Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu - Film Review

"Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu"Directed by Jon FavreauWritten by Jon Favreau & Dave Filoni & Noah KloorStarring Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Sigourney WeaverRated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and actionRuntime: 132 minutesRelease Date: May 22, 2026

Final Thought

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu feels like an extended episode of television, yet it manages to deliver a serviceable, fun time at the movies.

Rating

★★★ / 5

Logline

From Lucasfilm:

The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his young apprentice Grogu.

Review - Episode X: The Khia Asylum

My first time seeing a Star War was in 2015. To prepare for my then-upcoming 12th birthday party, my father bought the original and prequel trilogies on Blu-ray so that we could binge watch all six films before seeing Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I fell in love, and for years, I would even claim Star Wars as one of my favorite film series of all time. That era ended not-so-gracefully in 2019 with The Rise(s) of Skywalker and Disney Plus, and Star Wars has since landed, for me, in the “khia asylum”: a conceptual internet dungeon for artists and media that don’t sell well, are past their prime, or otherwise flop.

Star Wars television caught me at the wrong time. I’ve seen some of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, the animated series from the mid-2000s, but admittedly, I have never seen an episode of any Disney Plus show, including The Mandalorian. When Disney Plus launched, my only focus was on its other flagship show, High School Musical: The Musical - The Series, but the ensuing exponential increase in Star Wars television content - 10 shows released since 2019, while 12 films have been released since 1977 - pushed me further away. Like Marvel’s television ventures, with every new show, the ability to be a casual fan shrank more and more.

To quote Meryl Streep, Star Wars has become “Marvel-ized,” of course, and in stunningly obvious ways, but Jon Favreau’s new Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu exhibits an interesting dichotomy: it proves, similar to Marvel, that Star Wars stories are better in - and meant for - the theater, yet the film suffers from it being a direct product of said “Marvel-ization.”

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu follows Pedro Pascal’s space bounty hunter (his official character name is Din Djardin) and his Yoda-like son as they receive a mission from the New Republic: rescue and return Rotta the Hutt, son of Jabba, to his aunt and uncle. The exchange is for the whereabouts of an elusive Imperial warlord, but after befriending Rotta, Djardin and Grogu must help save him while also finding the information needed to keep the Empire from coming back.

Jon Favreau makes a return to feature directing here after seven years in television, marking an impressive leg in his Tomb Raider-like sprint through the offices of Disney. To date, Favreau has spearheaded two Marvel movies (Iron Man and Iron Man 2), two Disney Animation live- action remakes (The Jungle Book and The Lion King), a Star Wars television show (The Mandalorian; he's also executive producer on three spin offs, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, and Skeleton Crew) and now, a Star Wars movie.

I've always had fun with Favreau's films. The way he handles scale as a director is impressive, making his films feel like they should be theatrical experiences. It’s unfortunate, then, that his love for innovation in spectacle isn’t extended to his scripts. The story doesn’t have any deeper messages and doesn’t attempt to do anything other than be enjoyable.

Pedro Pascal in "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu"

I was honestly shocked that I could keep up, as that was my strongest worry. I expected that it would’ve been more connected to the lore of the show, but my friends and audience primarily reacted to Grogu being cute, so I gathered there weren’t too many easter eggs. The obvious tie to the Skywalker Saga here is the presence of the Hutts, but aside from that, I didn’t catch many other specific references to earlier Star Wars films either.

I’m not frustrated by this and actually believe it’s somewhat smart on Favreau and co.’s part, but it makes me question why they chose this story as Star Wars’ return to the big screen when it feels no more relevant than a 4-episode television arc. Simply, this story feels too standard. The film never feels like it is of much consequence to the Star Wars canon. It also doesn’t help that this film was originally conceived as a fourth season of the show before the 2023 writers’ strike caused a pivot.

The concept of The Mandalorian is interesting: a Star Wars-set, case-of-the-week, bounty hunter space western sounds pretty cool. It feels ripe for television. The issue with The Mandalorian and Grogu, though, is that the film ultimately functions as another “case of the week,” thus making it feel like an extended television episode, or rather a Disney Plus miniseries that made it out the hood.

Pedro Pascal in "Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu"

The supporting live-action and voice casts feel a bit random, too, mixing a small number of actors from the show with new, celebrity faces and voices like Sigourney Weaver as Colonel Ward, Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt, and perhaps most surprisingly, renowned filmmaker Martin Scorsese as an unnamed four-arm fry cook. This is now the second time Scorsese has lent his voice to an animated character, the first being 2004’s Shark Tale, but (shockingly) unlike with that film, he sticks out like a sore thumb here.

As far as the title characters, Grogu’s presence is likely the main reason many people will buy a ticket to this movie, so it’s lucky that he has some of the strongest character moments in this film. One thing I understand about the show, as it is also reinforced through lines of dialogue in the film, is the father-son dynamic between Djardin and Grogu, and it’s during sequences that illuminate their tenderness with each other that the film shines emotionally. Pascal’s Djardin cannot physically show emotion due to his helmet, so Grogu is tasked with - and mostly succeeds in - the heavy lifting.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is fun when it needs to be as well, with the opening and midpoint sequences serving as reminders of the magic of this series. I thought to myself after a particular plane dogfighting scene, "I do love Star Wars." The fight choreography is delicious, with some of the film's strongest moments being filled with sword-fighting and creature violence. I assume the streaming show is more violent than the films because the action in this film is more intense than I'm used to for Star Wars, but I didn't mind. The stand-out score by Ludwig Göransson helps as well.

Star Wars is in their “phase 4,” and this is their Black Widow. The main saga has concluded, and the first theatrical release since then is confused about its place in the canon because of new, extra, televised lore. In it, though, are flashes of what made the early films in the series explode and a reminder of how much fun they can be. Marvel Studios is unfortunately never leaving the “khia asylum,” but The Mandalorian and Grogu fortunately moved Star Wars a little, Grogu-sized, bit closer to the door. I know Bebe Rexha and Nicki Minaj are starting to feel lonely in there…

Viewed on 5/18/26 at press screening

Published on 5/19/26

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