The Mandalorian and Grogu movie takes place in the Star Wars universe. It is a continuation of the Disney + series, The Mandalorian. It stars Pedro Pascal and Brendan Wayne (Wayne does the physical part and Pascal mainly does the voice.) in the title role as Mandalorian bounty hunter, Din Djarin. The movie also stars Sigourney Weaver of the Aliens franchise fame playing Colonel Ward, Din’s an officer in the New Republic who assigns the Mandalorian his missions. Star Wars Rebels fans may recognize the name Steve Blum who does the voice of Zeb Orrelios in the movie.
Din is now working as a bounty hunter for the New Republic a few years after the fall of the evil Galactic Empire. Remnants of the Empire are still out there and trying to reestablish their control over the galaxy. He is accompanied by his adopted son, Grogu, a toddler of the same species as the famed Jedi Grandmaster, Yoda. Like Yoda, he as special Force powers that allow him to move object with his mind, calm angry beasts, and has super reflexes. Din is teaching Grogu in the Mandalorian warrior ways while at the same time, trying to keep him out of trouble. The New Republic is looking for allies and in that effort, agree to send Din to retrieve the last surviving son of the notorious gangster, Jabba the Hutt. This of course is risky business and the Mandalorian and Grogu both find themselves in dangerous situations, situations that will require all their skill, and that of some friends, to get out of.
The most common criticism about the movie is that it seems more like like several episodes of the TV series, than a movie. I agree and I’m perfectly fine with that. The movie does have an episodic feel, and does not quite follow the usual three-act motif that most movies do. That being said, the action is good and the the movie maintains a certain pace throughout. All of the action follows the same plot, there are no side adventures that lose their connection to the main story as with parts of the sequel trilogy.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is definitely more connected to the Disney+ shows than to previous movies. Mainly it draws from Ahsoka, The Clone Wars, and Star Wars Rebels. That’s not too bad. It’s not space opera, it is like the TV show, a space western drawn from the TV serials of the 1950s and 60s. In that sense, it’s more like the Indiana Jones franchise that the Star Wars franchise. Some Star Wars fans might be disappointed to not see more connection to the Star Wars Universe of the big screen, but other fans will like it because of it’s connection to shows on the little screen. This is NOT a little screen movie though! It needs to be seen in the theater. The sets and VFX are scaled up for the a big screen. While it won’t blow you away like Episodes IV through VI, it won’t disappoint you like episodes VII-IX (especially not like The Last Jedi). It’s a good family-friendly story, or series chapters as the case may be. It’s got action, fun, and some cool characters. It’s entertaining in the way the Mandalorian series is entertaining, and that’s not too bad!
I rate this movie four out of five stars.
Is the Mandalorian and Grogu family friendly? Yes, although there is a lot of violence, but no gore. There are elements of organized crime depicted. Though it has some elements of horror, sci-fi and even Asian martial arts cinema, it mainly stays in the action/adventure genre. There’s virtually no offensive language in it. It has a strong family message. It explores such themes as fatherhood, compassion, self-sacrifice, and friendship. The plot is pretty straight forward with no hidden political or social agendas.
Liberty Relearned 