STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN & GROGU Review

Sometimes you go into a review and know that, for better or worse, you're about to be long winded. Then there are reviews like the one you're about to read. The kind where you, the reader, feel as if the critic simply threw up their hands in defeat.

Because what, precisely, am I meant to say about The Mandalorian and Grogu? It's a film that I was rooting for, to be sure. But it's also a movie that never once sounded or looked like anything more than several episodes of television stacked in a trench coat. I'm not be one to judge a film or series based on trailers or marketing, but sometimes a movie is exactly what it says on the tin. That's the case here, and calling it a "story" is generous.

Perhaps what's so vexing is that Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni can and have told compelling Star Wars stories filled with poignance and wonder. Noah Kloor (The Book of Boba Fett), the third writer on the project, might have a less impressive tenure, but there's no way one dude — especially one not in the cowboy hat or sitting in the director's chair — removed any semblance of meaning from this film. The Mandalorian and Grogu is a movie about nothing. And please bear in mind that I say that as a staunch defender of television's "filler episode."

Filler episodes add depth! They offer weight to characters and build out worlds. They're not furthering the plot of the season, but a successful one is enriching it. The Mandalorian and Grogu can't even be accused of being filler. You learn nothing new about the film's titular characters, the universe isn't expanded (pedantically we do get a new planet, but we're not giving flowers for crumbs here), not a single compelling character is introduced, and both the rebellion and the Mandalorians are an after thought. (Hell, the other Mandalorians aren't even mentioned.)

Worse still, there are several instances where The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn't feel like a Star Wars movie at all. Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), who will henceforth be referred to as Jeremy Allen Hutt in this review, speaks plain American English. It could be argued that there's a story justification (you'll understand more after you watch), but the problem is that it's actively distracting. We not only know what Hutts sound like, we've also spent entire films working around space accents in the past. A slug with abs was already pushing things, but Jeremy Allen Hutt just talking like some dude was too much.

And then there's Ludwig Göransson's score.

I want to be crystal clear here: I typically think Göransson walks on water. Sinners was the best score of 2025, I love the regular Mandalorian theme, and Black Panther is perfect from top to bottom. We do get to hear The Mandalorian theme woven in throughout the score — as is custom — but when the film goes on its little side quests to the Hutts' planet the score is suddenly drowning in synth music.

Now, it's not out of character for a composer to create a separate tone for a new planet. The issue is, the synth sound isn't just out of place for Star Wars as a whole, it's also out of place for the location. The Hutts might have a small army of droid soldiers protecting them, but everything else about the planet is lush and overgrown. It looks like Degobah half the time. Would synth music belong on Degobah!? (No.)

Perhaps even more out of place is the existence of The Magical Negro trope in a film made in the Year of Our Lady 2026. We can't dive too deep here, as it could be argued that any additional details on the character would fall into spoiler territory, but it's so egregious that you won't require additional explanation after watching the film.

That does, at least, take us to the film's singular saving grace. For about 30 minutes, The Mandalorian and Grogu is just a movie about weird little guys. That half hour is still about nothing, but it's entertaining! Grogu and a group of 5 Anzellans (Babu Fricks) do their best to hold this mess on their tiny little shoulders. They can't do it, but it wasn't their burden to bear and it is damn fun watching them try. One of the Anzellans has a line that I have been laughing about since my screening and Grogu is just a baby that has never done anything wrong a day in his life. They're tiny heroes, the lot of them.

It also bears mentioning that Pedro Pascal is generally innocent in all of this. Some of the voice acting feels a little off, but, given that we've watched him do it successfully in the series for as long as we have, I'm prone to blame the editing on that one. You get to see him act for a bit, but it's very obvious that it was because they needed his face more than it served the "story" itself. At the very least, at least he's still the best Space Dad in the galaxy.

That's really all I've got for you. I want to say something along the lines of "at least your kids will like it" but that runtime is rough on little ones with short attention spans. Maybe there's enough flashy lights to keep them engaged? I don't know.

What I do know is that I miss when a new Star Wars movie in theaters was exciting, and every new project announcement didn't come with the air of "well that's never seeing the light of day."

Here's hoping the galaxy far, far away remembers its whimsy soon.

If you've enjoyed this review, please consider subscribing. If you're already a subscriber and want to help keep me afloat while I continue to look for work, please consider upgrading to a paid subscription!