Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

• Directed by Jon Favreau
• May 14, 2026 (LA) / May 22, 2026 (US)
• Based on the Disney+ television series The Mandalorian created by Jon Favreau and Star Wars created by George Lucas

Djarin and his apprentice Grogu are hired by the New Republic to rescue Rotta the Hutt in exchange for information on an Imperial war criminal.

I had a boatload of doubts when Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu was announced. Most were centered around the involvement of Kathleen Kennedy under who so many Star Wars films were announced that were then quietly canceled. The rest were how accessible this would be. Would it be like a Marvel movie that necessitated consumption of multiple projects, or could most anybody sit back and enjoy?

After viewing, I can honestly say anybody can watch this with a minimal understanding of the title characters. Others like Ward (Sigourney Weaver) may be a bit more of a mystery because she is less a character and more a source of exposition or a plot device. We get no sense of her beyond that of an important officer in the New Republic. I do not think we even get her rank until the end of the film! Then again Zeb (voice of Steve Blum) gets named maybe once in the movie after spending a lot of time on screen.

Zeb is not the only Star Wars character from elsewhere to show. Dave Filoni appears as New Republic X-wing pilot Trapper Wolf with his first appearance looking like Filoni was put in the scene in his street clothes. Missing was that cowboy hat. The Kyuzo bounty hunter Embo from Clone Wars makes his first foray into live action and Paul Sun-Hyung Lee shows again as New Republic X-wing pilot Carson Teva.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is like two different stories packaged as one. That could be due to Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni having written a fourth season of The Mandalorian before Lucasfilm decided to push for a movie instead. My guess would be they refashioned some or all of what they wanted there in this. Story A is saving an adult Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White) from gladiatorial fighting in exchange for getting info from the Hutts with Story B involving Jabba the Hutt’s twin cousins seeking revenge on Djarin (voice of Pedro Pascal/performance by Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder) for breaking the deal. Linked by events but not a single unified narrative.

After some opening text, it moves into a strong action scene of Mando (the only thing people call him in the movie) trying to capture an Imperial warlord. It is a thrilling action scene taking place in some snow-covered mountains. It’s complete with AT-ATs and explosions and Mando cutting through all attackers like they are nothing with the assistance of Grogu.

Then we cut to the main story which is rescuing Rotta from gladiatorial fighting on the Outer Rim world of Shakari to hand over to his relatives on Nal Hutta who will then give the New Republic information on the mysterious warlord Janu Coin (Jonny Coyne).

On Shakari, Mando goes about his search as conspicuously as possible. This is Star Wars but a little more stealth by maybe using Zeb over a guy in armor was called for. He also keeps plying a random Ardennian food vendor Hugo (voiced by Martin Scorsese) for info for no good reason. He is the right alien, but what pointed Mando to him?

This leads eventually into the best action scene in the film. Mando and Rotta are trapped in the ring with Mando having yielded to Rotta in an effort to force Coin into honoring the contract by shaming him in front of the crowd which does not work. After which Coin releases creatures gathered from across the galaxy in an excellent and chaotic battle scene. My critique of this is that the creatures get out (allowing Mando and Rotta to live) and begin tearing through the general city. Sure sounds like they are killing innocent people, but nobody ever mentions that.

The film is packed with visual treats for viewers. Creatures found on Nal Hutta are inspired by the minor character Amanin seen in Jabba’s Palace in RotJ. Kitbashes of Separatist droids are seen throughout. Also used are multiple very familiar vehicles to the point of Mando getting a new Razor Crest as payment.

Despite plenty of flash and bang, the story feels small and inconsequential. It is one more adventure in a long line of adventures with nobody really changing even a smidge by the end. For a feature film it feels decidedly low stakes. Janu Coin is not that big of villain. His strongest scene precedes his capture when he carries through with his plan of trying to kill Rotta in his final fight. The Hutt Twins fail to exceed Rotta physically or as something special. They are bad but nothing special compared to the general perception of Hutts by the film’s characters. Rotta stands out because he is counter to the general perception.

This is not edge of your seat action or thrills but can be exciting. It keeps the action coming steady until it decides not to do so. While on Nal Hutta in the clutches of the Twins, Djarin gets poisoned by a really big snake. That whole recovery scene stops the film and is filled with repeated cutesy/humorous scenes of Grogu tending to Mando breaking the action stride.

This also contains an act of contrivance on par with the falling into a pit and finding the knife in Rise of Skywalker. The recovery scene goes on for a bit to imply Mando is not getting better though the cuteness of Grogu undermines that. During this time Grogu goes out looking for food and stumbles across a friendly fisherman near the Hutt palace.

I would feel differently if the character had gone out for help. He wasn’t looking for a doctor but was looking for a snack. He came across someone who could help that provided a nice bit of exposition to reiterate to the audience something they already knew. Not only is it a bit of contrivance but the actions of the bounty hunter Embo make no sense. Why spill all that information to somebody you don’t know? It would’ve made a little more sense if Grogu had gone for help and this was at some type of space doctor’s office. It would make sense for Embo to relay info to somebody that might be contacted and less unbelievably lucky that Grogu found somebody that could help. Grogu’s earlier use of the Force to close Mando’s wound was enough to say he would get better. Heal. Brief rest. Recovery. That was all that was needed.

Then there was the reason for Mando to kill the Hutt Twins. Before tossing him into the pit, the Hutts take his helmet off to give us five minutes of Pedro Pascal on set rather than in the film through ADR. In context of The Mandalorian and Grogu, he would live in shame since an enemy had seen his face so to no longer be in shame he needed to kill them. Was it not enough to kill them because they would keep targeting him while they lived?

There’s plenty of wit and humor to be found here. The jokes can range from the generally comedic to the darkly humorous. Nothing that takes you out of the moment but certainly lightens the mood. The Anzellan in their partnership with Grogu also get jokey with their ship size being one.

Effects range from good to very realistic. As many of the aliens are CGI as they are practical effects. Cityscapes are bright and neon with other environments looking real though Nal Hutta makes wild swings between real and fake. The X-Wings against the orange sky look too good to be fakery. A scene featuring some attacking robots looks like stop motion. Overall it provides for a nice looking and immersive world.

Haven’t watched it, I just don’t think this was a theatre worthy experience. It’s not anything more than what you would get from the TV show. It’s two or three episodes stitched together into one. Good? Yes. Just not good enough to be a major motion picture.

The Mandalorian and Grogu will resonate most strongly with fans of the TV series but also with those who enjoy the larger streaming world of Star Wars. It’s exciting and fun though that recovery scene does ruin the flow. It is good Star Wars but possibly better for home viewing.