The Mandalorian & Grogu - Review 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

JON Favreau was widely credited with reviving Star Wars fortunes, post The Rise of Skywalker, with his hit Disney+ series The Mandalorian. He now looks to repeat the trick by using that same character to pave the way for a successful cinematic return with The Mandalorian & Grogu.

The result is a slice of pure adrenaline-rush cinema that also takes the form of a love letter to long-term fans of the series. Without doing anything original, it’s a bona fide crowd-pleaser.

For the uninitiated, the events of The Mandalorian unfold post Return of the Jedi, as The New Republic attempts to reinstate order and scattered Empire sympathisers plot a return to the Dark Side of The Force. Mando (played by Pedro Pascal, with body double support from Lateef Crowder and Brendan Wayne) is a bounty hunter tasked with rounding up such villains and bringing them in hot or cold.

One such mission found him eventually coming to the rescue of a Yoda-like creature named Grogu, who boasts telekinetic powers and other Force-like abilities, prompting Mando to take him on as his ward.

The Mandalorian & Grogu furthers their relationship and adventures as they are tasked by The Republic’s Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver, adding yet another franchise to her impressive CV) with rescuing Rotta the Hutt (voiced by The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White) from an imperial warlord (played by Jonny Coyne) in exchange for valuable information on further suspects from his Hutt relatives.

But in true Mando tradition, there are competing agendas and competing motives. The Hutts want Rotta merely to kill him, to avoid him succeeding the throne once presided over by Jabba. While, Rotta wants nothing more than to escape the shadow of his father’s dark past and earn his own, more reputable name.

Mando’s subsequent decision to do the right thing and support Rotta places him at odds with the remaining Hutts, who despatch various other bounty hunters to capture or kill him.

It’s a Wild West style scenario befitting The Man With No Name characteristics that Pascal has long imbued into the character - and which Favreau and co-creator Dave Filoni have perpetuated throughout the series.

And it allows for a good old fashioned romp of an adventure with Mando and Grogu forced to face off against all kinds of foe, including some spectacularly conceived monsters (a white snake-like dragon hybrid is particularly eye-popping) and some suitably enigmatic fellow mercenaries.

This is a Star Wars movie that doesn’t require prior knowledge of past film canon to enjoy: there are no light-sabres, no mentions of Skywalkers or Vaders and no feeder links into those stories. Even Stormtroopers are kept to a minimum during the film’s spectacular opening mission that has something of a Where Eagles Dare boys’ own adventure feel.

But this is another element that contributes to the success of The Mandalorian as a whole: it doesn’t just draw on Star Wars but other franchises as well, with well observed tips of the helmet.

Here, there are sequences that owe more than a passing nod to the likes of Top Gun as well as horror films such as Alien. It adds an extra element of fun for older audiences able to spot and appreciate the genre nods.

The pace of proceedings is also such that there’s very little time to catch your breath in between sequences, something that could become tiresome, but which works because of the chemistry between Mando and Grogu. They’re an endearing double act in spite of the lack of words that exchange between them. Yet there’s no doubt of the strong bond that exists.

One sequence, involving Grogu’s attempts to rescue and revive Mando, is particularly well done, balancing genuine emotion with some nice comedic touches. But this further illustrates the firm grip that Favreau and Filoni have on these characters and what fans expect from the series.

Hence, while Star Wars at its very best may be innovative and now sometimes downright provocative (Andor, with its fierce political commentary), The Mandalorian very much exists to crowd-please and offer easygoing charm and entertainment.

This film version affords the opportunity for fans to further enjoy these characters on the big screen (where many feel they have always belonged given the high production values of each episode), while embracing many of the classic values the first Star Wars movie embodied in the first place.

If there is a bullet proof root to reviving Star Wars’ cinematic fortunes, then this is the way.

Certificate: 12A

Running time: 2hrs 12mins