The once lauded Star Wars franchise has been away from big screens for seven years following the whimper with which its anticipated sequel trilogy to the classic films that started it all came and went in theaters. Now after some time regrouping on Disney+ streaming, Lucasfilm is ready to give it another go at multiplexes with a movie version of their first successful streaming show.
In The Mandalorian and Grogu, bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu are still helping the burgeoning New Republic in its quest to hunt down the remaining fugitives Imperial warlords from the fallen evil Galactic Empire scattered throughout the galaxy. Mando is dispatched to track down a mysterious, faceless ex-Imperial using intelligence from the notorious criminal Hutt clan in exchange for finding their missing nephew Rotta (Jeremy Allen White). But when the Mandalorian double crosses the Hutts, he soon finds himself the target of a bounty of their own.
There are many concerns regarding scalability and transference when it comes to switching from TV to film and for a Star Wars movie, the action translating is at the top of the list. Luckily for The Mandalorian and Grogu, in making the transition to the big screen, the action set pieces are where its cinematic scale shines through the most. From the fantastic long opening sequence featuring Din and Grogu collecting a bounty in snowcapped mountains against numerous AT-ATs to a struggle in a swamp pit against various slithery creatures, the action is well choreographed, extensive, and scaled in a manner that just feels grand, particularly on a premium large screen format like IMAX. Mando uses all the weaponry at his disposal from swords, to hand-to-hand combat, to his flamethrower in fights that last for minutes on end. Particularly in the movie’s first half, it’s enough to keep you exhilarated and engaged in what’s happening. If there’s any downside to the action presented, it’s the fact that you wish Grogu and his force powers had more involvement in the fighting past supporting Mando when needed.
Speaking of Grogu, his arc featuring miniature growth apart from a quiet, methodical section of the film where he’s forced to look after an incapacitated Mando, leaves some development to be desired and is one example of the movie’s biggest problem. Mandalorian and Grogu’s television roots are most felt in its episodic narrative structure, with the film’s two-hour runtime feeling like a two-episode arc rather than a typical three act cinematic screenplay. It’s not just the distinctive part one and part two structure of the story, but also the fact that nothing compelling is contained therein in terms of development for Din or Grogu. The audience isn’t shown any growth in their characters or stories. Perhaps an argument can be made for Grogu’s nursing of Mando as a bit of growing up and independence but other than the specious argument, Mandalorian and Grogu feels more like watching the two characters embark upon another random adventure than a new story that’s bigger and serves more purpose than Disney+ streaming episodes.
The issue with this ultimately will lie in how audiences react to the lack of compelling cinema in The Mandalorian and Grogu’s story. As a someone who has been a longtime Star Wars fan but finds The Mandalorian show to be just ok, I enjoyed the movie for what it offers; a chance to see characters I like engaging in the fantastical space battles that the Star Wars franchise became famous for. While the color grading at times is straight from the TV screen with a concrete grey hue that does not at all feature the colorful vibrancy one would expect from a Star Wars movie and the episodic structure is even more noticeable, dragging in the latter half of the film, enough entertainment value can be found to make this one a salvageable watch for fans. For those who are not crazy about the franchise however, Mandalorian and Grogu may absolutely feel like a chore with almost no point.
Without the preexisting investment in this world or characters, you’re simply stuck watching a warrior and his baby travel around space searching for people and fighting. What is the New Republic up to as a new and growing government entity? What are the remnants of the fallen empire up to? What criminal enterprises are the Hutts involved in and how do they work? None of this covered in the film and only barely mentioned in service of explaining why Din is around these entities. There’s nothing to write home about with any of the performances either. And ultimately, this isn’t the ideal cinematic presentation to appeal to anyone who isn’t already a fan of your product. The Mandalorian and Grogu isn’t bad, per se, it just has limited appeal.
Image: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
