The Mandalorian and Grogu feels like Season One all over again. No Bo-Katan gumming up the airtime. No Boba Fett stealing the thunder. Just a man bringing his kid to work and looking good doing it.
Director Jon Favreau and co. were working on The Mandalorian Season 4 before it was pivoted into a big-screen release, and it shows--the whole movie literally feels like four episodes stitched together. The first half of the movie sees Din Djarin (voiced by Pedro Pascal), helping the New Republic track down high-profile Imperial officers hiding after the fall of the Galactic Empire. When Jabba the Hutt's cousins, The Twins, need a favor in exchange for info on where a wanted Imp officer is hiding, Mando (and his apprentice Grogu) will come face-to-face with Jabba's heir apparent Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White), danger, and a whole lot of double-crossing. Just a day in the life of a badass.
The second half of the movie deals with the fallout of said double-crossing, as The Twins sic the bounty hunter Embo after Din Djarin fails to uphold his end of the bargain. When Din gets kidnapped, it's up to Grogu and a quartet of unexpected allies to save his dad and save the day!
As far as Star Wars movies go, The Mandalorian and Grogu sates the appetite for adventures in a galaxy far, far away. The action set pieces offer excitement aplenty, and we didn't need to wait a week between episodes to get them. Favreau dials up the Mando action, which works for me—Din Djarin is one of the franchise's best creations, so to me seeing such a highly competent and incredibly cool-looking character beat up space Nazis is worth the price of admission.
The Mandalorian and Grogu's unfortunately stumbles in the second half, as it faffs around with protracted battle scenes that are just an excuse to show Pedro Pascal's face and make his top-billing worth it. The Twins are ponderously forgettable, with their entire mystique banking on the strength of their minions—which fold under the weight of Mando's sheer aura anyway
But it's not just Mando that shines. Grogu is less eye candy and more of an actual character, no longer the hapless babby but a capable and useful apprentice. I got a kick out of this more animated, more emotive Grogu, and you might find yourself stamping down the cute aggression whenever he's on screen.
I also love how the movie explores Grogu's relationship with Din Djarin, which we really don't get to see in the Disney Plus show. Here, Grogu is front and center in poignant scenes that show Grogu doesn't just see Din as the purveyor of snacks but someone to care for, protect, and possibly even love.
It's a shame then that I could already hear the chronically online bemoan why this had to hit theaters at all instead of relegating it to streaming—and in some ways they're right. The Mandalorian and Grogu looks to have the same budget as the Disney Plus show (which is still significantly large, don't get it twisted) and provides the same thrills as its streaming version, so one wonders why you would spend money to watch it in cinemas.
But really, one wonders why any of this had to hit streaming in the first place. If Disney Plus did not exist, The Mandalorian and Grogu would be judged as a perfectly fine piece of Star Wars media. In today's capricious economy, though, perfectly fine might not be enough.
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