Once a lone bounty hunter, Mandalorian Din Djarin and his apprentice Grogu embark on an exciting new Star Wars adventure.
When The Mandalorian launched in Fall 2019, some considered the first two seasons the savior of the Star Wars franchise. Now, seven years later, the fourth chapter is finally hitting the big screen. The Mandalorian and Grogu is fun, but safe. Any and all Star Wars fans will appreciate what is offered here. Director Jon Favreau crafts a competent film that even casual moviegoers with no prior knowledge of Star Wars content can still enjoy. However, there isn’t much that feels special about the film either. While still entertaining, this movie doesn’t feel like the next riveting adventure and instead feels more like an extended side quest just to fill time.
Hollywood is a business, as everyone knows, but a moviegoing experience should not feel that way. When producing content, it’s important to convey that there was an actual story to tell and not a weak attempt to make one up primarily just to make a dollar. More passion is the expectation. The first issue lies with the runtime. At two hours and twelve minutes, it was completely unnecessary. At least thirty minutes could have been left on the cutting room floor. During the second act, the mission established at the beginning of the film had already been accomplished. There was nothing else new to explore or witness. The characters were now just sugarfooting around already familiar spaces that did not offer anything exciting. The film answers the question of why we are here in the story too early and does not provide much plot afterward. At this point during the second act, it becomes filler, which leads to boredom.
As far as the story goes, it is fine, but incredibly simple and generic. My son is captured, please go rescue him. That’s it. It is understandable that this is a movie that came from eight episode seasons that had more time to fully flesh out a narrative, but what came before on Disney+ was far more complex. The previous show had so many moving parts and dove into the history and lore that made The Mandalorian special. This instead feels more like another soft introduction to the character if this was your first time viewing. Some of the plot choices were poor as well. When The Mandalorian was captured, for some reason the villains never removed his weapons, which goes against the logic they themselves established earlier in the film.
What’s most important is that this is not a bad film by any means. The team behind the scenes should be proud of their work, but this also did not reach its full potential. Other than a few new territories, there was not much fresh to run and tell your friends about. There were no “oh my gosh” moments to geek out over in the theater or at home. The film did not need to be a giant spectacle simply because it is Star Wars, but there also was not anything particularly memorable such as an epic showdown or standout moment. Now, the score from composer Ludwig Göransson was spectacular. Not only did he give the audience something familiar, he also brought new energy to the music department that feels fresh not only to Star Wars, but to film in general. Ludwig most certainly has his own signature style, and it stood out here through a wide range of delicate melodies.
However, the set designs were convincing, the action was precise, and the acting was respectable for the most part. The dialogue coming from Sigourney Weaver was slightly stale. It was obvious that her lines and involvement were partially used to help educate unfamiliar audiences on Star Wars lore. Other than that, you did feel for the characters, especially The Mandalorian and Grogu, but again, it was nothing new. Seeing them on just another regular Tuesday is not the best way to represent them on the big screen. Instead, a story about the marvelous weekend they had planned or one that randomly spiraled into chaos at the last minute and rivaled all of their past adventures would have been a much stronger route to take for the storytelling.
