Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
Starring Pedo Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Blum
Directed by Jon Favreau 

I've never been a huge "Star Wars" fan, having seen Episodes I-III before I saw the original trilogy. Then I saw the three Disney-led trilogy along with "Rogue One" and "Solo," and then I never saw any of the shows on Disney+ because it seemed like an extremely tedious task: "The Mandalorian," "The Book of Boba Fett," "Obi-Wan Kenobi," "Andor," "Ahsoka," "The Acolyte" and "Skeleton Crew" (not to mention the even more numerous animated shows) weighed down the franchise and made something that was once a spectacle into a shrug and "well, it's a Friday." That's the nature going into "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu," which is essentially a new season of "The Mandalorian" set to the big screen and with the same amount of fanfare: "oh, that movie came out?"

One year after the Empire's defeat, Mando/Din Djarin/The Mandalorian (Pedo Pascal) works with the New Republic as a bounty hunter for Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver) as he tends to his young ward, the lovable Grogu.

His next assignment is to track down a missing Empire warlord and the only ones with information to his whereabouts are the Hutt Twins, who's nephew (and son of Jabba) Rotta (Jeremy Allen White) has been kidnapped. The Mandalorian frees Rotta and brings him home, and he gets the information he's looking for. However, after encountering Rotta, he learns that the Hutts want him dead because he's the heir to Jabba's criminal syndicate, and the Mandalorian instead takes him to safety, which angers the Hutts and chase after the Mandalorian and Grogu.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" isn't a bad movie, but it's nothing special either. For "Star Wars" third entry to the big screen that doesn't involve a Skywalker, it falls in the middle (between the abysmal "Solo: A Star Wars Story" and the exemplary "Rogue One: A Star Wars Tale"). It's perfectly servicable, has enough lovable Grogu that will keep the kids mildly entertained, and has some decent action set pieces, most notably the opening sequence. Other than that, it meddles around the last half and outstays its welcome by about twenty minutes, and feels like a side quest video game rather than any high-stakes adventure. 

Pedo Pascal has been oversaturated for awhile now, and mostly it's due to him taking the role of the Mandalorian back in 2019. After three seasons of the show, it seems that he's lost any desire to play the part anymore, as he gives as much emotional resonance as someone ordering a Whopper. It might be his character, since I've never seen the show, but it comes across as someone who doesn't want to be there anymore. His character fluctuates between being a total badass with enough headshots to make John Wick jealous and someone who sees a sign on the floor saying "do not touch or you'll fall" and touching it repeatedly. It's probably to make him more relatable and to give him more urgency, but his talents seem to fluctuate depending on what the script demands.

Grogu is adorable and fun, the "Star Wars" equivalent of a Minion, but way more powerful. At least, he is sometimes, again, when the script calls for it. When it calls for him to have the brain capacity of a two-year-old, he throws out any sense of power he's shown before and comes across as a helpless baby. Then, when the script needs to, he uses the Force as well as his ancestor Yoda. Much with the Mandalorian, this is probably due to him being totally OP otherwise, and we need to feel some sort of urgency for the character.

This isn't saying the film is bad. Far from it, really. The action is great, the effects (mostly) are solid, and the movie moves at a decent pace. Ultimately, it's just sterile, safe, mediocre. Nothing what it used to be before the Mouse got his white-gloved paws on it. Now it's about bringing in families and children clutching Grogu plushies rather than telling a compelling story, and while it opens the world to new generations, the world itself is sterile and comfortable; not something you'll remember like the original series.

The Score: B+