Classic Star Wars is back on the big screen. The Mandalorian and Grogu captures the sheer excitement and feel of the original trilogy, balancing the serious with the funny for a galactic good time at the movies.
The Mandalorian and Grogu Review
I was a kid when I was first introduced to Star Wars via several VHS tapes. I was fascinated by the lightsabers, Force powers, aerial battles, and the whole battle of good vs evil. I wanted to be able to use the Force, I wanted my own lightsaber (the color green was my pick at the time), I wanted to live in a world where the little guys stood up to the bullies no matter how insurmountable the odds. From that very first watch of A New Hope, I was hooked and I’ve been a Star Wars girl ever since. Many projects have come along since those days and while I’m a fan through and through I can also admit not all of them are my cup of blue milk. But, I can appreciate them for what they are and what they are trying to accomplish. After all, not everything can be as amazing as Star Wars Rebels.
The Mandalorian debuted in 2019 and it took the galaxy by storm. This gunslinging space western introduced us to a stoic Mandalorian who you couldn’t help but root for. And then Baby Yoda appeared and the rest is history. I wasn’t sure what to expect with a big screen adaptation of a show that always felt more cinematic than small screen anyways. Jon Favreau and the team at Lucasfilm have given us something that feels like classic Star Wars – IYKYK. Whether you have been a longtime fan of the galaxy or you’re new to this whole thing, The Mandalorian and Grogu is for you. It’s fun, thrilling, and full of that Star Wars magic. It will make you feel like a kid again watching Star Wars for the first time.
Following the events of Season 3, The Mandalorian and Grogu wastes no time getting started. Mando (Pedro Pascal) and Baby Yoda are working for the New Republic, specifically Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver), who sends them out on missions to track down Imperial crime lords. Their latest mission sends them to rescue Rotta (Jeremy Allen White), Jabba the Hutt’s son who has been forced into gladiator type matches. His aunt and uncle, The Twins, are eager to get him back although clearly they aren’t to be trusted either. Ward wants the deal done because the Twins are promising info on an elusive crime boss named Coyne. Din Djarin and Grogu make their way to Rotta and decide that working for The Hutts isn’t exactly what they want to do, information or no information.
I want to start this by saying I don’t know what the other critics are thinking, other than I suppose it’s “cool” to hate on Star Wars. I’m happy to report that the ones I watched it with and even a friend who wasn’t sold on the whole Mando Movie idea had a great time. This space western is action-packed, funny, and pure Star Wars. I’m positive those others have just forgotten what it feels like to have fun at the movies. You can call me a shill or whatever but I really loved this one, so much so I’m seeing it again, in IMAX this weekend. Favreau and Filoni have given us something special, a love letter of sorts not to a specific character but to the little kid in all of us who still get the biggest grin on our faces when we think about where our love for this franchise started.
This film really checks the Star Wars boxes. Great fight scenes both on the ground and in the air, Baby Yoda being ridiculously cute, a score that outdoes itself (Ludwig Goransson you’re a master at this), easter eggs, and creatures galore from the little Anzellan’s to the massive dragonsnake and Hutt Twins. In a way it feels like a spiritual successor to Return of the Jedi– a son rejecting his father’s ways, a jungle planet, cute creatures, and Grogu getting his own Yoda moments, complete with walking staff. Of course that movie also divided fans back in its day, but as a kid who saw it after the fact, I liked watching the teddy bears kicking the butts of Stormtroopers. I would say these fight scenes aren’t quite as “silly” as the Ewoks, but it will make you laugh watching Grogu and the Baba-Frik crew get into some mischief.
Aside from that, this Mando is not the mild-mannered, exasperated dad we’ve seen lately. He is a lethal fighting machine. Lateef Crowder, (the stuntman) outdoes himself this time around. Din is cutting down bad guys left and right with deadly precision. Kinda makes you wonder what training he has been doing on Nevarro. Grogu is as cute as ever, being both sweet and naughty. The movie deploys him for the right amount of time so it never becomes the Grogu show featuring Din Djarin. There are plenty of parenting moments that will make you laugh and sweet ones as well. In between lighting villains on fire or blasting holes in them, Din also makes sure that Grogu is properly buckled into the Razor Crest and not spoiling his dinner with too many space macaroons.
Rotta the Hutt makes his live-action debut after his introduction in The Clone Wars. He’s Jabba’s son but he doesn’t want to be anything like his dad. He wants to be his “own man,” not feared by the masses but cheered on by them. He also has an 8-pack and talks normally which may throw off the casuals but we’ve seen this before in the comics. Perhaps a more impressive feat than Grogu lifting a Mudhorn out of nowhere, is that Favreau, Filoni, and Noah Kloor, wrote him in a way that makes him endearing. You forget he’s a giant space slug who is a little bit goofy early on and instead see him as someone who’s had not the best life and is trying to make it better. His interactions with Grogu and talks with Mando are sweet and give that character a story full of heart.
Verdict
The Mandalorian and Grogu is classic Star Wars, which is a little hard to explain, but if you know you know. It’s the feeling you got as a kid watching your first in a galaxy far, far away story. I had a big grin on my face the whole time. The ships doing insane aerial stunts in their dogfights, the creature designs (at one point there is stop motion like in the original trilogy and I had a whole Leo pointing at the screen moment), the story of good vs evil, Zeb (Steve Blum I’m so happy you’re back), I could go on. It was genuinely so fun to watch and the perfect space adventure for longtime and new fans alike.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters May 22, 2026. It is rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action with a runtime of 2 hours and 12 minutes.
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