The Mandalorian and Grogu

 Welcome back to the Galaxy …

Years ago, when I looked at The Rise of Skywalker, I mused that Star Wars could use a few years of dormancy. Small Screen aside, the franchise is finally back with The Mandalorian and Grogu, the feature debut of Disney Plus's The Mandalorian. With showrunner Jon Favreau at the helm, this might be the way. 

Maybe.

Din Djarin, The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal when he’s unmasked; Brendan Wayne or Lateef Crowder when he isn’t, though it’s still Pascal talking), is a bounty hunter cut from the same cloth as franchise favorite Boba Fett. Grogu is a force-wielding moppet from the same species as another franchise favorite, Yoda. Together, they fight the remnants of the Galactic Empire. After a hunt in the cold open, their employer, Col. Ward (Sigourney Weaver) sends him on another. 

Their quarry, this time, is Commander Janu Coin (Jonny Coyne; yes, really). Jabba the Hutt’s twin siblings (whose actors are probably a national secret) know where he is, but they’ll only talk if “Mando” retrieves their nephew, Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White). Our heroes find Rotta as a gladiator on the planet Shakari, where they conveniently find Coin as Rotta’s handler. It also turns out that the twins want Rotta dead, and they’ve hired the bounty hunter Embo to make it so. Our heroes will have to get out of this somehow, but you know they will.

Obviously, its biggest draws are right there in the title. Mando provides most of the cool action, particularly with his fight with - and even within - Imperial Walkers in the opening. But since Mando is mostly helmeted, Grogu is supposed to be the emotional anchor. I mean, when Mando is incapacitated by the twins’ Dragon-Snake, we’re fully invested in Grogu as he searches for a cure. Despite some emotional suspense, it’s obvious from a mile away that Mando will pull through. Nevertheless, it’s still fun watching the little guy do his thing. It’s also nice watching him and Mando’s surrogate familial relationship play out; it's even funnier considering that Grogu is actually older than Mando!

Let's see who else is in their Galaxy. There's Rotta, who's so buff that he looks like a photorealistic Battletoad. That aside, he's an upstanding guy who gets to showcase his fighting skills a few times. None other than Martin Scorsese also features as Hugo Durant, who helps lead Mando to Rotta. He's so entertaining that I'm kind of disappointed he wasn't in the film a whole lot. Stephen Mckinley Henderson, as the aquatic fisherman Gatori, also makes the most of his limited screentime. Commander Coin is surprisingly funny, while the Twins are perfectly detestable. Weaver is mostly fine as Ward, but just her showing up flying an X-Wing in the climax is just cool. Keep in mind, some of these "new" characters are actually franchise veterans making their live-action/movie debuts. Fortunately, you won't be lost if you haven't kept up with everything ever.

What else can you expect from behind the scenes? As with the show, Grogu was brought to life with some spectacular puppeteering work. It's practically impossible to tell how much of him was digitally augmented, if at all. The obviously digital creatures, meanwhile, are still an interesting bunch. We get to see Rotta battle a bunch in Coin's colosseum, before they turn on the audience (long story). The opening battle is spectacular, even interesting as the Walkers' march along a mountain might make one think of Hannibal's. All the action afterwards is still up to that old Star Wars standard, though it's also a bit overlong. Ludwig Goransson returns from the show to score the film, even giving us a few renditions of the show's opening theme. His work is just as good as John Williams' standards, though I wouldn't bet on Oscar number four here.

The Mandalorian and Grogu begin and end their film the same characters. The same holds true of their Galaxy. This movie is just an adventure for them, and not a narrative progression like the Downton Abbey trilogy. It's also 113-minutes long, which is way too long for a story this thin. But if you're just here for some Star Wars action, as well as its titular characters, you'll do fine. I am; will you?