Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Review: This Is Not the Way

A Marketing Brief Come To Life

For Star Wars, a franchise and extended multi-pronged media universe that has existed for nearly 50 years, there is going to be jumping on and jumping off points for many fans. For some early fans, the kid-friendly nature of 1983’s Return of the Jedi was already a bridge too far. I think I may have finally hit that wall with The Mandalorian and Grogu, the big-screen version of the Disney+ show that feels more like a marketing brief come to life than a film in any other sense of the word. 

Directed and co-written by Jon Favreau (Swingers, Elf), The Mandalorian and Grogu “stars” Pedro Pascal as Din Djarin, the masked Mandalorian bounty hunter. As the film kicks off, Din is working with the pint-sized Grogu (AKA Baby Yoda), who he has taken under his wing. Tasked with tracking down the mysterious warlord Commander Coin, Din and Grogu seek help from the Hutt Twins, the slimy siblings of the deceased Jabba the Hutt.

As part of their agreement to help Din track down his prey, the Hutts have one demand; bring home Jabba’s son Rotta (voiced by Jeremy Allen White of The Bear) who they claim is being held against his will in the gladiator pits of the planet Shakari by the crime boss Janu.

Swol Hutt

As it turns out, Rotta is as different from his aunt and uncle as can be. The first on-screen Hutt with a six-pack, the swol fighter is perfectly content to fight in the gladiator battles, and believes he will soon be released from his bondage. Rotta’s reluctance posits him directly against Din, who must fight to get Rotta on his side to appease the dangerous Hutt Twins and track down his mark.

In theory, a movie-length version of The Mandalorian TV show that focuses on Din and Grogu tracking down bad guys across the galaxy sounds like great proposition. Free of the restraints of episodic TV, it would allow the characters to stretch out and treat audiences to the epic level of storytelling that has made fans of all ages fall in love with Star Wars across generations. 

Babu Frik Innocent

Instead, The Mandalorian and Grogu somehow plays as a smaller version of the show. Aside from a handful of action set pieces (including a rousing opening battle on a snow-capped mountain), there is nothing here to suggest an idea that couldn’t have been handled in the subsequent season of the show. 

While it feels lazy to decry that The Mandalorian and Grogu simply feels like a handful of episodes of the show stitched together, that’s essentially what this feels like. This is the story that Favreau and co-writer and producer Dave Filoni felt needed the big screen treatment? A rambling series of encounters with various CGI aliens coupled with the jacked-up son of Jabba the Hutt taking on his treacherous extended family? 

That said, there are some memorable moments over the film’s interminable 132-minute runtime. Martin Scorsese (!) nearly steals the film as the voice of a stressed-out, monkey-like cook, and Grog’s interactions with the tiny Babu Frik and his extended family of mechanics delivers a cuteness overload that even the prickliest of Star Wars fans can’t deny. 

This Is Not The Way

With those exceptions aside, The Mandalorian and Grogu still feels like a missed opportunity. Maybe the Disney+ show was too good, and set up expectations that a feature-length film can’t live up to, but it’s also possible that this film was rushed for release before anyone at Lucasfilm actually had a clear idea of the story they wanted to tell. 

I freely admit that I may not be the target audience for a film like this anymore. As a Star Wars fans since the early ‘80s, it pains me to see how lazy and uninspired The Mandalorian and Grogu is (this coming from a prequel-apologist at that). Kids may love it and it seems on track to make enough money at the box office to justify its existence to the Disney shareholders, but it feels like we are collectively sending the wrong message to the filmmakers and the Lucasfilm brass. Star Wars deserves better. 

The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theatres now.