Alright! Today I'm reviewing the sci-fi movie The Mandalorian and Grogu, a continuation of Disney+'s 2019 breakout show The Mandalorian and the first theatrically released Star Wars movie in seven years. The Mandalorian & Grogu sees Mando and his ward Grogu go on a quest to save Rotta the Hutt from a gladiatoral planet and coming into conflict with the larger Hutt organization, leading to an explosive and decisive victory for the New Republic.
I would have absolutely adored this movie as a fourth season of The Mandalorian (especially after the shockingly terrible third season). The introduction of the Hutts as the season's villains, the addition of Clone Wars bait characters like Embo, Rotta, and Zeb in the style of Ahsoka and Bo-Katan, the wonderful Baby Yoda sequence, and the familiar Mandalorian fetch-quest, which, while the most heavily criticized aspect of the show, is a very reliable and often fun format I never particularly minded for an episodic TV show.
This is also where we run into the biggest issue with The Mandalorian & Grogu - it is not the fourth season of a streaming show. It is a theatrically released film that has eight 20 minute segments, causing pacing issues, consitency issues, and a horrendously long runtime at 132 minutes. It is absolutely ridiculous to me that they tried to claim it wasn't a repurposed season when there are multiple points that end on a "cliffhanger," cut to black, and very clearly cue the next episode. It would have worked, from home, on Disney+, over multiple weeks, but in a theater? It feels like two entirely different movies - or one entertaining movie with an hour and a half long epilogue.
On the plus side, if you find a plot thread particularly boring, you can dip out to use the bathroom or get popcorn without missing too much!
But it's not all doom and gloom and "Star Wars sucks now" and "Disney ruined everything." There are a lot of really strong points in the movie: the first twenty minutes and opening title sequence are genuinely superb, I loved the characterization of Rotta the Hutt, the Babu Friks return, and there are a few cool action scenes here and there. The greatest of all the movie's strengths is Ludwig Göransson, the 41 year-old Swedish composer single-handedly keeping the Oscar for Best Original Score alive right now. Even if the movie's momentum is nonexistent, a good musical swell that plays across a dramatic scene transition will always be cool! Puddles, neon planets, jumping to hyperspeed, and dramatic suit-ups are all backed by the new track "Shakari," which plays multiple times throughout and fits into the world of The Mandalorian beautifully.
That's where my list of praise runs out, unfortunately, and the review takes a negative turn. Some of my criticisms will be more nitpicky, coming from the perspective of a Star Wars fan (like English speaking Hutts), some will be cinematic (like the cinematography and visual effects), and some of them will be purely personal grudges ("This is the Way" felt really forced). Then, to top it all off, there is a vague and persistent feeling of nihilistic emptiness that comes from a movie completely devoid of character growth or consequence.
One of the most perplexing aspects of The Mandalorian & Grogu are the visual effects. While none of the CGI looks bad, the movie doesn't look great, and I'm going to attribute that to how violently all of the CGI backgrounds and characters clash with Grogu. The tiny animatronic puppet is still a lovely sight to behold, and when he goes on a side quest with the Anzellans, we reach level of puppet-on-puppet action that we really haven't had since Return of the Jedi. It's a joy to watch him interact with leafs, eat macaroons, and catch fish... But when we see Grogu interact with fully CGI characters like Rotta the Hutt or Zeb, he makes them seem dull, lifeless, and fake in comparison.
All of the sets feel very small and digital, and while there are a handful of cool silhouettes, the cinematography and lighting are largely unimaginative. The lighting especially hurts the CGI characters - when everything is the same shade of brown, tan, and metallic gray, everything blurs together (especially on the gladiator planet, which is like a grayscale Sakaar). There's a scene towards the end of the movie where Mando and Rotta have a conversation next to an X-Wing, and instead of feeling like a real character talking to an actor, Rotta just blends into the background like an idle PS2 animation. This was largely due to the aforementioned coloring - when Obi-Wan meets with Dexter Jettster in Attack of the Clones, there is a strong light source outside, red vinyl benches, and white wife beaters that contrast against the brown alien. Even if that CGI has noticeably aged, Dexter Jettster pops. But when Rotta is near the underbelly of an X-Wing and the lighting is the noncommittal 2020s lighting, everything swirls together in a grey blob of "blah."
There are also an embarrassing amount of references to prior Star Wars media. While reusing aliens and designs can lead to a greater connective tissue to prior films (like the Anzellans from Ardennians), some of the things referenced here are downright embarrassing in presentation - The mouse droids, Embo, Clone Wars Rotta design, Dejarik fight, Dave Filoni's hat, and Nexu trophy are all on another level of fan service. I think that's the striking difference - while the Anzellans and Ardennians are from lesser-known/lesser-liked Star Wars movies (Solo and Rise of Skywalker), the others are from the Prequel/OT golden age and obviously cater to fans who will point at the screen and applaud.
Then there are a few things that are just interesting. They're not bad, they're not good, they're just interesting. These are things like how awkward "This is the Way" felt or how the target demographic is unclear - It's too long and unfunny for kids, and it's not challenging or consequential enough for adults. The movie is filled with acclaimed actors, but Jeremy Allen White gives a "whatever" vocal performance as Rotta the Hutt and Martin Scorsese's cameo is better defined as a jumpscare. Sigourney Weaver was either a) only there to see Baby Yoda or b) very preoccupied with the state of the Avatar franchise, because her three scenes feature some of the most wooden line deliveries in Star Wars.
But perhaps the biggest problem with The Mandalorian & Grogu is how inconsequential it feels. For a character arc that spans multiple seasons and storytelling mediums, Mando has had surprisingly little development since making the decision to take Grogu as his ward. That's not entirely this movie's fault - season three could/should have been a de-radicalization of his isolated upbringing after removing his helmet in season two's finale and encountering the maskless heir to the throne of Mandalore, but instead they doubled down and had him get baptized and destroy the Darksaber on glass Mandalore or whatever that fever dream was.
Regardless, The Mandalorian & Grogu feels/is wholly forgettable because there is no challenge presented to the characters, no obstacle they must overcome, no personal challenge or lesson learned. They end the movie exactly as they started, but with maybe one or two friends more and their own ship. It will be an epic cinematic experience exclusively to Gen-X moms who like Baby Yoda plushies and nobody else.
There's also a whole conversation of what Star Wars should be vs. what Star Wars is to be had, but that is such an opinionated topic that it's impossible to look at objectively. To me, Star Wars is actually a 1980s sci-fi muppet movie that shares more in common with Labyrinth and Dark Crystal than the Prequels, Sequels, or TV shows - hence why I liked the Baby Yoda and Anzellan scenes so much, and why I think The Mandalorian & Grogu is at odds with itself, being both a 1980s puppet movie and also a 2020s streaming movie with Netflix lighting.
Did Disney ruin Star Wars? Well, if you ask the right person, they'll tell you that the Ewoks ruined Star Wars, so, no, they did not. The Mandalorian & Grogu isn't the worst movie in the world, but it's certainly the least interesting movie in the franchise. I think audiences will be reminded of Moana 2, another Disney+ show repurposed and repackaged into an overly segmented movie. To that end, I wonder how history will look at Disney's strategy this decade, a catastrophic blowout following their 2010s renaissance. Streaming movies are being released theatrically, Disney+ originals are dwindling, and they successfully oversaturated and devalued the two most popular film franchises ever. It's been a truly bizarre story to watch unfold.
The Mandalorian, a show that once gave Disney+ it's breakout stars and Star Wars fans the hope they needed to survive The Rise of Skywalker, has somehow returned and made everyone feel wholly indifferent as to Star Wars. It's embarrassing to release this in the same year as Project Hail Mary, and, when talking about the box office numbers, I think the former's star said something very relevant: "Here we are, we’re all back in theaters. It’s not your job to keep them open, it’s our job to make things that make it worth you coming out.”
Overall, I give The Baby Yoda Movie a 4/10. "The Mandalorian & Grogu simultaneously reminds you of why you loved The Mandalorian (7 years ago) and why you don't care about Star Wars now."
The funniest part of the movie was Mando asking for information from Martin Scorsese, only to be redirected to the poster advertising the location of the suspect across the street. Good bounty hunting, Mando!
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