Disney has, perhaps, not known what to do with Star Wars. For myself, the original trilogy are longtime favorite movies. But one thing that made those movies special was, well, they were rare. Yeah, there was the occasional cartoon series growing up, or maybe an Ewok adventure in a TV movie, but for the most part, you had the original trilogy and that was it. Since Disney acquired the rights, there’s been more, and its come out in varying levels of quality. I do know that I have, for the most part, enjoyed The Mandalorian series, but is this character capable of carrying a movie? If so, does it deserve a big screen or should it have gone straight to streaming?
And why did Martin Scorsese voice an alien when this is exactly the sort of movie he claims isn’t cinema?
Bounty hunter Din Djardin, AKA the Mandalorian (voice of Pedro Pascal, body of Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder) along with his adopted, Force-sensitive son Grogu (a puppet) work for the New Republic, bringing in Imperial warlords to stand trial for their crimes. The opening scene shows how frightfully effective he is in taking down these guys, but he has a new job: find the missing Rotta the Hutt (voice of Jeremy Allen White), sole surviving son and heir of the late Jabba the Hutt, and a character that first appeared in the pilot movie for the Clone Wars animated series. Mando, as he is called, doesn’t want to work for the Hutts, but the Hutts have intelligence the Republic needs to find a missing warlord, so Mando and Grogu need to do a job for the Hutt twins, Rotta’s vile aunt and uncle. If Mando can bring back Rotta to the twins, they’ll tell the Republic where the mysterious Lord Coin disappeared to.
Naturally, things are a lot more complicated than that, as Rotta, for one, doesn’t want to go back to his aunt and uncle. What follows is Mando trying to do what the Republic needs as he really doesn’t care much for the Hutts and their droid guard army, make sure Grogu grows up right, and follow the Way. But there are always problems involving trap doors, gladiator pits, and rival bounty hunters. Is there a way for Mando to save the day while still meeting his moral obligations to his own code?
Let me start by saying this first: there’s nothing really wrong with this movie. It’s fine. What complaints my girlfriend and I had will sound like nitpicking. Why did this movie have an electronic music score? That didn’t feel like Star Wars. How did certain characters find other characters so easily? Why did Mando go down as easily as he did at one point after being something of a certified badass up until that point? If this movie is basically the fourth season or so of The Mandalorian, why did it seem to continue no plot points and have almost none of the supporting characters from the show? I know why Carl Weathers was out–I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if Sigourney Weaver is here to basically replace the role Weathers had on the show–but why were there characters from the different animated series who had never interacted with Mando before present?
Ultimately, the issue is what The Mandalorian and Grogu is. It isn’t a continuation of the show because it feels like a soft-reboot or something. It isn’t very deep. It isn’t a bad movie, but it may not be a particularly memorable one. I think it would have worked much better as, either another season of the series or a Disney+ exclusive. It’s a fun movie, and that is literally all it is, and it may not be worth a trip to the multiplex because, quite frankly, it would probably work better as a streaming offering.
Grade: C
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