Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
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Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is playing in theaters at the time of review. Rated PG-13. Common Sense says 11+
Once a lone bounty hunter, Mandalorian Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his apprentice Grogu embark on an exciting new Star Wars adventure.
STORY: C+
Everyone can follow, but will everybody love it?
The story is easy enough to follow: a military organization hires a bounty hunter to take out remaining enemy officers. Twists and turns follow, but one does not need to be steeped in Star Wars lore to understand what’s happening.
But this story doesn’t have the universal appeal of Star Wars’s more famous works. Its allure is built upon memories of the films and shows that have come before. Viewers who don’t crave action or sci-fi may want to skip this one.
PEOPLE : B+
Grogu is the emotional core.
Tiny Grogu translates well to the big screen. His stink eye, his waddle, and his toddler-like coos fill the entire screen. Even more effective than his comic relief are the moments when he’s sad, scared, or in danger. These moments give this roller coaster of a film its emotional spine.
Creating a character as iconic as Grogu at this stage of the Star Wars franchise feels unprecedented. It’s as surprising as it would be if the next Rolling Stones album included a top ten hit.
FILM NERD STUFF: B
CGI largely hits, but misses a big one.
Dozens of deadly CGI-created creatures ooze, slither, and screech their way through this film. Their lifelike designs and detailed renderings make the action scenes come alive. As much as is possible, we believe they’re real.
But every time Zeb appears on screen, he looks like a drawing. The fan favorite from Star Wars Rebels never blends into the frame as seamlessly as the dozens of Hutts (a notoriously difficult species to render effectively) do.
ONE BIG LESSON: D
This is the way.
The story wades through the topics of parenthood, loyalty, and standing up for oneself but doesn’t feel the need to say much about them.
A stronger script may have layered in strokes of thematic import between the non-stop action sequences, but this increasingly feels like what we’re getting from Disney. Let’s hope this lack of thematic resonance isn’t a symptom of wringing every last drop out of an IP.
FINAL COMMENTS:
Like Star Wars: The Force Awakens, this film is a remix. It enjoys mashing up its own imagery (like Jabba’s palace and the Death Star’s garbage compactor scene). At other times it combines its own elements from things from other genres, like the 1930s Chicago mob-inspired landspeeders that race through city streets under a literal El train.
I’m reminded of how director Jon Favreau took the elements of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, mixed them with his own Swingers sensibility, and created a cinematic classic.
But unlike Elf, this film won’t turn into a classic because there’s a key difference. Elf created a new universe filled with its own characters. Star Wars is primarily remixing itself. How long can Disney keep going before it exhausts the source material and nothing’s left but a lifeless lump of what was once the greatest thing to ever happen to the movies?
Many fans of the franchise love that formula, especially old dudes like me who saw Star Wars and ate paste in my kindergarten class on the same day. Others want new material, or may be disappointed that the movie feels like a one-off instead of laying down groundwork for future projects.