The Mandalorian and Grogu review: this should have been a season of TV

When The Mandalorian first debuted on Disney Plus, it was a refreshing reminder of how fascinating Star Wars stories can be when they aren’t focused on the same handful of well-established characters. Especially in its first season, the series felt like a sign that Disney was shifting gears after disappointing fans with its last trilogy of big budget features. But as The Mandalorian went on, it became overstuffed with supporting characters and haphazardly-introduced lore that did little to make the show feel like must-see TV.

The relative weakness of The Mandalorian’s most recent season is part of what made it so surprising when Lucasfilm announced plans to bring the beskar-clad warrior and his infant ward to the big screen. It wasn’t clear whether The Mandalorian and Grogu was meant to be a straightforward extension of the series or launchpad designed to elevate its titular characters to new levels of prominence within the franchise. And while there was little question about whether the film would make money at the box office, it seemed very possible that audiences might come away disappointed and unsure about Star Wars’ future.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is neither a knockout or a total disappointment. The movie is filled with excellent puppetry and it cleverly inverts the show’s established Lone Wolf and Cub character dynamics. But between its by-the-numbers story and lackluster action sequences, The Mandalorian and Grogu feels like a phoned in film that would have been better off as a new season of The Mandalorian instead of a standalone project.

Set shortly after the events of The Mandalorian’s third season, The Mandalorian and Grogu follows its titular duo as they settle into a new life of bounty hunting for the New Republic. Though the Galactic Empire has fallen, the galaxy is still crawling with Imperial outlaws who yearn for a return to power. They’re a constant threat to the fragile peace that the New Republic’s supporters have worked so hard to maintain. But as dangerous as these shadowy figures are, few of them are able to put up a fight whenever Din Djarin / The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu appear with their guns and training darts at the ready.

Because Mando and Grogu are so effective at dealing with Imperial war criminals, neither is all that concerned about their safety when New Republic commander Ward (Sigourney Weaver) asks them to look into the disappearance of Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White). Ward is convinced that finding Rotta — Jabba the Hutt’s son — will convince his crime lord cousins to give up information about one of the New Republic’s most-wanted targets. And while the Mandalorian isn’t exactly jazzed about having to deal with the Hutts, Ward’s promise of a hefty bounty is more than enough to convince him to take the assignment.

Though The Mandalorian and Grogu references a handful of plot points from the Disney Plus series, it’s clear that writer / director Jon Favreau and his co-writers Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor crafted the film to be a self-contained story that you can follow without having seen any of the show. It’s a welcome change of pace for Star Wars given how lore-dense most of the franchise’s other recent films and streaming series have been. But The Mandalorian and Grogu also leans into a kind of narrative simplicity that keeps it from really capturing one’s imagination.

The way that characters frequently reiterate key details of The Mandalorian and Grogu’s story, like the fact that Rotta is Jabba’s son, makes it feel like Favreau and company don’t fully trust the audience to keep up with everything that’s happening on screen. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that this is a movie that’s pointedly aimed at young theatergoers who just want to see the baby Yoda bopping around while his taciturn dad wrecks ne’er-do-wells. But it also feels like a reflection of the way that streamers have seemingly become fixated on putting out projects designed for people who are only half paying attention.

That aspect of the movie wouldn’t be so annoying if things weren’t so straightforward, or if the Mandalorian was thrust into a few more imaginative battles. But as the film progresses, its stakes and sense of urgency never really build in a way that keeps you fully invested. Especially in its first half, The Mandalorian and Grogu plays like a serviceable, but uncompelling collection of The Mandalorian episodes that would actually benefit from a little more action and punchy dialogue from returning faces like Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum) and Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee). And it isn’t until Mando and his infant charge are split up around the halfway mark that the film locks in on a properly engaging dramatic energy.

While Mando’s narrative arc here is nothing to write home about, the movie does a surprisingly good job of making Grogu feel like a tiny person with autonomy and complicated feelings. This movie is a testament to how delightful Star Wars’ animatronic / puppet characters can be when they’re presented as the story’s centerpiece. But as delightful as the baby is, its cuteness is nowhere near enough to keep The Mandalorian and Grogu from feeling undercooked.

With a little more depth and intrigue, The Mandalorian and Grogu probably could have made for a solid season of television. But after years of struggling to get Star Wars films in theaters, Disney seems to be using this as an experiment in figuring out what kinds of movies viewers actually want to see. Instead, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a reminder of how much stronger these side stories can be when given a little more room to breathe.

The Mandalorian and Grogu also stars Martin Scorsese and Matthew Willig. The movie hits theaters on May 22nd.