The Mandalorian & Grogu (2026)

Since acquiring the rights to Star Wars in 2012, Disney have released 6 feature films and 17 television series - not to mention the cartoons, LEGO spin-offs, short films and so on. It's almost as if the board of directors have stumbled upon some sort of magical tree...

CEO: "Hey guys, check this out. Every time you shake it, millions of dollars falls out"

All: "Yaaaaay!"

As for the quality of the output, it would probably be fair to say it's been a mixed bag, none of which have come close to George Lucas' original trilogy - still the high water mark in the entire catalogue. The best of the bunch was probably 'Rogue One' (2016), which came closest to meeting the demands of such a beloved universe - creating something new while capturing the spirit of the original. However, most other efforts haven't got close to a similar level. Which...I'm not saying is an easy feat, but shouldn't be this hard.

Possibly the most successful TV series of a long list, so far at least, has been 'The Mandalorian' (2019) - a spin-off based on a bounty hunter not too dissimilar to one Boba Fett from the original series. With Jon Favreau at the helm, it's never going to be bad. But, if we're being honest, a large part of the series success was the Baby Yoda character - aka Grogu - being cute and spawning a seemingly endless litany of memes and merch etc. Such is the world we live in today, I suppose. Although, saying that, he is ridiculously cute.

So, off the back of said success, we now have this film. Once again directed by Jon Favreau who, on the quiet, has become something of a Hollywood juggernaut in recent years - a long way from 'Swingers' (1996) - it tells the story of our two leads getting into more intergalactical escapades in search of the bounties that they don't seem to really need and rescuing a ripped offspring of Jabba The Hutt who is trapped in a gladiatorial combat contract (yes you read that correctly).

In fact, this is where things immediately start to unravel. A few basic questions pull at the thread and start to reveal a quite shoddy foundation. Why are 'Mando' and 'Grogu' so close? Why does the Mandalorian care about getting his bounty so much? Does he have a family to provide for? Does he have a burning desire to right the world's wrongs? Is he driven by some compulsion from an unhappy past? Well, the short answer is no. He is a bounty hunter, so he collects bounties. That's what he does. And therein lies the central problem - this is all fine and good but...why do we care?

Now, you could argue that we are dealing with Science Fiction here and not everything has to have some deeper meaning or motivation behind it. But, this is where I would counter with the following - what made the original Star Wars so successful was precisely what is lacking in everything that has followed since. The story and the characters within that universe were so much more nuanced and well-developed that you cared infinitely more about their plights. And, as with all good science fiction, the world-building that goes on around those characters has an altogether deeper and more resonant meaning as a result. This is what pretty much every effort since the original trilogy has failed to recognise and is why, for my money, they all fall short.

In this film, no attempt is made to create nuanced characters or anything of deeper value. It is very much a case of 'give them a mission, get them on the road. Stat'. While that may be fine, it just means that all we are left with is spectacle. In some cases, like something like 2011's 'The Raid', this is great. But in the abscene of plot or character, what you are relying solely here on is the action and in this film, sadly, the action passes by like you are vacantly scrolling on Instagram Reels. Why is this? Well, the answer is quite simple. There are no human beings in the bloody thing.

For a film that bolsters a significantly large number of characters on screen, there are maybe 10 actual human beings in the film. The lead is one, but he wears a mask for 95% of the flick and his voice never goes above 'flat', so it doesn't really count. At that point, what are we really watching? Yes, we get that it is science fiction and takes place in space and shouldn't necessarily feel like you're watching 'Nil By Mouth' but when our two leads are adventuring their way through all of these different worlds, it's just an endless array of 'monsters' who don't look real, pose no threat, and offer nothing in terms of excitement. Therefore the old medulla oblongata just switches to numb mode and it all goes by as it would were you to ride on a simulator at Disney.

For great films of the genre, there is always a human element that keeps us interested. Not to mention the world-building usually has a 'lived-in' feel that draws us the audience in (see: 'A New Hope' or 'Alien' for examples), but by continually over-relying on CGI, we lose all of that and instead find ourselves vacantly watching three Jabba The Hutt siblings (who don't exsist) rolling around having a simulated fight in which we know no one will get hurt and would've been done in one take shooting a scene with no one in it. How are audiences supposed to engage with this sort of thing? Answers on a postcard.

On the plus side, there are a few moments of levity - provided mostly by Grogu and his little gang of animatronic pals, and Favreau must be credited for at least attempting something analog in such a film. It's just very hard to watch people fight who we A) don't particularly care about, B) know aren't going to be in any real danger and C) have no real motivation to do what they are doing. It's sort of storytelling 101 really, isn't it?

Regardless, I'm sure this will sell lots of merch and create many more spin offs and that money tree will keep on shaking. It would just be nice if there was more thought given to the human side of things, leaving the feeling, once again, that this could have been something great and is instead just another money-spinner cashing in on the mythology of a once-beloved franchise. Although, I will say it again, Grogu is bloody cute. So it gets an extra star for that alone. I mean REALLY really cute.

Like, silly cute.

It's unreal. I just want to hug him.

He's so cute.

★★☆☆☆

JB.