Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Review

Star Wars used to be the event of a generation, but The Mandalorian and Grogu might permanently damage the cinematic powerhouse for good.

After the critical failure of The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm has been desperately trying to recapture the generational phenomenon that was The Force Awakens and prove to audiences that Star Wars is still relevant in cinemas. Many failed attempts to get a movie on the big screen later, we finally have our first Star Wars feature film in what feels like an eternity, and one that certainly won’t win over any new fans, nor bring back old ones who have likely checked out of the franchise a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away). 

Whoever at Disney thought making a Mandalorian-centered film would yield commercial gold probably doesn’t understand that most people who watch television don’t go to the cinema, and vice-versa. The average moviegoer who has never watched an episode of The Mandalorian (or any Star Wars television series, really) might not be lost watching The Mandalorian and Grogu, or understanding its paper-thin story, but will they have a meaningful connection to the character of Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his adoptive son Grogu? Will they even recognize figures such as Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum), from Star Wars: Rebels, or bounty hunter Embo, who first appeared in The Clone Wars? Most definitely not. 

Even I, someone who has watched every single Star Wars title, from film to television (even that unwatchable Holiday Special), felt a profound sense of boredom watching The Mandalorian and Grogu. It’s a movie that offers virtually nothing to the audience but a succession of mind-numbing action that lacks the grandeur and urgency that was found in literally every other Star Wars movie ever. Not all of them are amazing, sure, but they look immaculate. Many have mentioned how The Phantom Menace was a disappointment, but no one has a bad thing to say about the pod race. They’re all visual and aural masterpieces, made specifically to be experienced on the most gargantuan of all IMAX screens. 

The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first Star Wars movie that doesn’t feel like a movie. Director Jon Favreau shoots this $165 million extended television episode in the exact same way as the show he helped create, even with the aid of IMAX cameras (and 3D, which sadly worsens the visual look of the film, whilst it enhanced it in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi) in several sequences. There may be one significant action beat that looked neat in its conception, but the execution has very little – if any – emotional impact. Action scenes follow one another in rapid succession, with little to no consequence or tangible stakes being drawn as the titular Mandalorian and Grogu attempt to find and rescue Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White, giving the most nonchalant performance of his career), son of Jabba the Hutt who has critical information that may weaken the last remnants of the Empire. 

No, really, that’s what The Mandalorian and Grogu is about. Mando and Grogu travel the galaxy in search of information. Doesn’t that sound exciting? In a way, the film’s lack of a compelling plot makes the obvious flaws of The Mandalorian show feel far more apparent, because it never seemed as if it had any objective beyond smashing multiple action figures together from episode-to-episode and creating a brand new Yoda character to sell as many toys as possible. I’m not saying it was all bad, but the overall series seems so purposeless, without any key objectives in attempting to meaningfully evolve the characters it introduces and embark audiences on a journey that’s simultaneously epic and fulfilling. 

After four seasons of television (The Book of Boba Fett does count, since the back half of the series is primarily focused on Pedro Pascal’s character) and a movie, one would think The Mandalorian would have a semblance of a narrative arc and an emotional journey, but he has not developed in any way. Din Djarin stays the exact same from when the movie begins to an ending that’s eerily similar to the way that each season has ended. Each attempt at giving both Mando and Grogu texture, by keeping them apart, is immediately backtracked when they’re reunited together and continue to go on endless adventures through the galaxy. This is true for both the series and this film.

In The Mandalorian and Grogu, there’s an entire twenty-minute digression where we only follow Grogu and the Anzellans as they tend to an injured Din Djarin. While a fun “bottle episode” in its own right, we think this detour will meaningfully change how they perceive one another because the audience finally has the time to sit with Grogu to make us aware of how much The Mandalorian means to him. When Mando finally wakes up, there’s no acknowledgement of what Grogu did to him and the danger he and the Anzellans put themselves in. Just the character saying “This is the Way,” and we’re off to the next scene. Pascal’s vocal performance doesn’t evolve either. He repeats the same beats we’ve come to expect from the character without any additional depth. 

In short, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a directionless affair that doesn’t even have the decency to meaningfully expand upon characters and the world of the series, despite appearances from top talent, including Sigourney Weaver, delivering the most stilted lines of her career, and Martin Scorsese, giving the film’s sole notes of life in this otherwise dreary endeavor. It’s two hours and twelve minutes of barely-rendered images moving in front of the screen, with no story to emotionally involve the audience into, no memorable action scene, no evolution of character (unlike the trajectories of its core protagonists in every single past Star Wars film), and, worst of all, no cinematic thrills. 

Favreau has diluted one of the most awe-inspiring, technically immaculate science-fiction spectacle franchises into just another mindless summer blockbuster. One can love or hate the Star Wars universe, but each film felt like the event of a generation. There isn’t another franchise that would make people camp out in front of the cinemas to get a ticket or be the first one to enter. The Mandalorian and Grogu has none of that excitement. It wants to bring back audiences to the cinema and transport them to a galaxy far, far, away, but it never justifies exactly how it’s going to do that beyond a succession of things happening with little to no purpose featuring characters that the average moviegoer has no connection with. 

Maybe Shawn Levy’s Star Wars: Starfighter will be something special. Maybe it will bring back the magic of George Lucas’ spectacles again. However, it’s becoming increasingly clear that the only thing Star Wars needs right now is a long, and well-earned rest, until someone figures out what to do with this sandbox beyond attempting to connect the live-action shows with the animated ones. You can do that on Disney+. Not on the big screen. 

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is now available to watch globally in theaters.