The Star Wars franchise as a whole has struggled creatively in recent years, and sadly, Grogu’s cuteness alone is not enough to save the day, asserts Sreeju Sudhakaran.
Key Points
- The Mandalorian And Grogu involves Din Djarin and Grogu attempting to rescue Rotta the Hutt, Jabba the Hutt’s son.
- The movie is primarily aimed at viewers already familiar with The Mandalorian series, with little effort made to onboard new audiences.
Alert! Alert! Martin Scorsese is in a Star Wars movie!
Of course, you won’t see the legendary filmmaker in person in The Mandalorian And Grogu but his unmistakable voice is easy to recognise behind a four-handed monkey-like food vendor living on a moon visited by Din Djarin and Grogu during one of their missions.
Alright, I am mentioning this so early because it is genuinely delightful to hear the director of Raging Bull, Goodfellas and The Departed having fun inside the Star Wars universe.
Sadly, it also becomes one of the few standout pleasures in what essentially feels like a made-for-television extension of a Disney+ series that somehow received a big screen release.
A decision that feels even stranger considering audiences had already cooled considerably on the second and third seasons of The Mandalorian (also The Book of Boba Fett, which practically functioned as The Mandalorian Season 2.5).
What’s The Mandalorian And Grogu About?
So what are the helmeted bounty hunter and his tiny apprentice up to this time?
The opening crawl informs us that the Empire has fallen (well, duh!) but remnants of the Imperial forces are trying to rebuild its power. The New Republic has therefore hired Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) to hunt down surviving warlords.
If you thought that would become the central plot after a rather thrilling opening action sequence involving an AT-AT battle amidst snowy mountains, then my dear compadre, you could not be more mistaken.
Once that mission concludes, Din receives a new assignment. He must locate Rotta the Hutt, the son of the late Jabba the Hutt, who has allegedly been kidnapped and a bounty has been placed on him by his own relatives, now ruling Nal Hutta.
Rotta is voiced by Jeremy Allen White of The Bear fame though his voice is masked so heavily that the casting ends up feeling almost pointless. At least Scorsese’s frantic, enthusiastic baritone remains recognisable despite his character appearing in only two scenes.
The remainder of the film follows Din and Grogu attempting to rescue Rotta, before eventually spending a substantial amount of time on Nal Hutta itself for reasons best left spoiler-free.
An Inconsistent Screenplay
Before I get into whether this new Star Wars adventure is worth the ride, let me clarify who exactly this film is for.
Primarily, it is meant for viewers already familiar with the television series and its lead characters. You need not have watched every single season or spin-off, but you do need enough background to understand the relationship between Din and Grogu, and the cultural significance behind Din never removing his helmet.
That also makes life remarkably easy for Pedro Pascal.
There is only one sequence where he actually appears without the helmet, while most of the physical suit work is handled by body doubles Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder. For the majority of the runtime, Pascal is essentially providing filtered but recognisable voice work.
And speaking of easy pay cheques, Sigourney Weaver (playing one of the New Republic leaders) says hello.
You also need prior knowledge of Grogu himself because he remains the primary reason why children *might* gravitate towards this movie.
Brought to life through puppetry and animatronics, Grogu continues to be irresistibly adorable and is responsible for most of the film’s ‘aww’ moments, though he occasionally finds competition from another set of cute merchandising-friendly creatures who could be relatives of Babu Frik from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
You also need some understanding of Grogu’s powers, though the screenplay itself appears uncertain about them. He can move objects, heal wounds and manipulate situations using the Force, but only whenever the plot conveniently requires it.
There are situations in the film where he could easily have solved the challenge with his puzzle, but that would rob the scene of its tension, won’t it?
While we are on the topic of inconsistency, if The Mandalorian and Grogu is supposedly aimed at children, it does not entirely succeed there either.
There are surprisingly dark and unsettling moments throughout, including a sequence where Din is thrown into a watery pit and attacked by a dragon-like serpent, admittedly designed rather impressively, and a jump scare involving a monstrous frog creature.
The visual palette leans heavily into gloomy greys and browns, stripping away some of the old adventurous Star Wars charm in favour of a more brooding aesthetic clearly targeting older franchise fans.
A Big Screen Transition That Is Never Justified
As for adult viewers, The Mandalorian and Grogu offers little that feels genuinely fresh within the franchise.
Beyond the opening stretch, the action sequences remain merely serviceable, though a few set-pieces like the aforementioned pit sequence and a gladiatorial battle, which feels like a humourless version of the Hulk versus Thor arena fight from Thor: Ragnarok, do manage to hold interest.
Credit where due though, Director Jon Favreau, also creator of the original show, ensures the visual effects are consistently polished. While they never reach the cinematic grandeur of Star Wars: The Last Jedi or Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, the creature work is detailed and convincing.
Still, this feels far closer to Favreau’s soulless work on The Jungle Book than a true cinematic continuation of the Star Wars franchise. You constantly wonder why this movie could not simply have been another season of the television series instead.
Disney has already struggled with this awkward criss-crossing between streaming shows and theatrical releases within the Marvel franchise during Phases Four and Five, and now the same issue has spread into Star Wars territory.
Unfortunately, it is not working particularly well here either. Perhaps the transition would have felt justified had the screenplay offered more exciting material.
The first half remains reasonably brisk and watchable, especially from the opening mission through the Rotta rescue arc, though even there the stakes never feel especially urgent. It is during the second half that The Mandalorian and Grogu truly starts losing its footing.
Loaded With Narrative Conveniences
During Pedro Pascal’s TV run, many compared The Mandalorian and The Last of Us since both starred the actor and both revolved around a weary protector escorting a vulnerable child across dangerous terrain.
Here, the film briefly mirrors a stretch from The Last of Us Season 1 where Ellie assumes greater responsibility after Joel is temporarily put out of action.
Grogu similarly takes centrestage for a while, and although his antics remain undeniably cute, the sequences feel too prolonged while leading to an inevitable moment.
The screenplay also relies far too heavily on convenient escape routes, both literal and figurative, to rescue its protagonists from danger.
Need life-saving medicine? Conveniently, a kind-hearted stranger is sitting nearby.
Need vital information? Another random character suddenly appears willing to spill everything despite claiming otherwise moments earlier.
Trapped without an escape? Do not worry, backup will inevitably swoop in at the perfect moment.
It becomes increasingly difficult to worry about Din and Grogu when the script keeps manufacturing miraculous solutions every time.
The Star Wars franchise as a whole has struggled creatively in recent years, and sadly, Grogu’s cuteness alone is not enough to save the day. This is a film designed almost exclusively for viewers already invested in the television series, and even then, it never quite justifies the leap from streaming screens to cinemas.
The Force, it seems, has definitely gone to a slumber.
