Alright! Today I'm reviewing The Mormondalorian, a low-budget Mormon-centric parody of Disney+'s The Mandalorian, which sees Elder Mando assigned a new companion, Elder Grogu, as they search for the enigmatic Elder Kurtz. Along for the ride are a few familiar faces - Han Solo, Baptist Fett, and Mission President Palpatine - and a few surprise cameos that are sure to please even the most diehard of fans. Written and directed by Michael Tetto, The Mormondalorian is widely available on YouTube.
Let's start with the positives - at just 20 minutes, the fan film is perfectly paced. It rollicks and bounces in a way reminiscent of a high-energy drama club meeting, with silly puns and references that are equally silly. The low budget suits the vibe, with Elder Mando's helmet just being a paper printout of the one seen on TV, rendering the actor blind during every scene (The bloopers are mostly him walking into things). The inconsistency is also hilarious - the Baby Yoda prop switches every other scene, the actor for Mando randomly changes halfway through, and the Star Wars timeline is tossed in a blender.
It's also occasionally cleverly written, with satirical takes on not only The Mandalorian's fetch-quest narrative but also the general lore of Star Wars and literature. From the Heart of Darkness setup (Kurtz has gone missing!) to the deep-cut references for fans, The Mormondalorian had something for everyone. Some of my favorites included Jedi Bob, the fan-given name to an unnamed Jedi who appeared in the LEGO Gunship from 2002, the musical motifs from Solo's trailer and the Studio Ghibli Disney+ short, a parody of the Gladiator speech, and old-timey intertitles used for when the recorded audio was inaudible.
The cast was also fantastic - Ryder Gold, the first and the last actor to portray the Mormondalorian, has a fresh take on the character developed through not seeing the source material and being awkwardly blind for the entire time. The Mormondalorian actor who plays the character during the Jedi Bob scene, Kenny Holmes, matches and expands upon the previous performance, although his line delivery was a bit quiet. Han Solo steps into the fan film with an amount of unearned swagger that is perfect for the character, a sincere genuineness from actor Luke Cypher that was unintentional casting gold.
Baptist Fett is portrayed by the biggest name in the film - esteemed cosplayer Stefen Altau generously agreed to take on the role, his physicality and voice perfectly matching that of Temuera Morrison if his agent signed him up for a kitschy fan film. His costume was also the only realistic-looking one of the bunch due to the actor's prior experience in cosplay, adding to the gravitas of the character and enhancing the entire film. Ammon Shepherd's take on Mission President Palpatine is decidedly warmer and kinder than the one seen in the films, allegedly due to a script rewrite that cut a plot twist where he was the endgame villain. Writer and director Michael Tetto tries for a three-hat trick by portraying the aforementioned Jedi Bob - while his Gladiator riff was well done, the blocking for his subsequent defeat was a bit underwhelming.
Most of the humor in The Mormondalorian lands, although it's through an odd combination of "so silly it's earnest" and "why didn't they let that poor kid see?" While much of the written quips are lost from quiet line deliveries (Caused by an inevitable lack of sound equipment), the physical and unintentional humor picks up the slack, with enough references to help everything go down smoother. Additionally, some of the editing choices are obviously built around unobtained footage and post-production voiceovers, making the most out of a little.
It also fails to deliver on the "Mormon" part of its name, using it only as dressing for what is otherwise a complete Star Wars parody. Aside from a few references - Judas Fett, pictures of the Washington, D.C. temple - the only part of The Mormondalorian that's Mormon are the nametags and the church they obviously shot the film in. It's a sad day when The Book of Mormon musical is a better parody than one produced by actual believers, but perhaps a more full-blown parody would have become too irreverent or preachy. At the very least it's a shame the full "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" wasn't said at least once in the short film.
The Mormondalorian isn't the pinnacle of cinema, and it won't win any awards at major film festivals. It was lucky enough to be screened in front of the entire ward during a Halloween party with all principal cast members in attendance, although the subsequent eleven-month wait for a refined YouTube premiere was likely frustrating for the fans and probably a result of severe procrastination. However, the film so unabashedly earnest in its "me and the boys" energy that the quippy nature and Saturday morning cartoon morals are all welcome diversions in such a dark and dismal time.
With a budget of $0 and shot over the course of four hours, The Mormondalorian was undoubtedly saved by editing and the powerful music of Ludwig Göransson and John Williams. It's a miracle that it works as well as it does, keeping things light and decidedly unserious in an unintentionally hilarious blend of shaky cam and visual competence, flat but committed line readings, and a willingness to play with the mythos and grandiose nature of the source material that's just barely made with enough care to not become a total joke.
Overall, I give The Mormondalorian a 10/10. "This is the way."
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| ...so we're totally getting Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade in a Christmas special, right? Right? |
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