After seven years of successful (and not so successful) TV shows, Star Wars has finally returned to the big screen… with a TV show. In what is a monumental misstep, The Mandalorian Season 4… sorry… The Mandalorian and Grogu, has brought the loveable duo to the cinema with an adventure that will drive the crowd mild.
When you look at the last two large gaps in Star Wars’s film releases, they’re followed up by The Phantom Menace and The Force Awakens, respectively. Say what you will about each one, but there’s no denying they’re both large-scale adventures with grand, cinematic appeal that warrants them being released in the cinema. They also successfully re-sparked excitement in the franchise from a film lens, bringing in those who don’t follow all of the animated and live action shows. One of the many issues with this film is that it doesn’t do any of those things; it’s not a large-scale cinematic adventure and it does nothing to re-engage the casual Star Wars fan, instead simply appealing to those who’ve been paying attention to the Disney+ series. It’s a baffling creative decision that makes no sense. That being said, if this movie was exceptional beyond belief, I’d have a different tone… however it’s only a decent film at best.
When I found out they’d be bringing Din Djarin and Grogu to the big screen in a feature film, I got excited at the prospect of these two great characters being part of some larger narrative that needed to be told in a film format. Unfortunately this “film”, if you can call it that, offers nothing grand or meaningful in its narrative or character arcs that warrants it moving from Disney+ to the cinema. There is literally nothing in this movie that differentiates it from the show. In fact, it’s so similar that it plays out like four episodes of the show woven into a feature-length product. It’s even visible within the story where each episode would end, which is insane to think about. I love Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau, but somewhere along the production of season 4 someone thought it would be a good idea to pull out the Rotta the Hutt arc and package it as a movie… but they were wrong.
At it’s core its a decently fun Mandalorian and Grogu adventure, which would be fine as a Disney+ release, but as a flagship cinema release it’s a severe letdown. I like my Star Wars films to take risks and tell stories that have high stakes and compelling characters, but this one has neither of those things. They don’t need to be thought provoking, but at least bring something new and interesting to the table… thiis is neither new nor interesting. Honestly, even if this was released within a season of The Mandalorian, I’d say it would be just decent, not spectacular.
Lets speak on the narrative itself; the story is fun and cute and full of your standard Mandalorian action, but it offers literally no character depth or stakes or overall intrigue. It’s not a terrible story by any means, but it’s just very much what you’d expect to see from a small-scale series as opposed to a film. It’s very episodic in that our characters are sent on a wild goose chase, embarking on a series of video game-like missions that eventually tie together in a way that’s decently interesting at best. It sounds very harsh, but it’s less that the story is bad and more that it’s just not film-compatible. There’s an attempt at an emotional arc surrounding Rotta the Hutt and it’s somewhat successful in that, but half way through the film it just kind of… goes away. Both Din Djarin and Grogu retread familiar beats from the series and don’t really have a compelling arc, which leaves you wanting more.
Tonally it’s fun and lively with cute character interactions, blaster fights and brief aerial combat, so absolutely nothing to complain about in those respects. There are some darker, more thrilling sequences, but I’d have liked the movie to have more of those to set itself apart from the series… even slightly. The action is fun and cool, despite not really having any standout moments, and there’s a lot of it to go around with some great-looking creatures getting the spotlight. Quite possibly the biggest praise I can give the film is Ludwig Göransson’s very unique score, which is unlike anything we’ve ever heard in Star Wars. It’s electronic and synth heavy, blending with the traditional The Mandalorian theme in a way that’s fun and inventive. In saying that, the score is more or less the only new element in here.
Let’s touch on performances really quickly… there’s nothing even remotely noteworthy in here. First of all, the dialogue is quite average; there’s not a lot of it and it’s very barebones… even crossing into terrible territory when considering the opening action sequence. Pedro Pascal is technically in the movie despite being largely a voice acting role, but none of his charm, wit or personality comes through the role. That’s not a fault of his own; the character is notoriously very blunt and predominantly silent, but it just means there’s hardly any emotional connection to be made. It’s not impossible, because there’s emotionally charged moments in the series, it’s just that this film offers no room for those moments. Sigourney Weaver makes a few appearances, but honestly it’s such an inconsequential supporting role that she’s not able to make any impact.
In the end, The Mandalorian and Grogu is by no means bad, but I just can’t in good faith call it a good movie. They’ve taken a few episodes of a TV series, stitched them together until they have a feature-length adventure and just called it a film. If this was released as part of a wider narrative within a TV series on Disney+ I’d have very few complaints. But as what should be a grand, cinematic adventure, it pales in comparison to almost every other Star Wars film. That’s a bold statement considering Attack of the Clones exists, but while that movie is boring, it’s a lot more cinematic than what we got here. Overall I think it’s borderline enjoyable, but severely a disappointing return to the big screen for Star Wars.
5.7/10
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