grogu are almost immediately sent out by New Republic leader Ward (Weaver) on their next mission: rescue Rotta the Hutt, the imprisoned son of the late Jabba the Hutt, and return him to his aunt and uncle, who in exchange will provide valuable information on a particularly fearsome Imperial criminal. But the plan, as plans often do, goes sideways, and Mando and Grogu find themselves in the midst of a far more complicated situation than it first seemed.

Director Jon Favreau – creator of the series and writer of most of its episodes – struggles to keep the pacing as energetic as that first sequence. If in fact ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ was developed out of ideas for the show’s abandoned fourth season, it’s often clear to see where one ‘episode’ ends and the other begins (there’s even a sort of ‘mid-season break’ halfway through). That gives the film an enervated, stop-and-go quality, particularly during its drawn-out second act.

Luckily, however, Favreau (who co-wrote this with Lucasfilm head Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor) has Grogu to fall back on. A mix of animatronics, puppetry, and digital effects, Baby Yoda is as disarmingly cute and funny as he was when first introduced, an irresistible mix of playfulness, innocence, and mystery who is the center of attention every time he’s on screen. Almost as much fun are the Anzellans, a tiny, hilarious cross between Ewoks and Minions who operate as a spaceship repair team. If shows like ‘Andor’ emphasized that ‘Star Wars’ could head in more adult directions, Grogu firmly places it back in family-friendly (not to mention merch-friendly) territory.

At least when the focus is on him, that is. ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ is actually fairly violent (in a PG-13 way), with Mando blasting, burning, and blowing up an exceedingly healthy number of enemies throughout the 132-minute runtime. There are fight sequences galore, with humanoids, nightmarish monsters, and droids, and while some of them crackle with the energy of both Westerns and Japan’s ‘Lone Wolf and Cub’ series – two of the influences on the show and the film – they tend to get repetitious.

It doesn’t help that while the visual effects are mostly top-notch (especially when it comes to Grogu, Rotta, and other featured creatures), the movie is often shot in murky close-ups. Even in IMAX, ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ has a drab color palette that never pops off the screen, despite some terrific settings and imaginatively designed creatures. Even with these flaws, however, ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ manages to be more fun than the dreary ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ or pointless ‘Solo,’ taking us to some new corners of the ‘Star Wars’ universe and not weighed down by the baggage of the Skywalker Saga.

Cast and Performances

It’s hard to gauge a lead performance when the ostensible star – in this case Pedro Pascal – barely shows his face during the film, mainly providing the character’s voice while Din Djarin is physically portrayed by two other performers (Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder). Plus Pascal’s voice is generally flat and filtered-sounding, as per the mask Djarin wears.

It’s the physicality and ferocious fighting style of the Mandalorian that makes the combined performance work, as well as those moments between him and Grogu in which Favreau, whoever’s in the suit, and the little puppet somehow manage to generate warmth between the two. That’s a feat itself for a protagonist who’s completely covered in armor for nearly the entire film.

As for the rest, Jeremy Allen White’s voice performance as Rotta may sound a little too human, but the character is probably the best-developed and most layered of the movie’s many creatures (poor guy also delivers some of the script’s clunkiest dialogue). Sigourney Weaver is there to add her usual touch of class, although she’s not in the film very much. The rest of the cast makes little of an impression, leaving Grogu and the tiny Anzellan mechanics to easily steal the show.

Final Thoughts

Just as ‘The Mandalorian’ resurrected ‘Star Wars’ from a kind of purgatory – and provided Disney+ with a welcome early hit – ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ is being called upon to relaunch the franchise on the big screen after it collapsed in on itself seven years ago with its last big screen outing, the utterly dismal ‘The Rise of Skywalker.’

In some ways, ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ doesn’t quite meet the challenge, making it less of a triumphant return and more of a first, unsteady step back into a medium it once dominated. But at the same time, this strange film does find a better balance of fan service and general entertainment – with an emphasis on the latter – than the franchise was flailing to capture the last time around. And it’s got its little green secret weapon to point the camera at as often as possible.

‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu’ receives a score of 70 out of 100.

What is the plot of ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu’?

Following the fall of the Galactic Empire, during a period where the remaining Imperial warlords still constitute a threat to the galaxy, the New Republic enlists Din Djarin and his apprentice Grogu to rescue Rotta the Hutt in exchange for information from the Hutt clan on a New Republic target.

Who is in the cast of ‘Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu’?

Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin/The MandalorianBrendan Wayne as the Mandalorian suit performerLateef Crowder as the Mandalorian stunt performerJeremy Allen White as Rotta the HuttSigourney Weaver as Colonel WardSteve Blum as Zeb OrreliosJonny Coyne as Lord JanuMartin Scorsese as the Ardennian shopkeeper

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