I walked into The Mandalorian & Grogu with my expectations basically on the floor. At this point, I think Star Wars is the definition of oversaturation. Star Wars used to feel like an event. Even though I wasn’t alive for the original trilogy, I was around for the prequels, and I remember how massive those movies felt. The marketing for Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace was everywhere, and I still remember skipping high school to see Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith opening day. People hated the prequels back then, but over time they’ve come around on them, partly because modern Star Wars has fallen so far from what it used to be. Personally, I also just think the prequels are good movies.
That’s why I had almost zero expectations going into this. The TV version of The Mandalorian started strong, but like everything else in Star Wars lately, it eventually got swallowed by oversaturation. I also think a lot of old-school Star Wars fans are never going to fully connect with this newer version of the franchise. It’s just too different from what they grew up with.
That said, either you’re on board with the Mandalorian and Grogu dynamic or you aren’t. The movie is basically Din Djarin being a badass while Grogu presses buttons in the ship, does cute stuff, uses the Force, and repeats the cycle. Honestly though? I didn’t mind it. As a dog owner, I weirdly saw a lot of my own dog in Grogu, so I was laughing at a lot of his scenes.
The movie mostly revolves around hunting criminals and eventually tracking down Rotta the Hutt, voiced by Jeremy Allen White. There’s a pretty cool sequence where characters are fighting in a coliseum before becoming allies, and overall I actually liked Rotta. But it also highlights one of my biggest issues with modern Star Wars. Jabba the Hutt originally felt strange, gross, practical, and memorable. Now it feels like we’re just getting more giant CGI slug characters thrown at the screen. Star Wars used to rely heavily on puppets and practical effects, and now some scenes feel like a giant CGI overload.
One of the coolest parts of the movie for me was Embo, the bounty hunter hunting the Mandalorian. He reminded me of Mortal Kombat character Kung Lao, and every scene with him was awesome.
I also noticed right away that the movie doesn’t open with the classic Star Wars crawl. Instead, it just throws text on the screen. That’s the kind of decision that’s going to annoy longtime fans. Every little thing like that makes it feel like Disney keeps distancing Star Wars from what made people love it in the first place.
Still, Pedro Pascal does a solid job as the Mandalorian, Sigourney Weaver is good in her role, and Grogu is still entertaining. There’s plenty of action throughout the movie, even if I wouldn’t call the action itself amazing. I do think the movie is around 15 minutes too long, though. There’s definitely a section that could’ve been condensed into one scene instead of dragging on.
The biggest problem is that while I was watching it, I kept thinking, “This doesn’t really feel like Star Wars anymore.” It’s become a lot like the MCU machine: endless content, nonstop TV shows, and constant releases that make everything feel less special. After the prequels, we waited years for more Star Wars. Then Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out and those trailers completely broke the internet because it felt exciting again. But that sequel trilogy ended up feeling directionless, like nobody had an actual plan.
Now Disney treats Star Wars less like a legendary franchise and more like a content factory. That’s why we get new shows every few months and movies that sometimes feel overly simplified or designed mainly to sell toys. I think that hurts the identity of the franchise overall.
But reviewing this movie on its own? I had fun with it. I laughed. Some of the action scenes were cool. It exceeded my very low expectations, and most importantly, it wasn’t a complete disaster. It’s nowhere near the best movie I’ve seen this year, but definitely not the worst either. It probably lands somewhere in the bottom half of my rankings for the year, but still earns a passing grade from me.
At the end of the day, The Mandalorian & Grogu succeeds at being entertaining, even if it also reminds me how far modern Star Wars has drifted from what once made the franchise feel special.
The Mandalorian & Grogu = 67/100
