Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, directed by Jon Favreau and co-written by Disney Star Wars head honcho Dave Filoni, returns the beloved space saga to theaters for the first time since the conclusion of the sequel trilogy in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. This vibrant, multiworld-spanning actioner is a new user-friendly introduction to the title characters in a surprisingly patient and self-contained adventure.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is a back-to-basics Mando story that has everything that made viewers fall in love with the characters from the start. Pedro Pascal is once again bringing the excellent dad vibes as Din Djarin, aka The Mandalorian, now with stronger morals and a desire to use his talents for justice. Whether or not you’ve grown tired of Grogu in pop culture, he’s more adorable than ever here and becoming a capable apprentice to Mando. The puppeteering is even more amazing, and I couldn’t be happier with how much the film uses this art form and how much it adds to the tangibility of the world – and not just for Grogu throughout (the Anzellans return!).
The story evolves into something far more character-driven than one might expect with nuanced new characters and growth for our heroes. One of the biggest surprises is Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) voicing Rotta the Hutt, the son of now-deceased crime lord Jabba the Hutt. White brings a palpable vulnerability to a son trying to get out of the dark shadow of his father, and when Mando and Grogu are sent to rescue him from imprisonment as an arena gladiator in a neon-splashed underworld, Rotta becomes a complicated but endearing ally with a heartfelt bond to Grogu.
The other significant new cast member is legend Sigourney Weaver as the New Republic’s Colonel Ward, who now serves as a proxy for the bounty card dealer to Mando with the passing of Carl Weathers, who portrayed Greef Karga. Weaver brings her considerable warmth and commanding presence to her portrayal, and there’s just something right about seeing her in an X-Wing cockpit and rocking a Rebel/New Republic flight suit and helmet.
Going back to that neon-splashed underworld mentioned earlier, the visuals in the film are absolutely gorgeous. The lived-in look of the world is terrific, the creature/monster designs are out of this world great, and the sci-fi landscapes are lush and look stunning in IMAX. It’s all accentuated by Ludwig Göransson’s incredible score that recrafts the now-iconic Mandalorian theme into new areas with bigger orchestral swells and even a synth cyberpunk reskin used in the sequences in the aforementioned criminal underground.
On the negative side, the whole thing clocks in at 2 hours and 12 minutes, and there are stretches where you feel that running time. I mentioned early the film is “patient” but that occasionally is a detriment to the momentum. The overall structure feels cut into chapters, much like the Disney+ series, each with a distinct tone, which can feel odd and bloats what might have been better served in a slightly more streamlined narrative.
Some viewers may also take issue with the lack of overall stakes and impact of Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. There are no surprise cameos. No Jedi. No Sith. And no movement on the overall arcs from the connected Disney+ series of shows, i.e., The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and The Book of Boba Fett – meaning no Thrawn, etc. This is a fair complaint, especially depending on what type of storytelling you enjoyed from The Mandalorian – the smaller, mission-based early days or the larger-scale galaxy threats and world-building of the later seasons. As a massive Star Wars nerd, I loved both aspects, but I think Favreau and Filoni made the right choice keeping this film accessible to all and leaving the deeper lore for further films or Disney+ installments – regardless, this a solid re-start to a new era of theatrical Star Wars.
Score: 3.5 out of 5