After seven long years, Star Wars is finally back on the big screen with a new movie, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Taking place between the events of Return of Jedi (1983), the sixth movie chronologically, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), the seventh movie chronologically, The Mandalorian and Grogu follows the events of the hit Star Wars TV show The Mandalorian.
After defeating the evil warlord Moff Gideon and reclaiming his homeworld of Mandalore in season 3 of The Mandalorian, the once bounty hunter Din Djarin, aka the Mandalorian, and his cute Yoda-resembling companion Grogu, are now working for the new good guy faction, the New Republic. The new film’s action centers on their work hunting war criminals who used to work for the Empire, the bad guy faction of the original trilogy.
After completing a mission with help of Zeb Orelious, a character who fans of the TV show Star Wars Rebels will surely recognize, Mando receives a refurbished model of his signature ship, The Razor Crest. Next, he is tasked by the New Republic leader Colonel Ward to find Rotta the Hutt, the son of the deceased crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and rescue him from imprisonment.
Once he does, Mando will be able to trade him with the current leaders of the Hutt crime family, known as the Twins, for information on another Imperial War Criminal.
When Mando finds Rotta (Jeremy Allen White), he realizes Rotta isn’t imprisoned but rather acting as a gladiator for someone named Lord Janu Coin (Jonny Coyne), revealed to be the Imperial Warlord Mando was seeking.
After fighting their way out, Mando, Grogu, and Rotta find Janu on their own and capture him for fear that if they went back to the Twins, they would kill Rotta since he is the last surviving heir to Jabba. This leads to the Twins capturing both Mando and Rotta, leaving Rotta in torture and Mando to die.
However, with the help of Grogu and a group of small aliens called Anzellans, Mando and Rotta are able to escape the Hutts and call in the New Republic to wipe out the Hutts for good.
Notable names attached to this project include Jon Favreau as co-writer and director, Pedro Pascal as the Mandalorian, Sigourney Weaver as Ward, and Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hut. Martin Scorsese and Dave Filoni make brief cameos in the movie as well.
I would rate the movie itself 5/10 overall. While there are definitely a lot of fun parts in this movie, such as the opening scene, the Gladiator scene, and Grogu’s enduring cuteness, and beautifully shot sequences and amazing visuals, the movie’s plot is extremely lacking.
Rather than a completed movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu feels more like three subpar episodes of the Mandalorian TV show. Additionally, all the characters felt generic and underdeveloped.
For example, Rotta the Hutt’s character suffers from extremely cliché dialogue and a basic backstory. As a result, it was very difficult to care about him as a character throughout the movie.
Regarding the main characters, Mandalorian and Grogu, a key issue with them was that nothing changed between them during the film. There wasn’t much character growth for either, and the movie ended exactly where it started, resulting in it feeling empty and pointless.
While this movie didn’t single-handedly save Star Wars as a movie franchise like many people hoped it would, it wasn’t a critical blow to the franchise either.
With a $163 million opening weekend, The Mandalorian and Grogu is on track to double its $160 million budget.
While it most likely won’t be a billion-dollar movie like the Star Wars movies of years past, it should mark a slow return to theatres for the franchise. If future projects like next year’s Star Wars: Starfighter do well, viewers and fans can anticipate a significant increase in Star Wars media in the future.
