written by: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor
produced by: Kathleen Kennedy, Ian Bryce, Jon Favreau & Dave Filoni
directed by: Jon Favreau
rated: PG-13 (for sci-fi violence and action)
runtime: 132 min.
U.S. release date: May 22, 2026

Despite being a fan since 1977, I can’t say I’ve looked forward to every theatrically-released Star Wars movie. When “Rogue One” came out, I maintained that we didn’t really need a story about the plans and creation of the first Death Star, nor did we need a movie that synced with the minutes leading up to “A New Hope”. That movie did both. I had hoped that a Star Wars outside of the trilogies we were familiar with could expand on the existing universe, but that didn’t really happen. We may not get that until next year’s “Starfighter”, but I remain skeptical about that. Meanwhile, there’s “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu”, the first theatrical release since the lackluster “The Rise of Skywalker” in 2019, the same year “The Mandalorian”, created by Jon Favreau, debuted on Disney+ and became a major hit.

The third season of the show ended in 2023, leaving the titular bounty hunter and his young Jedi charge settling on the planet Nevarro and “Mando” only taking jobs from the burgeoning New Republic. It was a suitable ending, but the two characters are way too popular to leave it at that, and there was still profit to be made from toys and merch, so a continuation was inevitable.

Since that third season ended, the Star Wars “product” that’s been embraced the most has been the “Andor” series, itself a prequel to “Rogue One” and “A New Hope”.  The sociopolitical drama featured an ensemble cast that explored the titular character’s radicalization against the Galactic Empire and the formation of the wider Rebel Alliance, telling an expansive story that worked best in episodes. Since those two seasons were primarily aimed at adults and those with no interest in typical “Star Wars” content, there’s no reason or way the show would transfer to the big screen.

Bottom line: It makes sense that “The Mandalorian and Grogu” would get the big screen treatment. That being said, my expectations for this movie were somewhere between low and none. I didn’t expect this to be anything other than four episodes slapped together for the big screen, with a little more time invested in expanding the production design and visual effects. Disney and Favreau weren’t ever going to deliver anything profound or groundbreaking. So, knowing that one of the titular characters is kind of one-dimensional and the other is there to be adorable and aimed at young viewers, the only real question is whether I’d be entertained.

Taking all that into consideration, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” is fine and close to enjoyable. It’s not great, nor did I expect it to be, and I won’t be in a rush to see it again. It didn’t help that none of the trailers elicited the kind of Star Wars anticipation or curiosity I’ve felt in the past, which isn’t a good sign. This could’ve easily been just a special on Disney+, but the studio was probably getting nervous that the last time a Star Wars movie was in theaters was seven years ago.

The story here is written by Favreau, along with the current president and CCO of Lucasfilm, Dave Filoni, and Noah Kloor, all of whom wrote for the uneven and underwhelming “The Book of Boba Fett” miniseries. It’s also lensed by David Klein, the cinematographer who worked on that show and several episodes of “The Mandalorian”. That’s all to say this feature will have a similar look and feel to what’s come before it.

When we reunite with the titular duo, Din Djarin, aka Mandalorian, aka “Mando” (voiced by Pedro Pascal with most physical on-set double work performed by Brendan Wayne, grandson of John Wayne, and Lateef Crowder), has decided to take on assignments from the New Republic, rather than working for disreputable employers. After all, he has his young foundling, The Child, aka Baby Yoda, aka Grogu (a non-speaking sidekick created with animatronics and puppetry, and augmented with visual effects), to consider, and would rather take jobs from the good guys.

As the movie opens, we find Mando on an unidentified ice planet on the Outer Rim Territories, tracking down Empire Commander Barro (Hemky Madera) on a secret base inside a mountain. Since the dismantling of the Galactic Empire after the Battle of Endor (“Return of the Jedi”), Mando has been tasked with finding a small remnant of Empire loyalists still out there and bringing them in to be charged by the New Republic. However, bringing them in alive doesn’t always pan out, an outcome Col. Ward (Sigourney Weaver), and leader of the New Republic’s Adelphi Rangers, calls “messy”.

This opening wastes no time getting right to the action, as Mando interrupts a meeting between Barro and his supporters (business owners being bullied into submission), gradually taking out snowtroopers in the shadows until he reaches the meeting room. The action shifts from interior fighting to an exterior pursuit as Mando (who meets Grogu outside) has to take out three AT-ATs (from “The Empire Strikes Back”). Why lumbering giant snow walkers are used to traverse a narrow path winding around a mountainside is baffling, and maybe that’s just one of many reasons this Neo-Empire is failing.

After that mission, Mando, Grogu, and their pilot, Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios (voiced by Steve Blum), return to Adelphi, a planet on the Outer Rim that serves as a staging area and patrol point for New Republic Rangers, such as Captain Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), located along a shoreline. Col. Ward can be found in the same pilot lounge where Zeb and others hang out between missions, and it is where Mando checks in after each adventure.

(Note: Keen Force-sensitive eyes will spot Filoni hanging out at the bar as a pilot, near other”The Mandalorian” directors posing as pilots, such as Deborah Chow, Rick Famuyiwa, and Lee Isaac Chung as Sash Ketter, Jib Dodger, and Dok Suri, as well as veteran production designer and Lucasfilm’s Senior Vice President, Doug Chiang as Lieutenant Blick).

Ward hands Mando his new assignment, which is to apprehend the mysterious Commander Coin (Johnny Coyne), on the planet Shakari. There is, however, a catch: the intel on his location will be provided by the Hutt Twins, but it won’t be provided until the New Republic conducts a side quest for them. The twins are the siblings and successors of the deceased crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and they want their nephew, Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White), returned to their swampy planet, Nal Hutta, after being kidnapped. Mando is a little apprehensive, since the Hutt Twins would serve as an in-between employer, but Wals sweetens the deal by providing the bounty hunter with a Razor Crest starship, similar to the one that he used to have (destroyed by an Imperial cruiser in Season 2 of “The Mandalorian), and soon enough, he and Grogu and Zeb are off.

While Rotta’s giant slug-like physique makes him stand out, Mando still has to ask Adrennian food vendor, Hugo Durant (Martin Scorsese, don’t be too surprised since Werner Herzog was in Season 1 of “The Mandalorian”), if he knows who the young Hutt is and where to find them. It turns out he’s quite popular on the crime-ridden, rain-soaked city-planet (heavily inspired by Prohibition-era Chicago, complete with L trains); in fact, he’s a totally ripped gladiator who’s finally able to step out of his father’s shadow, despite owing a debt to criminal Lord Janu (played by Coyne, since he’s also Commander Coin). You’d be surprised that a Hutt can move as fast as an UFC fighter in an arena! Mando and Grogu soon learn that Rotta is not interested in being rescued. The Hutt Twins may or may not have been truthful about their “family drama” (Go figure!), and our heroes soon find themselves aligning with the apprehensive Son of Jabba. 

Before Mando and Grogu take the fight back to the Hutt Twins, they must endure getting knocked out, apprehended, and thrown into a gladiatorial arena fight. Imagine the stop-motion holo-chess game Threepio and Chewbacca played (known as Dejarik) in “A New Hope” brought to life on an epic scale, and that’s what you’ll find Mando and Rotta engaging in. The action sequence is filled with visual effects spectacle that melds stunt work and CGI in a mostly convincing manner. Favreau and company also include the requisite chase scenes, close-quarter duels, and daring dogfights that Star Wars is known for, proving how resourceful both Mando and Grogu can be.

There are definitely times when the movie earns its rating, thanks to some perilous situations that Mando finds himself in. Pascal only shows his face in one such perilous sequence, when the de-helmeted hero must contend with a giant watery serpent creature. That sequence, along with the arena fight featuring a half a dozen fearsome creatures, may be the most harrowing moments of the movie for certain young viewers, but there are almost thirty minutes devoted to little Grogu coming to Mando’s aid, with the help of four diminutive, amusing Anzellans – remember droidsmith Babu Frik, the comic relief from “Rise of Skywalker”? For some viewers, this section of the movie may be too cutesy, but it reminded me of the kind of “all-ages entertainment” that Jim Henson and company would deliver in the 80s, like “The Dark Crystal”, where the size of creatures does not determine their strengths or weaknesses.

I found this part of “The Mandalorian and Grogu” quite amusing and a nice departure from the fast-paced action. It’s also the only time one of them has anything close to a character arc, as the father-son relationship is flipped and Grogu learns how to become a protector. Of course, father-son generational trauma isn’t foreign to the Star Wars universe, and there’s some unexpected emotional “weight” attempted with the Rotta character, who reassures our heroes, “Don’t worry, I’m not my father,” and that he “Wants to be his own, man.”

That last line is baffling, considering that none of the three screenwriters could figure out that the buff Rotta resembles a lot of things, but a “man” is not one of them. The character uses the word to describe himself more than once, so there was plenty of time for one of the writers to catch it, but alas, all the attention was given to production values and visual effects. Speaking of which, Rotta’s visual appearance isn’t always convincing, working best when he’s fighting for a roaring audience, but not so much when he’s just talking with Mando or Grogu. Jeremy Allen White’s vocal work here is alright, but not necessarily discernible, and hearing him (and the other Hutts) speak English Galactic Basic comes across as distractingly silly, especially considering we were just fine with a Huttese translator in “Return of the Jedi”.  As a character, Rotta feels like he doesn’t always work (the muscles aren’t always convincing), given all the things Favreau has him doing. I chuckled when he shared with the duo what he’d like to do when he finds his freedom near the movie’s conclusion, and that wasn’t supposed to be a humorous moment.

At no point does it feel like “The Mandalorian and Grogu” is setting out to establish anything new, and it’s thankfully not loaded with cameos, nor does it sync up with anything we’ve seen in Star Wars before. Much of “The Mandalorian” formula remains intact, and there’s nothing wrong with that. In fact, it’s great and integral to have returning composer Ludwig Göransson here, bringing the television series theme song, along with original, unique sounds when we visit Shakari and during the third act’s Grogu-centric moment. On that note, what’s missing here are the concept art stills shown during the end credits of each episode, which could’ve easily been included during the movie’s lackluster end credits.

As cinematic excitement, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” mostly succeeds with thrilling pursuits and escapes, while offering little that’s different or new. For some viewers, especially the kids out there, what they experience on the big screen here will be just fine.

RATING: **