The Mandalorian and Grogu review: Star Wars’ big screen return took wrong lessons from Disney+ show

One of the popular fan sentiments about Disney+’s The Mandalorian was “this should be a movie!” That dream has become a reality as the first Star Wars movie in over six years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, hits theaters.

The reason so many felt the show was due for big screen treatment was because of its epic scope and set pieces. The same could be said about HBO’s prestige shows from The Sopranos to, more recently, Game of Thrones.

It’s not wrong to think of The Mandalorian in the same way, as the series was chock-full of references and nods to the samurai and Westerns that inspired Star Wars. The first season especially had a strong visual language that appropriately paid homage to the franchise’s inspirations.

However, it seems like Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, who spearheaded the original show, took the wrong ideas from the online sentiment. Yes, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a movie, but it functions as several episodes of the show mashed into a 132-minute runtime.

Perhaps this is what some people wanted out of a project like this. However, it leaves a lot to be desired, especially given that this is Star Wars’ long-awaited return to the big screen.

The Mandalorian and Grogu review: What’s it about?

After the fall of the Galactic Empire, Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Baby Yoda, er, Grogu, are given a new task by the New Republic. They are enlisted by Jabba the Hutt’s twin cousins to rescue Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), their nephew.

In exchange, they would receive information regarding an unknown threat they have been chasing. However, finding Rotta leads Djarin and Grogu down a more complicated path than initially believed.

The movie gets off to a quick start, reminding fans how cool The Mandalorian is and how cute Grogu is. The opening set piece is probably the most impressive, showing some of the restraint from the first season as Mando slowly runs through several nameless stormtroopers.

Once the mission is assigned, The Mandalorian and Grogu comes to a screeching halt. The title characters travel to Shakari, a rainy, Blade Runner-like planet.

The up and down visuals

They find Rotta in the slums, competing as a gladiator in a fighting pit owned by Janu Coin (Jonny Coyne). He is promised freedom after completing his final fight, which is his next one. Naturally, doing business with someone like Janu comes with the risk of empty promises.

Shakari is one of the most distinct planets Star Wars has introduced recently. Its film noir look is enhanced by the lighting and set pieces, and more than anything, it’s tactile.

However, that all goes out the window once we enter the arena. Rotta is a unique Hutt, sporting a buff physique. He’s a physical being, and his fights are brutal.

It’s cool to see a Hutt moving like this. The visuals, though, leave a lot to be desired for a multi-million dollar project. The Disney+ series had more consistent visuals than the feature film.

There are some impressive moments. Djarin’s fight against a giant Dragonsnake looked pretty good, and Grogu moves more than ever. While he’s a puppet, some of it is surely enhanced with CGI. Favraeu and Co. do a great job with the character.

The Mandalorian and Grogu feels like a TV show, not a movie

The Mandalorian and Grogu is a tale of two halves. There’s the extraction story, where Djarin and Grogu try to bring Rotta back to his aunt and uncle, and then there’s the fallout of that story.

Something feels off between the two halves. There is something lost in translation, and it makes them feel sandwiched together. The middle of the movie isn’t even bad — it’s boring.

Star Wars is years removed from its last cohesive movie. The Mandalorian and Grogu feels like TV stretched into a movie. Again, many thought the show would translate well into a feature film, but it feels like Favreau took the laziest way possible to get there.

It’s like they took two scripts for episodes of a potential fourth season of The Mandalorian, sprinkled in a few new characters, and were done.

That’s especially disappointing. It’s as if Favreau took the wrong takeaways from fans hoping for a Mandalorian movie. The visual language and scope are what made it feel ready for big screen treatment, not its pacing.

After all, TV and cinema are two very different mediums. You can get away with a loose plot when episodes are 45 minutes, not two hours and 12 minutes.

Pedro Pascal leads the mixed bag of performances

The biggest thing that works is Ludwig Göransson’s score, which is leveled up from the series. New instrumentation and chances are taken with the movie’s score.

At this point, it’s customary to expect Pascal to deliver as Djarin. Many have fallen in love with his performance as the character, though it feels notably hollower than in the show.

Given that Pascal merely voices the role, standing in occasionally when required, it’s not that surprising. So many lines fall flat, and even his motivational lines, like when he tells Grogu something to the effect of, “The old protect the young, and then the young protect the old. This is the way,” feel disingenuous.

Some of the new characters, like Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, who directed a movie with the same name, stand out, though it’s still puzzling to see the Goodfellas director in a tentpole project after his whole feud with Marvel.

Time heals all wounds, and perhaps Scorsese and Disney came to some understanding. Scorsese, an underrated actor, perfectly plays the wimpy shopkeeper who wants nothing to do with the trouble the Mandalorian brings.

Martin Scorsese’s cameo raises some eyebrows

Still, it’s a little strange. Disney is no stranger to seemingly hypocritical messaging. In The Devil Wears Prada 2, the story revolves around the characters saving the soul of journalism (an apt metaphor for the arts). Meanwhile, the long-awaited blockbuster sequel was full of cameos (albeit some clever ones).

Look, there’s no getting around the fact that Scorsese’s argument about Marvel had some merit. These giant franchises sometimes sacrifice storytelling in favor of advertisements, trying to get audiences to pay for a ticket to what’s coming next instead of focusing on the present.

The Mandalorian and Grogu reeks of the same thing. It’s no secret that the adorable Grogu is a needle mover when it comes to merchandise. Disney is never going to let two of its most profitable characters go, making their movie feel like a 132-minute commercial.

Grogu isn’t even the only cute character the movie shoves down your throat. There are a lot of Anzellans, the same species as the equally cute Babu Frik, in the movie.

Should you see The Mandalorian and Grogu?

Ultimately, The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn’t leave an impression as Star Wars’ big return to movie theaters. It represents everything wrong with Star Wars while offering very little of what made The Mandalorian a breath of fresh air upon its debut in 2019.

The cuteness of Grogu can only distract viewers for so long. It tries to mask a directionless story that shows how the whole Star Wars series has lost the plot.

While the main saga of Star Wars movies has become over-reliant on the Skywalker name, The Mandalorian and Grogu had a chance to reinvent the wheel. However, it became too comfortable, opting for a safe, family-friendly movie.

The Mandalorian and Grogu has a fitting ending. No spoilers here, but it lacks a definitive stand; something that sets up exciting future stories for the characters. It instead opts for an extremely safe conclusion with zero stakes.

That is representative of the state of Star Wars. You know it’s not anywhere near ending, but all of the stakes have been zapped from the franchise. Maybe another six-year break would do some good for the galaxy far, far away.

Grade: C

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters.

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