Star Wars is officially back on the big screen.
Returning after a nearly seven-year absence, “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” is the franchise’s first film since 2019. The plot follows the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu, better known as Baby Yoda, on a bounty hunting adventure.
Seeing characters from previous installments return to the universe definitely inflated my overall rating of the film. However, there were certainly still a few standout issues.
Set in the years following the defeat of the Galactic Empire, the Mandalorian and Grogu now work for the New Republic, helping it hunt down the remaining imperial outlaws throughout the galaxy. On this particular mission, the pair is sent to rescue the heir to the Hutt throne, Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), who was captured by the leader of a gladiator style pit fighting ring. In exchange for his return, the Hutts promise to disclose the location of a high-ranking imperial official.
Along the way, the Mandalorian and Grogu fight kaiju-esque aliens, fend off opposing bounty hunters and befriend Rotta, who turns out to have willingly abdicated the throne. Supplementing this adventure is the father-son dynamic between the Mandalorian and Grogu, which continues the show’s development of their relationship.
Unfortunately, this is my main gripe with the film. The movie feels like an episode of the show, just double the length. The Baby Yoda gimmicks are years old at this point, and most of the film’s humor is built upon jokes used in the show three seasons ago. The plot is thin, and side characters are written like they aren’t meant to be seen again, lacking any meaningful depth.
Another key point is the prominent yet lackluster voice acting. With a lot of the characters being aliens or wearing helmets, a significant portion of the acting is done through voice, and not much of it is great. White sounds like he sent in his lines through voice memos from the couch, and Pedro Pascal’s monotone — albeit character-accurate — voice is difficult to connect with.
There is a fair share of action, mainly consisting of the Mandalorian plowing through stormtroopers and battle droids, but it runs into the same issue as before — we’ve seen all this already, and in the same fashion. Did I think it was cool? Absolutely. Is it enough to sustain a full length movie? Probably not.
When the movie does slow down, it feels more like a drag than anything else. There is a fifteen-minute sequence before the third act when Grogu nurses an injured Mandalorian back to health. While I did appreciate seeing the protagonist feel the consequence of battle, it felt like a major lull in a movie already struggling with pacing.
Academy Award-winning composer Ludwig Göransson’s score is the highlight of the movie. Besides building on the iconic theme introduced in the show, the new synth-based theme is unique and feels like one of the only experimental components in the film.
With all this being said, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” is a fun time. With cool cameos from a few lesser-known characters and callbacks to the show, the movie is enjoyable enough with its slew of action sequences and on-par visuals. Although the film plays it safe for the most part, following the same formula as its TV show counterpart, I found myself smiling simply due to it being the universe I know and love.
Objectively, it doesn’t reach the spectacle once associated with the Star Wars brand, but I have to admit that I’m just happy to see Star Wars back in theaters. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” is a solid return to the franchise.
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