The Mandalorian and Grogu review: why it plays like TV

The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026), starring Pedro Pascal and Sigourney Weaver, is the first Star Wars movie on the big screen in seven years. For me it left one question: how did we get here? My verdict is that the film is serviceable but inessential. Its biggest problem is that it feels like a missed opportunity for depth, made by people who are only interested in keeping things easy and fun.

After the highs of Andor, and even seasons 1 and 2 of The Mandalorian, I'm more disappointed than angry.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is structured like a Bond film but plays like TV

My mates and I are all obsessed with James Bond, and we've all said this film is structured like a Bond movie. Griffin at Film Speak pointed out the pieces to me. There's a pre-title action sequence, then the title sequence, then a return to base for the mission briefing. After that comes the mission itself, the key characters, some betrayals and a battle in the base, or in this case in the belly.

That structure has worked throughout time, and I love it in Bond films. Here, though, something about it feels like episodes of TV stitched together. That may be because Mando and Grogu are TV characters. Still, I feel you could easily cut this film into smaller parts and release them as chapters on Disney Plus. I don't think you could do that with a Bond film.

For as bad as that sounds, the opening pre-title sequence is a banger. I can understand why Disney screened the first 25 minutes at two different events. You could put it on for anyone, and I think they'd have a good time. It sells the movie and says, "Look, Star Wars is back." It doesn't have much character development, though. The one beat is Mando killing the target rather than letting them get away, which is him making a judgment call rather than following the rules.

The former Imperial Moffs premise stays in the background

We learn that the Empire's former Moffs still govern the sectors they ran when Palpatine was in power. The individual planets haven't changed just because the central government was destroyed. That's an interesting premise. It feels like something that could have a lot of depth to it.

In the end, though, it stays in the background. That's my biggest issue with the film overall. It keeps choosing the easy, fun option over the deeper one.

Grogu is stuck in a cycle where he is never allowed to grow up

I feel like Grogu is going to be in Gary Coleman mode forever, where they just won't let him grow up no matter what. That's ironic, since the first syllable of his name is grow. In season 3, Mando sent him to get Bo-Katan when he was trapped on Mandalore. Now he can't follow more basic instructions.

I do understand that they're having him make his own choices and do things a different way, because it will help in the long run. Din doesn't see it, but the character still comes across as a bit of a kid. I know he is a kid, but how long can he stay one? He does get some growth at the end. I just don't know how long they can drag this out.

While the movie played, I even started thinking that Mando and Grogu's story ended in season 2, episode 8. Everything since then might just be a corporation dragging out a story to make money. To me, no ending for these characters will ever top that bittersweet feeling of a father figure watching his son go off to college.

The rebuilt Razor Crest and a possible soft reset for season 4

I think it's clear they don't want to do anything interesting with these characters. The stunted growth even shows in the Razor Crest, which we learn has been rebuilt. Roll everything back, and there are no more consequences. Din clearly wants to go back to his old ways.

I think season 4 will be a soft reset. All the tumultuous civil war material with Bo-Katan, the Darksaber and Mandalore might be missing or glossed over. That's a shame. I think it's a missed opportunity not to build these characters toward something like a Thrawn film, with characters from this era such as Ahsoka potentially leading toward it. The Thrawn movie should have been the movie here.

The Hutts, Rotta and a plot that feels like video game objectives

Sigourney Weaver's character is where we discover the Hutts want their nephew Rotta back. In exchange, they'll hand the New Republic the Imperial locations. What they really want is to kill Rotta, because he's Jabba's son and an heir who could threaten their rule.

It's an okay premise, but this is where the film starts going through the motions. Mando goes from point A to B to C, and so on. An image of Rotta from The Clone Wars and a Martin Scorsese cameo can't save it when it feels like he's completing objectives in a video game. I enjoyed seeing Zeb, and even Dave Filoni, but every character felt surface level. In the lead-up to this, I didn't even think they might make Sigourney Weaver the secret baddie. Everything is as straightforward as you'd expect.

Mando eventually reaches Rotta and learns he's sick of living in his father's shadow and wants to be his own person. That mirrors Grogu and Din's relationship, so you start to root for Rotta. There's a fight involving the chess pieces from the Millennium Falcon and a big escape. Then comes another mission to take out an Imperial commander once Rotta confirms the details. That means they don't have to go back to the Hutts. They cut out the middleman, and Din disobeys orders to do it.

The stakes aren't there, even with Din's helmet off

Then one episode ends and a new one begins, with new bounty hunters. Rotta and Din are captured, and the Hutts drop Din into a monster pit. He fights a big leviathan, gets poisoned, and returns to take them down.

This movie is hard to spoil. Even moments like Din's helmet coming off, which should have impact, have happened time and time again in the show. At this point we're used to it, and the stakes aren't there.

Alongside this runs a thread about Grogu becoming his own person rather than living under Din. Unfortunately, it feels like a retread of season 2. It undoes the growth from season 3 and The Book of Boba Fett, which is like season 2.5. Grogu's powers are all over the place too. He uses the Force to save the day in some situations and is completely powerless in others.

Grogu keeping Din alive gives the film some of its biggest moments

I do like how Grogu keeps Din alive. These small moments felt like some of the biggest in the movie. I didn't even wonder if the Mandalorian might die and we'd get a sort of western staple, the kind used as recently as Logan. I've played through The Last of Us thousands of times, and the series does something very similar with Ellie.

Pedro Pascal is good at playing an injured, poisoned man, but Din is fine in the end. That feels like another missed opportunity for growth. Grogu does become more of a partner as they take down the Hutts in the final act. The Hutts end up fed to the leviathan, with a big CGI fight along the way.

In the end Grogu is safe and is given a place with the rebels. The film closes with Din letting Grogu take the wheel of the Razor Crest. That gives him a kind of independence he's never had before, apart from when he left to be with Luke. I wish the series itself wanted to give him growth, though. I'm not sure how many times we can do these arcs, padding things out for as long as the cow keeps making milk. Grogu, grow up.

Star Wars used to be a cultural event, and now it feels like content

I don't want to be someone who only tears down Star Wars and Marvel. I'm trying to appreciate film rather than knock it. But it's hard to see Star Wars in the cinema after seven years and not talk about it because you're disappointed.

To me, this is the movie equivalent of a tie-in comic. For the first Star Wars film on the big screen in seven years, it makes me think: what's the point? It could easily have been season 4 or a Disney Plus release. I feel they made a movie because they felt they had to, not because they had a great script and a set-in-stone vision that would take Star Wars to the next level.

Star Wars used to be cultural events because these stories meant something. Even with a massive gap between releases, it kept you invested. I wasn't there for the original trilogy, as I'm not that old, but I saw the special editions in cinemas and went to all the prequels. It was a massive thing that everyone across the world felt part of. A Star Wars movie was here, and you were going on Friday, first showing, no matter what.

Star Wars came from an independent studio with a creative mind behind it. For all his flaws, Lucas didn't seem like he was making things just to make them. Now the message is: "It's a fun ride. It's a roller coaster. It'll entertain the kids for 2 hours. Go see it in IMAX." The sweeping tales of morality are gone. The franchise has gone from events to outlining a season of TV, cutting it to two hours, and charging you for something that will be on Disney Plus a month later under a subscription you already pay for.

From The Force Awakens to Solo: what the box office says about apathy

When Disney got the franchise, The Force Awakens made $2 billion, closer to three adjusted for inflation. That showed the goodwill Lucas had built up around the IP, and Rogue One followed with another billion. In just 11 years, we've reached the point where this film might not even beat what Solo brought in. The budget is a lot lower, which shows where expectations are.

What I think is even worse is that not many people seem to care. When I've shared these opinions, people have told me to be happy we're getting anything. Things used to be better than this. I think that apathy is showing at the box office too. The people who made The Force Awakens a $2 billion film didn't all disappear or suddenly turn against Disney. They simply stopped caring.

Personally, I'd rather have nothing than something so mediocre and by the numbers that it doesn't challenge me, make me feel anything, or grow beyond flashy things on screen. If the next Bond movie were bad and people told me to be happy I got something, I'd wonder why the franchise had been reduced to that. Luckily, I think Amazon seems to care about Bond, and every announcement around the film suggests they're treating it like holy ground. I can't say the same for Star Wars.

Star Wars once revolutionized cinema, but The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn't push the envelope

I believe that if you're handed the biggest franchise in the world, it's your duty to take it seriously so you aren't the one who ruins it. This film has no character development, no overarching theme to apply to our lives, no memorable moments, and nothing that pushes the envelope. The original trilogy revolutionized cinema. However divisive the prequels were, they changed how movies were made, with new techniques for CGI characters and environments.

When you compare this with Dune Messiah, I think it's night and day in effort, quality and creative vision. I have a finite amount of time, and if a franchise is going to waste it, I'm sure most of the audience will go elsewhere, which is how we got here. I don't think Nolan will come out and tell us to turn our brains off for The Odyssey. Fun isn't selling tickets anymore.

The counterpoint I get is that the Mario and Minecraft movies made a billion without much quality. But those are early films, and I think people checked them out out of curiosity. They'll hit a point where they need to improve, because I can't see ten Minecraft movies still making a billion at that level. With Star Wars, we already know what a good film looks like, and that curiosity isn't as strong. You can see the same declining interest with Avatar. Franchises like Bond, Marvel, Star Wars and Mission: Impossible carry big expectations. If Tom Cruise said a new Mission: Impossible didn't do much, you'd tell him he needs to go to space.

Favreau can do better, but everyone feels handcuffed by the franchise

I feel Star Wars can do better, and Favreau can do better, too. This is the studio that made Andor, yet it seems happy to churn this out to tick a box because people will rush to defend it. I know Favreau can be creative, but everyone seems handcuffed by the franchise. The result is the most middle-of-the-road, uneventful thing, with no arcs and no character development, ending roughly where it started. Even Mando and Grogu are like Boba Fett and Yoda clones.

Imagine if I told you I was putting together something big, then said to lower your expectations because it's just a fun one, but go see it in IMAX. Would that sound like I cared about my craft? There are so many options now, and they should all be fighting for every person's time. Star Wars knows it needs a hit. Between The Book of Boba Fett, Mandalorian season 3, The Acolyte, and all the movie announcements that get quietly canceled, it feels like they're dipping their toe in and doing the bare minimum. And the Rey movie isn't getting made.

This movie is serviceable. Nobody is going to say it ruined their childhood, which was something I heard a lot during the prequels. But it isn't solid enough to bring the franchise back from the brink. I went in with lower expectations. Star Wars fans tend to, I'd say, overhype things, so when even they were saying to lower your expectations, I could tell it wasn't going to go well. I wonder if Filoni can pull things out of this tailspin. I may sound angry, but mostly I'm disappointed. On Starfighter, I'm trying to remain optimistic, but after seeing where the bar is, I have a very bad feeling about this.