Jon Favreau’s Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is a return to Star Wars, which is back in theaters for the first time in seven years, and honestly, it feels good to sit in the dark in this world again, even if it seems less special.
Plot-wise, Mando: Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and Grogu (in his cinematic debut), settled into their homestead on Nevarro and doing “independent contract” work for the New Republic, get assigned a mission by Colonel Ward, a former Rebel pilot turned New Republic officer played by a very game Sigourney Weaver, to rescue Rotta the Hutt in exchange for intel on an Imperial warlord. It’s a big, expensive one fit for an IMAX screen. Some people will find that underwhelming. I enjoyed my time in the world as an escape from the stress of a chaotic world.
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Jon Favreau’s direction complements The Mandalorian and Grogu. His love for this world shows in how he shoots it. Leaning into practical effects was a nice change of pace in a movie-making world that leans into special effects. Still, he uses puppets, models, and handmade costumes the way the original trilogy did. That analog texture keeps things grounded in the old-school aesthetic, even as the CGI could easily take over. He makes the small feel bigger here. Some of the best moments let the plot breathe before the climactic battle, and I liked the movie better for taking time to let them be in the forest. It slowed down enough to remember the atmosphere and live in the world, rather than trying to escalate the next battle. That restraint made it feel more like classic Star Wars, to me, along with the old-school, practical effects, than a lot of the bigger movies. That instinct is exactly what Star Wars needed after years of trying to be too many things at once.
Of course, one of my favorite parts is Grogu acting like Grogu, who is very spunky, witty, almost aggressively cute, but used sparingly rather than drowned in it. I expected him to be the star, honestly, as a crutch for the main character. You watch him do ordinary things that feel bigger. There’s a meta moment early on that’s genuinely funny without overselling itself. (Watching him eat popcorn while you are eating popcorn.) Another highlight was Ludwig Göransson’s score, which works so well because it fuses classical orchestration and techno textures into something that feels both quintessential and futuristic, giving The Mandalorian and Grogu a personality in its musical composition that feels uniquely their own within Star Wars.
What surprised me most about Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu was the tone. This thing is dark. Dimly lit, thematically heavy, with a few genuine jump scares. The PG-13 is earned. The monsters in here actually mean it, so parents, fair warning. The cute and the scary sit next to each other the whole way through, and the film is better for not choosing one, almost like the intensity of movies from the 1980s we don’t see in modern blockbuster filmmaking.
Visually, it moves between worlds, and one stretch goes full 1980s Blade Runner, think neon lights, a damp grime, and an uptempo score that feels like a different movie in the best way and a departure from the Western vibes of what I have seen of the series. The chase sequences are fun and plentiful, which is what fans came for. Martin Scorsese shows up. He seemed genuinely glad to be there. So did I.
Is The Mandalorian and Grogu special? No, but I was glad to be in this world and to have a much-needed escape. It plays more like an extended episode than a cinematic event, but it is nice to get this on the largest screen possible. But there’s something to be said for a film that delivers what it promises without reaching for more.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is now playing in theaters nationwide.
