Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu: Movie Review

Cast: Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White, Steve Blum, Martin Scorsese
Director: Jon Favreau

The question of how to expand The Mandalorian's world hangs deeply like Damocles Sword over the cinematic version of the Disney+ series which began back in 2019.

Unfortunately, what emerges from this romp through the Star Wars galaxy is little more than an extended episode moulded into a TV movie of the week. And certainly, neither Din Djarin (Pascal, helmeted throughout save for 13 minutes) nor Grogu go through deep arcs or take their respective characters anywhere particularly new.

However, that's not to say that this adventure isn't widely accessible and offers a sporadically fun return to Mando's world.

In the ashes of the demise of the Empire, the New Republic is trying to chase down Imperial Warlords who are determined to revive the evil ways. It's into this that the Mandalorian and his childlike charge Grogu are thrust, taking on bounty hunter contracts for Weaver's Commander. Determined to track down the Ace of Staves from the New Republic's most wanted pack of cards, at the behest of a pair of Hutt twins, the Mandalorian and Grogu find themselves caught up in a scheme to free Rotta the Hutt (The Bear's Jeremy Allen White), a gladiator son of Jabba the Hutt.

However, what seems to be a simple job soon turns into something more complicated...

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu isn't exactly the creative film perhaps Lucasfilm were looking for when they decided to launch the first cinematic film since 2019's The Rise of Skywalker. 

It's not that it's entirely bad, more that aside from looking incredible in swathes of sequences on the IMAX screen, it doesn't really serve a wider purpose. Long-term fan Favreau has kept most of his enthusiastic edges reined in throughout (apart from a very familiar finale set piece) and delivers some impressive CGI-heavy action sequences, worlds filled with a myriad of creatures and a sense of expansion within the Star Wars universe. Characters from Star Wars: Rebels make an appearance and there's a genuine feeling the film's shifted from the insular Skywalker origins that began to be a creative albatross around its neck.

But a third act shift sees the already overlong movie suffering from a pace change that feels out of place - even if it does provide a chance for Grogu to shine and parallels to Yoda to emerge. 

Three seasons of The Mandalorian provided diminishing creative returns and it's hard to see how this latest will boost an adult audience, though families with small children will likely get some thrill from it. It's telling that Ludwig Göransson's score does a lot of the emotional heavy lifting that's missing from the story - and that Grogu is nearly acted off the screen by acclaimed director Martin Scorsese as a nervy, four-armed street food vendor.

In among the gunslinging and the father-son messages, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu begins to feel depressingly light - there's a feeling that perhaps this story belongs in a time and a galaxy far, far away.