A One Mann’s Movies review of “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu”. (2026, 2.5*, 12A).
With “The Mandalorian and Grogu” we are back again far, far away in the “Star Wars” universe, longer, longer ago than Episodes 7, 8 and 9 but not as longer, longer ago than Episode 6, “The Return of the Jedi”. (We are actually set 5 years after that Ewok celebration.)
I grew up through the classic years of Star Wars. I saw the original film in the ‘Classic’ cinema, Hendon Way in North London in early 1978 at the age of 16-ish… and after weeks and weeks of massive hype, my honest reaction was…. “Oh!”. I was expecting something more. But I did then go on to appreciate the film and then love Empire and Return of the Jedi. Like most people, I was largely dismayed by the prequels. But then – while many Star Wars fans didn’t – I quite enjoyed Episodes 7 to 9.
Since then – with the exception of 2016’s “Rogue One“, which had real heart and emotion in it – Disney have, metaphorically, been progressively diluting their 50 year old Glenfiddich with Bell’s. So, I must admit that in previous months, every time the trailer for Mandalorian and Grogu came on, I groaned a bit.
This is of course a movie spin off of the TV series “The Mandalorian”, of which there have been three series but I only lasted through Series 1. For those like me, who are not up-to-date with Mandolorian-lore and want a catch-up, there are numerous “catch-up” videos on Youtube, such as this one:
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
The Mandalorian Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his sidekick Grogu (aka “Baby Yoda”) are doing contract work for the New Republic under the direction of Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver). Their latest mission is to track down and kill an Empire big-wig called Commander Coin. This leads them to Tatooine where they need to do a deal with the grotesque warlord twins who were the brother and sister of Jabba the Hutt.
Certification:
UK: 12A; US: PG-13. (From the BBFC website: “Moderate violence, threat, injury detail”.)
Talent:
Starring: Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Martin Scorsese, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Blum, Matthew Willig, Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Hemky Madera, Shirley Henderson, Hemky Madera.
Directed by: Jon Favreau.
Written by: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni & Noah Kloor. (Based on characters created by George Lucas.)
Running Time: 2h 12m.
Review:
Positives:
- The opening pre-title sequence is action-packed and fun, with the Mandalorian and Grogu carrying out a hit on an imperial warlord, Commander Barro (Hemky Madera), on a snow-covered planet. This includes that effects money-shot from the trailer with the Imperial Walkers – always good value. For me, this was the best part of the film.
- There are a few moments of comedy that sat well in my packed Friday-night screening: an incident with a helmet and a log generated the most laughs. There were a number of smiles throughout.
- Some easter eggs for the fans of the original trilogy are slipped in here and there: often just simple graphics and sounds that raised a nod and a smile.
- It was fun to see Sigourney Weaver flying an X-wing, although I suspect she had to say several Hail Mary’s to the Gods of cinema after some of those cheesy lines she had to come out with.
Negatives:
- Sigh. Perhaps I’m just getting too old for this shit? But the film never really excited me. It is just a rather tired stitching together of different action sequences without a hugely engaging plot or any real character arcs. It’s A to B, then B to C, then escape from C and back to B again. Sure, some of the individual action scenes were impressive, with good special effects. But where was the emotion? Why didn’t I FEEL anything, as I did for Jyn Erso in the finale of “Rogue One“? I was at least expecting some sort of emotional sacrifice from Rotta (voiced by Jeremy Allen White). But, although it came close, the writers chickened out and gave us a bland Hollywood ending. Disappointing.
- I can see fans in some quarters exploding in a blaze of fury at turning the son of the vicious gangster Jabba the Hutt into some “woke, flower-wearing pussy”! He reminded me of Terry Jones’s Prince Herbert in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (“I just want to sing, sing, sing…”)!
- Although I liked some of the things composer Ludwig Göransson did with the score, for much of the time I found his music incredibly intrusive and really annoying.
Note:
A fun addition to the cast list is Anthony Daniels who provides the voice of a “Droid Flight Dispatcher”.
In another fun bit of casting, the squeaky Shirley Henderson (Joe Pasquale clearly missed out!) voices the Anzellans: the tiny, excitable mini-mechanics that include Babu Frik, introduced in “The Rise of Skywalker“.
Monkeys?
There are no “monkeys” at the end of the credits. You’re welcome.
Summary Thoughts:
It’s typical Star Wars action and I can see newbie 10+ year-old kids going to see this and having a great time. And put the reels in a DeLorean and whisk me back to 1976 and I would probably create a meltdown of cinematic rapture with this offering. But we are not in 1976 and context is everything. For me, it wasn’t a good enough story to impress me and it lacked any sort of risk or emotion. Even the row of 20’s something lads sat in front of me seemed flat and unimpressed when the film ended. So, perhaps its not an age thing after all and this really is just not a very good film?
If you did really enjoy it, please comment and let me know why!
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHWlvwu8t1w.
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