Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Review

Añadido: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]So Star Wars, the Mandalorian and Grou is a much uh different type of Star Wars. If you look at the Star Wars TV projects we've had in the past few years, uh since um since Disney Plus started, there's been like very different types of Star Wars media. Like we've had um we've had impressive stuff uh like Andor and some less impressive stuff like um like like the Boba Fett show and a whole bunch of other different types of Star Wars. That's kind of like the good and bad that I think comes with this this new generation of Star Wars is that I I think it's um I think there's there's a refreshing nature to how there can there can be a different type of story instead of just being the same thing over and over and over trying to recapture the same the same type of vibe from the original trilogy. Uh, like that that was my biggest problem with the sequel trilogy is that at times it felt like it couldn't it couldn't divorce itself and it had to just keep being the same thing as the original trilogy which thankfully uh The Mandalorian the show wasn't that.

[00:01:02]It was very much a lone wolf and cub type of show which you know uh wasn't wasn't heavy on dialogue was mostly about bounty hunting and exciting action sequences and the movie The Mandalorian and Grou is very much more of that and I think that's like the good and bad that can be said of this type of Star Wars film is like yeah it does feel like just a collection of episodes from the TV show.

[00:01:26]Still pretty good episodes but episodes nonetheless. Um, that being said, for what the film sets out to do, it does set very very lower stakes than the sequel series. Like the the the sequel trilogy felt like it was just trying to connect everything to try to be like the next chapter in Star Wars. And The Mandalorian and Grou feels like it's very much just trying to be its own thing. It's it's trying to be essentially Lone Wolf and Cub for kids, uh, with a whole bunch of of monster battles and exciting bounty hunter sequences. and the film delivers on that front. Uh, so much like the show it's based on, uh, the film continues the adventures of the Mandalorian, once again played by Pedro Pascal and his pintsized pal, Grou, with little deviation from their format. So, as bounty hunters, they make a living hunting down Imperial fugitives as the New Republic RI arises, and they're assigned targets by the exposition spouting Sigourney Weaver. if you were hoping that Sigourney Weaver uh she does play a little bit of a big role in the film, but not much more than just, you know, doing out orders. So, their latest target is Johnny Coin, who's a sleazy crime boss and Imperial leader that the Republic wants arrested. And finding this villain will require that the Mandalorian has to work with the treacherous Hut family, including uh helping out the the hut warrior Rada, who's voiced by Jeremy Allen White, and just much like Rada has this whole arc about how he doesn't want to be compared to his to his father, Jabba. And I think he does a pretty good job at it. I mean, you know, he's not as ruthless as Jabba.

[00:03:01]He he's more talkative. He's more understanding. And I think uh you know on a physical level he's just way more buff like he he brands himself as a warrior who is fighting for a criminal syndicate and these kind of like arena battles. So it's kind of impressive to see this uh different version of Hut uh to a much different flavor. So of course uh the Huts can't be trusted and the Mandalorian's mission grows more dangerous when vicious monsters and skilled droid assassins target him and his young one. So, a common criticism of any movie based on a TV show is the questioning of how closely this would resemble a handful of episodes. And The Mandalorian and Grou doesn't do much to prove otherwise, considering this whole ordeal feels more like another day at the office for the faceless bounty hunter and his cute companion. uh Mando's concerns for his adopted kid and Rada's frustrations at being compared to his family, they rarely extend beyond just, you know, like um they're just kind of like a peppering uh to get the story to its next stylish setpiece uh or thrilling or thrilling battle sequence.

[00:04:10]And it's a simple story that doesn't rely on the mysticism of the Force, the politics of the Imperials or the drama of the Jedi legacy, which which works for this type of movie, but also kind of works against it. Um, and I think that's um it's it's kind of a shame, too, because it does feel like the movie is just more or less an excuse for some cool action sequences and um uh and some interesting monster designs. And it's kind of a shame considering there's the most charm that comes out of any character here is one that's played uh by Martin Scorsesei who he has a small role in this film that is uh too fitting to spoil here and too little uh to be a huge selling point. So, it's a little bit of a frustrating movie because this is a Star Wars movie for those who love lots of monsters stomping around and just causing chaos and a lot of badass sequences where the Mandalorian is showing off his flamethrower and uh shooting at Imperials and blowing stuff up. So, there's a fistful of fights for the kid who wants to see the Mandalorian take on a slew of nasty aliens in gladiator combat and defeat the towering beast that dwells in a in a in a murky pit of water. And most of these moments are cool for the creative uh for the creature designs and the engrossing music by Ludwig Gorensson, which isn't afraid to dabble beyond the expected orchestral. Um, it it never felt like it was trying to replicate John Williams, which I think really worked well for this film. The big problem with this movie is that it does it's more of like a mindless blockbuster, which I say both um affectionately and also as a little bit of a negative because at over two hours there are only so many times you can watch the uh uh watch the chomp of a toothy serpent or the uh duel of you know very adept droids or a hut or or the huts that are like sou wrestling each other. There's only so much of that you can see before the visual allure just wears thin. And you know, at at over two hours, it really does feel like it's just kind of like um uh running out of steam as it gets to the end of as it gets to the end of the film. And it just feels like a series of fights, good-looking fights, uh fights that have some fun creature designs and some nice special effects, but uh still you can sense where this film is going by midway by the midway point, and it's not really going to deviate much from that path.

[00:06:38]The tank starts to run dry by the third act, even with the admirable special effects of the uh tiny puppet aliens and the massive droid guards who kind of they kind of look and move as almost like stop motion figures that would have been like plucked from the 1980s. Like there's a lot of charm uh to those special effects. Um, so as a bit of like a good and a bad point, I think the easiest way that I've kind of described this film, which I've talked about many times, is that this whole movie is just uh Lone Wolf and Cub for kids. And I say that as both a good and bad because it has a lot of the same framework as the Lone Wolf and Cub movies, but it also has a lot of the same weaknesses as well, where uh you don't spend a lot of time with the characters and it kind of just darts from action scene to action scene without a whole lot of development. and it just kind of, you know, snaps back to the status quo and all you're left with is a few cool fights and not much more than that. So, The Mandalorian and Grou accomplishes its low stakes mission of a standalone Star Wars action adventure movie, but it doesn't really serve up much more than theatrics amid its chunky runtime. like it never gets bogged down in uh Star Wars movie association, but it also doesn't rise up to the ranks of the more thoughtful uh Star Wars projects like Andor, which had something more to say about the politics within the saga. Now, of course, uh The Mandalorian is in a different lane of Star Wars, you know, kind of like favoring its shiny helmet for action rather than exploring any of the heart and soul underneath all like the, you know, the the the cool the cool looking armor. And while there's a there's a decently rousing atmosphere to carry that stoic stance, the onslaught of action uh makes a better case for why the adventures of this pair were more enjoyable in smaller doses than an extended epic where the cuteness of Grou and the coolness of the Mandalorian's flamethrower are stress tested to a breaking point. uh passable as it may be for a matinea flick of kind of like pew pew lasers and alien monster mash. So, the film ends up kind of being okay.

[00:08:46]Like, you're not really going to get much more out of this film than just like some cool fights and some nice locations and some cool music and some nice special effects. And you won't get much more than that. You won't get the same amount of depth that you would from uh from like the original Star Wars trilogy, but you also won't feel like you're getting like a watered down version of just the same thing over and over again. The Mandalorian and Grou actually feels like it's trying something different, even if it just kind of ends up repeating itself by the end. So, as kind of like a like a matinea mindless sci-fi action movie that you could watch with the family, uh it's it's not bad on that degree. It's got some good action. and it's got a good atmosphere and for that I I kind of appreciated the film. I would have liked a lot more uh characterization and stakes from the characters, but it's just, you know, uh you know, just a a collection of Mandalorian episodes. It's not too bad. Which might sound weird to say for Star Wars, but after but but after like episode 9 where just kind of tripped all over itself trying to just maintain the same uh the same type of Star Wars film. I'm glad that there's a film like this which is willing to try something new even if it really didn't knock it out of the park. So yeah, The Mandalorian and Grou.