Joey Magidson
Two things can be true about The Mandalorian and Grogu, which returns Star Wars to cinemas for the first time in the better part of a decade. I both had a reasonably enjoyable time with this film on a surface level while also being bummed out a bit by it. Why, you ask? Well, all of the bits that you want to see in this movie are there, except it’s all just sort of tossed off. At the end of the day, while there’s entertainment value to be found in the flick, it’s also the final statement that, unfortunately, Star Wars just isn’t special anymore. What was once a massive event is now just a product. Look at the title itself. It feels like product placement, as opposed to the cinematic return of Star Wars.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is, essentially, like watching a handful of episodes of The Mandalorian stitched together. That was always a suspicion, and if well crafted, wouldn’t have been a huge issue, but here, the longer things go on, the more you realize that nothing here is anything special. Is it fun? At many points, yes. That’s what sets this apart from the nadir of Star Wars efforts. At the same time, it’s maybe the safest effort the series has ever attempted, which was undeniably disappointing to witness.
Plot details have been fairly hidden so far, so I’ll tread lightly here. Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his apprentice Grogu are still at it, roaming the galaxy on all sorts of adventures. Here, we meet them in the midst of completing a bounty for a former Imperial Officer. Of course, things go sideways, but when they return to their New Republic contact, Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver), they’ve completed the contract. Ward has a new assignment for them, one that involves not just finding an elusive former bigwig in the Empire, but also getting into contact with the gangster Hutts.
Din and Grogu soon are off on a mission to rescue Jabba the Hutt’s sole heir, Rotta the Hutt (voice of Jeremy Allen White), though who they find is more a celebrity gladiator than a prisoner. Their interactions with Rotta will inform the rest of the adventure, which takes them across the galaxy, into and out of danger, and of course, into contact with all sorts of creatures. If you’ve seen the show, you know what to expect, just on a slightly bigger scale.
Pedro Pascal does appear here, though it feels more like voice work than a full on performance. He knows how to be Mando in his sleep by now, and while it’s not sleepwalking, no one will confuse this for his best work. Jeremy Allen White doesn’t sound like how a Hutt should, which is odd, but the character is one of the more interesting ones here, even if it’s nothing too complex. Sigourney Weaver is sadly wasted, though there’s one image of her that’s actually a lot of fun. Grogu remains cute, of course, but is hardly a fleshed out character. The standout supporting performance is actually the voice work from Martin Scorsese in a two scene cameo. Steve Blum, Jonny Coyne, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and more are also on hand, either in live action or just their voice, but it’s Mando’s show.
Director/co-writer Jon Favreau films this big screen adventure in a way that never really makes use of the medium, but that wouldn’t be as big an issue if the screenplay was up to snuff. Then, the somewhat garden variety action and flat direction (with adequate yet mostly uninspired cinematography from David Klein) would be buoyed by something. Well, other than the score from composer Ludwig Göransson, which is reliably well done. Sadly, the script he wrote with Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor is fully on autopilot. All the things you expect to see are there, just without any of the emotional quotient that hooked people on The Mandalorian. If this was a quarter of a season of the show, it would feel like middle of the road episodes, which is rough when we’ve gone the film route. Now, there’s an amusing side quest for Grogu with some little friends that worked on me in a Muppet type way (puppets and Star Wars will always feel right), but then there’s also a section of the movie that’s ripped straight out of The Last of Us, just done far less well. The idea of the old protecting the young until the young can protect the old is a nice one, you just wish there was any further thought put into it. Instead, this just feels like a reminder of the Star Wars product, as opposed to a fully satisfying Star Wars flick.
The Manalorian and Grogu certainly could have been a lot worse. In fact, it’s not bad. It’s just…not what big screen Star Wars should be. If this is their plan for Star Wars, then the future of the property on the whole is in real jeopardy. The film doesn’t feel like it was crafted by creatives but by executives, focused on what worked on the show, as opposed to why those things worked. That results in a movie that has entertainment value, to be sure, but lacks the Star Wars soul.
SCORE: ★★1/2
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