The Mandalorian and Grogu
The first Star Wars movie in nearly seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a welcome reminder of the unique action, adventure, humor, heart, and mythology that are specific to this world, as well as what a joy it is to exist within it for a few hours.
Yes, those assets have propelled numerous live-action and animated Star Wars TV series in the interim, but even the best of the lot — The Mandalorian and Andor — only occasionally rival the epic scope of the movies.
Directed by Jon Favreau and written by him, Lucasfilm chief creative officer Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor (a staff writer on The Book of Boba Fett), the film features the series’ winning balance of hard-nosed Mandalorian combat and cute Grogu antics in the service of action sequences worthy of the big screen.
While originally conceived as the Disney+ flagship series’ fourth season, it doesn’t feel episodic, though viewers familiar with the series can ID reasonable spots for cliffhangers and cuts to the end credits. It’s also nice to have a Star Wars film without any mention of Skywalkers or a plot with galaxy-level stakes — just an entertaining adventure, full of peril that inspires our heroes to greatness.
For those unfamiliar with the show, our protagonist is metal-clad Mandalorian and former bounty hunter Din Djarin, though fellow Mandalorians are pretty much the only ones who call him that. Mandalorian/Mando is voiced and, on extremely rare occasions, played by Pedro Pascal, but otherwise it’s the impressive Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder under the armor. Joining him is his pint-sized, Force-wielding apprentice Grogu, who’s the same mysterious species as Yoda yet so far non-verbal beyond frequent adorable coos and grunts.
Picking up where Season Three left off, The Mandalorian and Grogu finds the eponymous duo in Nazi hunter mode, helping the New Republic track down high-ranking Galactic Empire fugitives. After an exciting opening mission on a snowy planet that sees our guys facing off against a trio of Imperial walkers, they’re tasked by Col. Ward (Sigourney Weaver, a nice addition to this universe) to meet with the Hutt twins, find out where their nephew (and the deceased Jabba’s last surviving heir) Rotta is being held prisoner, and free him in exchange for information on the mysterious, highly dangerous, and therefore extremely valuable warlord Coin.
Mando’s, uh, well-founded hesitation to trust the Hutts makes it a compelling mission, and the sequence of him and Grogu entering the crime bosses’ droid-guarded palace on Nal Hutta is full of suspense and intriguing details, solidifying that Favreau and his team know what they’re doing.
Intrigue remains high as our heroes head to the visually appealing, Blade Runner-esque planet Shakari and discover that Rotta is an amiable, champion gladiator who doesn’t consider himself captive nor in need of saving, what with his “captor” Lord Janu (Jonny Coyne, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) promising to free him after one last battle and a lucrative fighting career awaiting him after that.
Though the concept of a non-evil Hutt who’s also buff and, well, capable of movement, practically everything about Rotta is poorly realized. For some reason, he’s voiced by Jeremy Allen White (The Bear), but with just enough distortion that it could be anyone — albeit not enough vocal manipulation to rule out the possibility that Rotta might just be a human wearing a Hutt costume. And his dialogue — bland monologues rife with cliché daddy issues and a desire to be his own man — ranks up with Padme’s and Anakin’s flirtations in Attack of the Clones as the worst in any Star Wars movie.
He’s an extremely strange creation and a drag on an otherwise thrilling film — one that also otherwise makes excellent use of vocal performances. In addition to Pascal’s consistently terrific work, Martin Scorsese delightfully voices a four-armed Ardennian food truck worker named Hugo who’s the same species as the Favreau-voiced pilot Rio in Solo. After memorably voicing tiny mechanic Babu Frik in The Rise of Skywalker, Shirley Henderson excels as a team of four of his comic-relief Anzelian brethren who provide some much-needed technical assistance (and more). And the soothing sounds of Stephen McKinley Henderson dialogue issues from Gatori, a kindly Nal Hutta fisherman who plays a small but pivotal role in our heroes’ journey.
As is perhaps to be expected in a Star Wars film, there’s some convenient plotting as this battle between good and evil plays out — namely when a formerly elusive individual is quickly located and a life is saved thanks to a gifted stranger — but the storytelling moves so seamlessly that it’s tough to get hung up on these contrivances.
The result is a thoroughly fulfilling time at the movies, and with Star Wars: Starfighter in post-production and slated for a late May 2027 release, we fortunately won’t have to wait so long for the next cinematic fix.
Grade: B-plus. Rated PG-13. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Asheville Pizza & Brewing Co., Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.
(Photo: Disney/Lucasfilm)
