The Mandalorian and Grogu ~ Review

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The Mandalorian and Grogu is a Star Wars film calibrated in a lab for maximum enjoyment. Designed to be a rollicking romp through the Star Wars universe. It’s got everything you remember; Stormtroopers, laser guns that go “pew pew,” vehicles that zoom through the sky, and all sorts of lovingly crafted gross and cute creatures. Fun is in short supply these days, and The Mandalorian and Grogu wants nothing more than for you to enjoy yourself.
 
Sometime between the end of Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens (episodes 6 and 7), Din Djarin – the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and his adopted son Grogu (aka Baby Yoda) are currently employed by Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver) to track down leftover generals from the Evil Galactic Empire. One such mission gets the duo embroiled with the Hutts and Jabba the Hutt’s son, Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), who wants nothing to do with them, and now they have to figure out how to save themselves.
 
So basically, the film is a fine time at the movies. Jon Favreau’s direction is slick and brimming with fun action set pieces. He even goes so far as to make a stretch of film completely free of dialogue with Grogu and some puppet pals running around. He even uses what looks like old school stop motion as well. Pedro Pascal has been playing Mando for so long that he could do it in his sleep, but he brings his usual gruff gravitas to the role. Grogu is silly and cute. And Jeremy Allen White is surprisingly effective as a super-muscled Hutt who wants to change his life. The script by Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor is mostly a set-piece delivery machine, but it does have some genuine emotional moments and keeps lore stuff in the background so it doesn’t overwhelm the story.
 
At times, the film feels like the filmmakers are just having a blast clacking their Star Wars toys together. And that fun is mostly contagious, the problems lie in the film’s pacing. The Mandalorian and Grogu feels like four episodes of the TV series edited together, and as such, it does not flow as well as a movie, which causes the pace to drag.
 
Now it feels like I’m damning the film with faint praise…and I suppose I am. Star Wars has been around for nearly five decades now, and if you’ve been following that galaxy far, far away, you’ve basically seen it all. We’ve seen the laser guns go pew pew, the vehicles go swoosh, and the droids and Stormtroopers as villains. There’s not a lot new for me here. It all just feels like a movie I’ve seen many times over. However, I think the problem is me. It’s not the film. This is a Star Wars film for the next generation, whose experience with the universe is not as extensive or as fervent. For people who did not spend most of 1996 poring over the Star Wars Complete Guide to Characters. This is for kids whose first Star Wars movie will likely be this one.
 
As I said before, fun is in short supply these days, and when a movie comes along that only wants you to have a good time, well, I’m not going to turn that down.
 
Three out of Four Stars