Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Review
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) Film Review, a movie directed by Jon Favreau, written by Dave Filoni, Noah Kloor and Jon Favreau and starring Pedro Pascal, Jeremy Allen White, Martin Scorsese, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Blum, Matthew Willig, Hemky Madera, Anthony Daniels, Jonny Coyne, Myles Humphus, London Stubblefield, Christopher Alan Robinson, Portia D. Harris and Evan Shafran.
Actor/filmmaker Jon Favreau adequately brings the latest Star Wars adventure to the big screen, The Mandalorian and Grogu. While the new picture is very dark at times and certainly not for young children, it does have some very admirable qualities that fans of the Star Wars pictures from the 1970’s and 1980’s will delight in. Grogu (sometimes called “Baby Yoda”) will put smiles on the faces of fans of the old George Lucas films in the franchise, but there are several unique modern-day touches that don’t always work well for a would-be grand Star Wars picture such as this one.
This film begins with introducing the popular bounty hunter/Mandalorian, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), a character who can basically serve as an updated version of Boba Fett from at least one of the original films. Well, at least from a costume standpoint anyway.
Although Favreau’s new picture is pleasantly entertaining, for the most part, it is also a bit meandering at times as it traces our heroic characters with a lot of pleasant diversions that don’t lead anywhere. There is still some substance to be found at the very core of the picture, though.
Grogu is presented as the Mandalorian’s little sidekick right at the new film’s start. If you’ve seen Yoda in the earlier films, you’ll know the type of green creature that Grogu is. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu has opening credits unlike the original Star Wars films that inspired it. That may have been a mistake. When you see Martin Scorsese billed as one of the top actors in the movie, it’s possible to get one’s hopes up, but Scorsese is heard in just a couple of fun, brief scenes within the picture as a food truck vendor, Hugo Durant, who has answers to questions that the Mandalorian seeks out.
This film cleverly employs the son of Jabba the Hutt from Return of the Jedi fame into the action here. This character, Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), is really elaborately created although the dialogue that he’s given is somewhat trite at given times in the picture. The action in Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu will keep Star Wars fans greatly intrigued in the premise of this newest film in the series.
However, the new movie is very dark with a gruesome sea dragon fighting the Mandalorian in a key sequence later in the film. This monster is way too scary for young kids who may be the target audience of this picture. There’s nothing wrong with the film per se except for the lack of much of a plot and the fact that it’s hard to decide if it’s meant more for adults than children.
Sigourney Weaver plays the Mandalorian’s employer, Colonel Ward, and Weaver has a decent sized role in the movie. She appears in the opening scenes to hire the Mandalorian (a self- proclaimed “independent contractor”) for a big job. Ward later reappears to play a key role in the movie later on. Weaver has fun on-screen even though this performance will be nowhere to be found on her greatest career performances lists.
Jonny Coyne serves as Lord Janu, another potentially evil character who is mixed into the action as well. There is a fascinating series of events revolving around Rotta the Hut and other people like Lord Janu, but there are not always memorable plot developments to be found on-screen, unfortunately.
Grogu fares well in his major scenes within this movie. Grogu must save The Mandalorian after he is poisoned and audiences will be on the edge of their seats watching Grogu work alongside some little characters who could give the Ewoks a run for their money in terms of being totally adorable to watch. The less said about those characters, the better as they surprise often in the storyline.
Pedro Pascal takes his helmet off just a few times in the movie. His face is mostly hidden behind the helmet his character wears so well. Pascal has charisma when he takes on the aforementioned sea creature and others like it, but his performance is hard to really analyze underneath the mask he wears throughout. Grogu is cute, for sure, but is limited by his lack of dialogue. In fact, he’s almost completely silent, unlike big Yoda from the series.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu has plenty to like about it. Despite the movie’s dark tone, the story featured here about the importance of the old protecting the young and vice versa certainly is ultimately carried home successfully. This film’s world-building is also impressive as one can envision the movie’s original storyboards and see the creativity that went into this all.
If Grogu is far from being as compelling as Yoda was, he’s still a well-conceived movie character. What’s most impressive about Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is that it never truly feels like it’s over two hours in length even though it is. For what it’s worth, this spin-off movie is never truly dull despite its threadbare plot and meandering nature. It marks a screen pairing of its title characters and immerses the viewer in a creative landscape that is more intriguing than not. Devoted Star Wars fans will enjoy this one more than the everyday viewer.
Rating: 7/10
Leave your thoughts on this Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu review and the film below in the comments section. Readers seeking to support this type of content can visit our Patreon Page and become one of FilmBook’s patrons. Readers seeking more film reviews can visit our Movie Review Page, our Movie Review Twitter Page, and our Movie Review Facebook Page. Want up-to-the-minute notifications? FilmBook staff members publish articles by Email, Mobile App, Google News, Apple News, Feedly, Twitter, Faceboo