‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Review: Star Wars Is Back on the Big Screen

After six and a half long years, Star Wars is back. In theaters, that is. And what more appropriate way to usher in the galaxy far, far away’s return to cinemas than with the duo that heralded the franchise’s foray into live action television all the way back in 2019? The Mandalorian and Grogu, directed by series creator Jon Favreau, from a script by Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor, brings Star Wars back to the big screen in an action-packed romp that sends the titular Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and his adoptive son Grogu on a bounty hunting quest on behalf of the New Republic. Hijinks, as you might imagine, ensue.

Along for the ride are Sigourney Weaver as Colonel Ward, Din Djarin’s New Republic contact, Steve Blum reprising his role as Star Wars: Rebels character Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios, and Jeremy Allen White, out of the kitchen and into the fighting arena as Jabba the Hutt’s son Rotta (it works, trust me). In a moment of recognition for the incredible doubling work they do in helping Pascal bring Din to life, the film also credits the body and stunt doubles, Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, as part of the main cast. 

‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Has Big Cinematic Shoes to Fill

The challenge in the first Star Wars cinematic release since the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga, with 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker, was always going to be that the film had big shoes to fill. The stakes of a Star Wars movie tend to feel larger than those of a show, generally speaking. Even shows like Andor and The Acolyte, which do tie into these massive galaxy-wide stakes, do so through a more character-focused lens. That’s not to say there aren’t exceptions, of course. The Last Jedi (my personal favourite Star Wars movie) blends personal struggles into the galaxy-wide conflict. On the flip side of things, I’d argue Solo: A Star Wars Story doesn’t really have the same massive stakes as the other cinematic releases, and only feels like it does because the main character is Han Solo. 

But of all the Star Wars movies, I think Solo is the best one to compare The Mandalorian and Grogu to. Other than a heist-like adventure that takes them across the galaxy and among elements of the criminal underworld, the two don’t have that much in common. But that is the sort of one-off adventure we get in The Mandalorian and Grogu. This is not a lore-heavy piece of The Mandalorian television series. This is certainly not a finale of sorts. This is just another adventure starring Din Djarin and Grogu, and we’re going to have fun with it along the way.

It’s tempting to say the movie feels like an episode of the series, but that phrasing carries potentially problematic connotations. Too often in the streaming landscape, we’ll see finale movies that ought to have been a new season of TV, or more commonly a 6-to-8 episode season described as a “six-to-eight-part movie”, which of course is just code for “this drags in weird places”. The Mandalorian and Grogu is not that. The script adheres to a filmic three-act structure so precisely that a Cinema Studies 101 professor could use the movie as a teaching resource. But in terms of energy, it feels most like the one-off adventures of Season 1, but with a much deeper connection between the two title characters, and more action. A lot more action. Maybe, even, a bit too much action for my personal taste, visually impressive though it may be.

A lot of the visual interest in the film, for me anyway, comes from the fact that the production shifted away from an overreliance on the Volume and instead built large-scale practical sets to film in. It’s immediately clear that something is different here, with the environments feeling more tangible and the lighting looking much more visually striking than in the series. This, I can chalk up to the pivot to IMAX, at least in part. What might look serviceable on my living room TV just won’t read the same on an IMAX screen. Things need to be tangible and have a sense of depth, texture, and shadow, especially when the goal is to display them on a screen that’s nearly 80 feet high. Then, of course, there is the score from Oscar-winning series composer Ludwig Görranson, whose work is consistently excellent and remains excellent here.

Grogu Gets His Time to Shine in ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’

At face value, my assumption going into the movie was that it was called The Mandalorian and Grogu because, well, both of them were going to be there. Otherwise, it was going to proceed exactly like a normal episode of The Mandalorian, with little baby Grogu along for the ride and popping up just often enough to make me coo at the screen to the possible annoyance of the people sitting beside me.

Instead, to my very great surprise, Grogu is given ample time to shine on his own, showing just how far he’s come from the helpless baby in the space bassinet. Though he and Din are ostensibly on the same mission throughout the movie, occasional separations mean we have to actually see Grogu fending for himself, and we see just how far he’s come, and what he’s capable of when his father isn’t looming overhead, ready to drop everything and care for him.

Speaking of fathers, another father-son duo comes into play in the movie in the form of Rotta the Hutt and his long-dead father Jabba. While this isn’t a case of somehow Jabba the Hutt returned (can you imagine), his specter is certainly felt as Rotta does his level best to show Din, and the rest of the galaxy by extension, how unlike his father he is. He’s an interesting counterpoint to Grogu, especially, and provides some much-needed heart to the story. Not to say that the affection between Din and Grogu isn’t conveyed, but it helps to have someone speak these things out loud when Din hides his face for most of the movie, and Grogu is a baby who communicates in coos.

‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Is a Rewarding on the Rewatch

As much as anyone might tell themselves they’re going into a Star Wars movie with no expectations, that is never the case. The expectations might be realistic, like hoping for a cameo from a favourite character, or they might be along the lines of “the final third of the movie will see Grogu and baby Ben Solo joining forces to conquer galactic day care”, but they’re all equally expectations nonetheless.

Though I’ve only seen the movie once so far, I can admit now that despite claiming to have no expectations, I did have some. I’d classify them as more along the reasonable lines — though I think that daycare idea sounds hysterical — which means I spent the bulk of the film anticipating them, even as it became clear that that wasn’t what the story was building to. It’s my hope, then, that on a rewatch with my family, I’ll be able to take it in more for what it is, rather than what I was subconsciously wondering if it would be. 

At the end of the day, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a very straightforward tale of a father and son on an adventure. In his opening remarks at the world premiere in Hollywood — which I was fortunate enough to attend on behalf of The Geeky Waffle — Favreau shared his memories of watching the original Star Wars with his father, and his excitement at being able to share this movie with him now. Because it is on multiple levels such a father-son story for him (and arguably for many people since one of the franchises most famous quotes is “I am your father”), of course his foray into big screen Star Wars would be a father-son story as well. 

But as mentioned above, The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn’t read like a series finale. It reads instead like Favreau has more story yet to tell. In an interview with Collider, Favreau mentioned that he had a concept for a Season 4 before plans shifted towards making a movie instead, so time will tell if we’ll get to see more of these two before Filoni’s big “Mandoverse” finale movie hopefully one day hits theaters.

The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters on Friday, May 22nd. For more Star Wars and The Mandalorian and Grogu content, subscribe to the Agents of Fandom YouTube channel! Make sure to follow the Agents of Fandom socials for the latest entertainment news and reviews.