Title: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
Describe This Movie Using One Raising Arizona Quote:
POLICEMAN: What did the pajamas look like?
NATHAN ARIZONA SR: I don’t know … they were jammies! They had Yodas and shit on ’em!
Brief Plot Synopsis: Does Baby Yoda have to Force choke a bitch?
Rating Using Random Objects Relevant To The Film: 3 muddy R2-D2s out of 5.
Tagline: “This is the way.”
Better Tagline: “You said that already.”
Not So Brief Plot Synopsis: The Empire is dead. Long live the Empire. No, wait. What I meant was, in spite of their defeat, Imperial fugitives are still at large across the galaxy. The victorious New Republic hires fabled bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), AKA the Mandalorian, to hunt them down. Together with his apprentice Grogu, Mando is tasked by twin cousins of Jabba the Hutt to rescue Jabba’s son Rotto (Jeremy Allen White) from a distant moon. But Rotto has other plans, as it seems his Hutt uncle and aunt may not be on the level.
“Critical” Analysis: Creator George Lucas often deflected certain criticisms of the Star Wars movies by insisting they were “for kids.” He trotted out this defense for everything from C-3PO to the Ewoks to Jar Jar Binks, each argument less compelling than the last. And they tended to ring hollow when said movies involved galactic trade disputes and child murder.
But with The Mandalorian and Grogu, director Jon Favreau, along with co-writers Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor, has done what Lucas never truly accomplished. They made an honest-to-Yoda kids’ movie.
Granted, children grow up a lot faster these days. So even a movie ostensibly aimed at the younger crowd is still going to feature Mando shooting holes in a lot of people (and droids) and some spooky characters (the Dragonsnake, Embo the bounty hunter). But what you’re not going to find are red herrings or subtle character shading. The plot is pretty straightforward, the good guys are very good, and the bad guys are reprehensible.
And aside from Din Djarin and Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver), who gives Mando his orders, it’s a largely inhuman assemblage. The Imperial fugitives are a notable exception, but otherwise it’s one big cantina scene. From the fighting pits of Shakari (where their hips don’t lie?) to Nal Hutta, glorious weirdness abounds.
Favreau naturally finds a way to get Mando’s helmet off, giving us a few scenes that aren’t just Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder in the suit. But one of the movie’s most affecting sequences barely involves him at all, and really gives those Grogu puppeteers a chance to shine. It’s honestly kind of quaint, not (fully) relying on CGI for Baby Yoda and the Anzellans*.
All this straightforward storytelling and marginal reliance on practical effects might give you pause. “Surely this could have just been another season of The Mandalorian?” Admittedly, I don’t get Disney’s thinking when it comes to Star Wars (or the MCU, for that matter). Mostly it seems like an exercise in brand dilution:
- Acquire lucrative IP.
- Saturate market with exhausting number of movies and TV shows.
- [experience diminishing] Profit!!!
I never finished The Book of Boba Fett and I have no recollection of watching S3 of The Mandalorian. To be honest, I didn’t even realize he and Baby Yo…er, Grogu had reunited until the promos for this started. Their father and son relationship is one of the movie’s strong points, and helps keep things centered. Whether that balances out a disturbingly jacked Hutt who (along with Mando) casually releases bloodthirsty monsters into a crowd of innocent people is up to you.
In a sense, Disney may have actually made a savvy decision releasing this in theaters. It’s been six years since the Star Wars movie that shall not be named. Box office projections have ticked up (slightly) recently, thanks to decent early word-of-mouth and having the lowest budget of any post-prequel Star War. It’s positioned well, too. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie came out six weeks ago, and Masters of the Universe doesn’t drop until next month. This gives Mando and Grogu a leg up for the lucrative Memorial Day weekend.
But familiar issues remain. This movie still perches on a familiar timeline (post-RotJ). And while there’s nary a Skywalker or lightsaber to be seen, we’re still occupying the same narrow territory as the preceding 11 movies. When Dave Filoni was named Lucasfilm’s Chief Creative Officer (2023), there was hope he’d expand the SW universe, but there’s no evidence of that here. The Mandalorian and Grogu ticks a lot of the right Star Wars boxes, but doesn’t feel like a defining moment for its title characters. And when you’re talking about a franchise that audiences have increasingly grown weary of, that may not cut it anymore.
*If, like me, you erased Rise of Skywalker from your memory, Babu Frik was also an Anzellan.
The Mandalorian and Grogu is in theaters today.
