By Chris Sawin
| Published
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first Star Wars film released theatrically in nine years, and the first to be based on a Disney+ property. While the film doesn’t feel quite as slapped together or as rushed as Moana 2, which was also originally conceived as a television series, The Mandalorian and Grogu fails to make the big-budget film feel any different than any season of The Mandalorian.
The film was initially imagined as The Mandalorian’s fourth season. Instead, co-writer and director Jon Favreau decided to turn it into a theatrical film. Taking place between the events of Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi and before the sequel trilogy, Din Djarin/The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) is now bounty hunting for The New Republic. His bond with Grogu has grown even stronger, and his little apprentice is getting more powerful.
This review does contain storyline spoilers. If that sort of thing bothers you, please read at your own risk.
Too Safe To Truly Hit Hard
Answering to Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver), The New Republic is searching for the whereabouts of Commander Coin, whom they have very little information about apart from his name. The Mandalorian is forced to work with the Hutt Twins on a rescue mission for Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), Jabba the Hutt’s son, from planet Shakari in order to gain information on Coin.
The story is lackluster at best, which is sad since writers Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor are capable of creating something that doesn’t feel so safe. The main plot is essentially that The Mandalorian has grown soft due to his bond with Grogu. He’s decided to be a good guy and works for The New Republic.
The film is basically him bouncing from one bounty-hunting job to another until he gets the Rotta the Hutt job. He knows the Hutts’ reputation and that no one should disobey them, but he does just that, and everything that happens afterward is because he couldn’t complete the initial job as he was asked to do.
Most of this comes from his meeting with Rotta the Hutt. Expecting the worst, Rotta is rather kind despite his imposing physique. He’s nice to Grogu, and he’s nothing like Jabba. The Mandalorian makes an empathetic decision over a business-related one and pays the price.
In between all of this is the film’s insistence on pointing out how reckless The Mandalorian is on missions. On at least three separate occasions, either Din Djarin himself or Colonel Ward refers to his actions as “messy” and implies that everything has hit the fan, but at least the main goal was accomplished. It’s very much a concept borrowed from the Lethal Weapon or Dirty Harry films.
Clonking And Bonking
The film has two major stunt coordinators: J.J. Dashnaw (The Equalizer 2, The Matrix Resurrections) and Mandy Kowalski (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Wonder Woman). The credits between Dashnaw and Kowalski imply that the two not only know how to piece together an entertaining action sequence, but also to throw in a little variety over the course of a couple of hours.
Apart from the opening battle and The Mandalorian’s fight with Embo, the action in the film grows redundant and stale rather quickly. Most of the action is a lot of clonking and bonking, accentuated by signature pew-pew plasma blasts from a blaster pistol or rifle. Rinse and repeat, and then mix it up by throwing someone off a cliff, and that’s the extent of the action choreography here.
There are a couple of chases thrown in for good measure, and a different character or two to try to make things interesting. Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios (Steve Blum) from Star Wars Rebels pops up and bounds off the ceilings and walls while fighting, similar to Beast from The X-Men, but none of the action feels memorable or unique.
Grogu and the Anzellan, Babu Frik, have such weird movements in the film. Jon Favreau has stated that he incorporated puppeteering and stop-motion into The Mandalorian and Grogu, but these little guys look like they’re hopping around on strings the majority of the time, like they’re auditioning for a Team America: World Police sequel.
There are two giant droids in The Twins’ lair that are brought to life through stop-motion animation. What makes the segment even cooler is that it was likely done by Tippett Studio (Mad God, the original RoboCop films). These giant droids give off gargantuan Iron Man vibes, especially the Mark I’s creation in the cave, which isn’t too much of a stretch since Favreau directed that film as well.
Not The Triumphant Return Star Wars So Desperately Needs
The issue with this film is that it hints at ideas for potential Star Wars films that are immediately more promising than this. Shakari has this futuristic city nightlife in the rain aesthetic, not unlike Blade Runner, which immediately makes you crave a gritty Star Wars noir film, or a modern western that at least somewhat resembles Lone Wolf and Cub.
Rotta’s chemistry with both The Mandalorian and Grogu makes it seem like he’d be a worthy addition to their adventures. Since Grogu doesn’t talk and Rotta is basically all muscle, the dynamic between the three of them in other adventures could be really exciting and entertaining. While the film we received does capitalize on this to some extent, it’s a watered-down version that feels very Marvel; we’ll see Rotta later, but only in a smaller role or as part of some other project several years from now.
Embo is the coolest character featured in the film. Originally introduced in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Embo is a Kyuzo bounty hunter and has an anooba named Marrok assist on his hunts. He’s hired by the Twins to bring in The Mandalorian after the Rotta rescue mission goes a different route. The issue is Embo is cool, but he doesn’t really do much of anything. He eventually has a full-blown fight with The Mandalorian and is technically a highlight of the film, but he’s still forgettable. It feels like he’s a strong background character, is liked by fans, but is still transitioning to becoming relevant.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is not the triumphant return to the big screen that the franchise was looking for. It’s watchable, but it’s incredibly monotonous, has nothing substantially important occur, and feels like an afterthought even in comparison to the television series it’s based on.
THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU SCORE
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu forces its way into theaters May 22.
