The “Star Wars” franchise became a permanent fixture in popular culture because of the unique manner in which George Lucas merged the high fantasy of Arthurian legend, the epic Westerns of John Ford, the chivalrous mythmaking of Akira Kurosawa, ‘70s anti-establishment politics, and classic science fiction serials into a form-breaking creation of a robust universe. The series has seen so many installments since that 1977 classic that it’s no longer expected to address all of these influences, as new installments are determined by how well they can bridge the gap between familiarity and reinvention.
There isn’t much new within “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,” which functions as a series of loosely connected setpieces that expand upon the story set up in the Disney+ television series. Yet, the clumsiness of its construction doesn’t prevent Jon Favreau’s film from reaching high points with its straightforward series of episodic micro-adventures. This is perhaps the closest “Star Wars” has ever gotten to “Flash Gordon” or “Buck Rogers”; before there’s room to settle, it’s quick to move on to the next chapter.
While it’s a spinoff of the popular streaming series “The Mandalorian,” the film doesn’t require much knowledge of anything that came before in order to be understood (or entertained, for that matter). Set in the “Star Wars” timeline between the events of “Return of the Jedi” and “The Force Awakens,” “The Mandalorian and Grogu” imagines a galaxy in turmoil as the New Republic struggles to exert its control as the remnants of the Galactic Empire run rampant within the Outer Rim.
The bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his companion Grogu have taken up catching Imperial warlords for the New Republic’s Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver), who dispatches them on a mission to capture an enigmatic Imperial target. In order to obtain the identity of their bounty, Djarin and Grogu must strike a deal with the Hutt clan to rescue Rotta (Jeremy Allen White), son of Jabba the Hutt, who has become a gladiator in the criminal underworld.
It’s no secret that “The Mandalorian and Grogu” was originally conceived to be a fourth season of the television series before being reworked for a theatrical release. Given that Lucasfilm has not been able to get a theatrical film off the ground since the release of the disappointing “The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019, spinning off a popular character from a hit series seemed like a logical choice. Thankfully, much of the convolution found in recent “Star Wars” television is absent in “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” which treats itself as a space Western where all the action is on the edge of the universe.
The notion that the world itself is worn and exhausted is part of the magic in the original trilogy, and the decision to start “The Mandalorian and Grogu” in media res helps it cut to the chase of what is interesting rather than biding its time with endless exposition. There’s not much background given on the politics of the New Republic or the banality of evil within the remaining Imperials. This simplicity does cost the film nuance, but it’s preferable to underdeveloped notions of grandeur.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” is smaller in scale than any other “Star Wars” film, as even its most exorbitant action sequences are contained to a few select combatants. There’s intentionality to each fight scene and a clear goal in mind with each showdown, which is a stark contrast to the overuse of CGI battles in the prequel trilogy. The use of the force is only from Grogu, who is barely developing his powers, providing a tactility that requires the film to find tangible solutions to each doomed scenario that Djarin gets himself into.
While the action is as exhilarating as one would expect from Favreau, the film’s pacing does feel grounded in a television aesthetic. Scenes often transition without fluidity, cutaways come at awkward moments, and there are instances of repetition in which lines of dialogue are quite derivative of scenes that directly preceded them. Even though this is a “Star Wars” film that is geared towards a younger audience than a more mature series like “Andor,” “The Mandalorian and Grogu” seem so determined not to overwhelm a casual audience that the filmmaking suffers.
The pacing does become an issue because of the unclear nature of Djarin’s goals. Although it initially seems established as a trackdown thriller, the sidetracks of “The Mandalorian and Grogu” become the main thrust of the narrative based on the locations that occupy the most time. It’s not until the last third that “The Mandalorian and Grogu” settles on a thesis for why it should exist.
At its core, the film is about passing down one’s values and ensuring the sanctity of a code. Although the film ends up becoming more thematically interesting once it’s revealed to be even more condensed in scale than initially expected, there’s a significant portion of the first two acts that feel directionless.
Not everyone who sees the film can be expected to have also watched the show, but “The Mandalorian and Grogu” does step into familiar territory when it comes to the development of Djarin and Grogu’s relationship. It’s slightly more complex than the “lone wolf and cub” adventure that the series began as, but leaning only further into the notion of a paternal, protective relationship does feel weightless when there is so little time dedicated to discussing either of their backstories.
If there’s anything that is really lacking in “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” it’s the dialogue. Given that Djarin is often wordless and Grogu does not speak an intelligible language, the film doesn’t have the snarky, sharp one-liners of every other installment in the series. There are some creative means of showcasing communication through non-visual means, but the banal writing is a bigger issue when none of the side characters really pop with personality.
Fans of “Star Wars Rebels” might be delighted to see that Djarin is joined in his adventures by Zeb Orrelius (Steve Blum), a member of the Rebel Alliance introduced on the animated series, but his role is virtually nonexistent in the film other than to fly ships and offer a little color to the background. Weaver’s role is similarly expositional, and there’s a lack of intriguing villains, but by far the biggest surprise of the film is Rotta.
As a member of the morally ambiguous criminal underbelly of the galaxy who is also trying to defy his heritage, Rotta strikes a balance between Djarin and Grogu that leads to some interesting developments. The CGI used to support the character is shaky in parts, but that may be a result of how much better anything involving actual puppetry is.
The stringing together of escapades grows taxing before Favreau unravels his ambitions for the film in a third act that includes moments of surprising profundity, which are directly correlated to the novel use of technology. Favreau is clearly a filmmaker who is excited by what new visual tools can do to expand the language of cinema, and he takes a risk on how much emotion can be derived from extended moments that involve not a single humanlike presence of a real environment.
It’s enough to justify why “The Mandalorian and Grogu” should be a film and not a three-part television special, and it does invoke the curiosity and earnestness that had made Lucas’ work so groundbreaking. Even though it remixes types of spaceships, creatures, aliens, and locations that have been featured in other “Star Wars” stories, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” doesn’t depend on any cheap nostalgia pulls. There’s no utterance of “may the force be with you” or “I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” no navalgazing obscure references, and (most thankfully) no cringe-inducing inclusions of de-aged legacy characters.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” is quite charming at best, and harmless at worst. While it is disappointing that the film doesn’t offer much beneath the surface or trek into undiscovered territory doesn’t mean that it isn’t a heartfelt buddy adventure that clips along nicely. Perhaps, Lucasfilm will once again dare to make a “Star Wars” project that is as ambitious as “Andor,” as thematically rich as “The Last Jedi,” or as flat-out brilliant as “The Empire Strikes Back.” However, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” exists as purely visceral spectacle and fulfills those aspirations.
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