Tripwire Reviews The Mandalorian And Grogu

Is This The Way?

Tripwire’s contributing writer Laurence Boyce reviews Disney’s The Mandalorian And Grogu out in cinemas now…

Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu
Director: Jon Favreau
Stars: Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Martin Scorsese

We’ve become so used to franchise cinema sprawling itself out like Jabba on his throne that it’s sometimes hard to see the wood for the trees. Looking forward to Avengers: Doomsday? We’ll you’d better watch the re-release of Endgame with new footage (and maybe the rest of the MCU movies) to understand what the heck is going on. Should we play all the games before seeing the new Resident Evil? Oh look, a new Doctor Who event entitled Circuit Breaker featuring the Fugitive Doctor which will take in novels, games, audio adventures and comics.

All these things are par for the course for genre fans such as us, the effort to take everything in and enjoy the worlds being built all being part of the fun. But it isn’t half exhausting sometimes.  So one of the most refreshing things about Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu – despite being part of one of the biggest franchises in the world – is how standalone it is. While knowing bits of Star Wars can help buoy things along, the first theatrical outing for a Star Wars film in seven years (after the infamous – and continuity heavy – Rise of Skywalker) tries to be a rip-roaring adventure on its own terms. Terms that admittedly pay homage to much sci-fi fare from the past.

After three series of The Mandalorian – and five years since the events of Return of the Jedi – our favourite Beskar armour wearer Din Djarin (unless you prefer Boba Fett) is now helping the New Republic round up remaining Imperial war criminals. Accompanying him is his adopted child Grogu – AKA Baby Yoda or the reason why the Disney merchandise office get big bonuses every year – who is still trying to work out how to control his force powers and how to eat everything in sight without getting scolded. The latest mission of the titular characters sees them involved with Rotta The Hutt (son of Jabba), forcing the mismatched duo to try and avoid the wrath of his gangster family. Lots of shenanigans – involving droid fights, battle arenas and underwater beasties – ensue.

Like much of modern blockbuster cinema, The Mandalorian and Grogu follows a pattern of ‘Exciting action sequence – little bit of plot – exciting action sequence – little bit of plot, repeat until end.’ Jon Favreau is now an old hand at this and manages to deliver a number of impressive sequences, but ones that pay some sort of homage to sci-fi past. Sometimes it’s from the franchise itself. An opener – replete with AT-AT Walkers and snow – channels the spirit of Hoth while the there’s final third of the film ripples with Dagobah vibes. Other times it’s outside of Star Wars. A visit to and a dystopian city is very Blade Runner. Indeed, much of the film seems as much a homage to 80s cinema as it to Star Wars movie. Even while the narrative of the film is pretty much straight forward, subplots exploring the roles and expectations between fathers and sons seems straight out of a Spielberg film.

The 80s feel extends to Grogu himself. Favouring animatronics and puppetry over CGI, his slightly jerky and clunky toddling across the screen reminds of the good old days when Mogwai’s, Turtles and – yes – Yoda himself had a physicality which CGI still finds hard to match. To the film’s credit, it just about manages not to overplay its hand with Grogu. Much of the comedy comes from his diminutive form and childlike behaviour (though one section in which he has trouble with a ship’s buttons is very similar to Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and Baby Groot should sue) and his comparison to the stoic Mandalorian. The final third of the film – which does drag due to a change in pace – also contains a nice reversal of roles for the characters and showcases how far our favourite green person (Kermit and The Hulk aside) has come.

As the lead, Pedro Pascal does a good job, managing to hold the interest despite being under a mask. The same goes for Jeremy Allen White who is CGI’d into Jabba’s son Rotta while the film is rounded out by Sigourney Weaver (another homage to 80s genre cinema) and Martin Scorsese, whose turn as CGI alien cook would be weird save for the fact that Werner Herzog appeared in the first season of The Mandalorian, which takes the weird biscuit, eats it and describes the experience in a sonorous Teutonic accent.

Those who have seen the likes of Star Wars: Clone Wars and Rebels will find a few familiar characters but, as mentioned, these provide joyful Easter eggs rather than necessary knowledge to understand the film. Even those who have never clapped eyes on The Mandalorian series will find themselves quickly settled into the film. Despite a few flaws – chiefly the aforementioned final third in which the film loses its pace – this is rollicking adventure suitable for all the family, from the Star Wars fanatic to the person wondering when – as this is Star something or other – if Dr Spock is going to turn up.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is in cinemas now. Here’s the film’s trailer

Star Wars: The Mandalorian And Grogu Releases A Brand New Trailer And Poster