The Mandalorian and Grogu - A Review

 

It's been six and a half years since Grogu first stole the hearts of all Star Wars fans when he first appeared on the (then brand new) Disney + streaming service. Grogu and his adopted father, Din Djarin (a.k.a. "The Mandalorian," or just "Mando") have gone on to have three seasons worth of amazing adventures.

A fourth season was in the works, when Disney executives decided to pull the plug. Why? Because no success is truly a success unless the margins are high enough.

In spite of that colossal brain-fart, a project was greenlit to make a Mandalorian movie instead of a fourth season. That project went forward, and the movie has now been released.

So far, the reviews have been mediocre.

I think I know why. If you were a fan of the show, this movie is nothing short of excellent. It delivers all the cute Grogu moments we've all come to know and love, while giving the series a fine wrap-up, still leaving the door open for a bit more, should Disney execs ever decide to get their heads out of their asses and remember that they're in the entertainment business - a business that inherently comes with a certain amount of risk.

However, if one were not a fan of the show, one would view this movie as only okay. It jumps around a lot, and to the uninitiated, this might make the film seem listless. Even undisciplined.

But this is far from the case.

We need to remember that this film is a fallback. A whole Season Four's worth of material was already written. So, when transposing this into a single film, Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau apparently decided to cut all the "monster of the week" episodes, keep the main story arc, and whittle what was left down into two hours and twelve minutes.

The formula worked. But it was guaranteed to go over the heads of movie critics who were un-initiated. Which it did.

When we concluded Season Three of The Mandalorian, Din Djarin had retired to Nevarro, choosing to take on occasional contractor work with the New Republic whenever it needed help in taking out Imperialist warlords. The person he contracts with is Teva, an older, bearded X-wing pilot.

In the movie, Din is continuing with this arrangement. But his main contact is not Teva (although we do see him). Instead, his New Republic contact is named Colonel Ward, played by Sigourney Weaver. As payment for his last job, as well as down-payment on his next one, she gives Din an old ST-70 assault ship, just like the one that used to be the Razor Crest. When Din points out how this collectors' item is worth much more than what he would make with two jobs, she gives him the details. He must go to the Huts on Nal Hutta, and consult with "The Twins," who are cousins of the late Jabba the Hutt. In exchange for the New Republic rescuing their nephew Rotta the Hutt, Jabba's son, they will provide the New Republic information as to the whereabouts of an Imperial warlord named Commander Coin.

Din doesn't want to work for the Hutts. He knows them well from his days on Tatooine. But Colonel Ward reminds him that he won't be working for the Hutts. He will be working for the New Republic. Reluctantly, Din Djarin accepts. Or rather, he doesn't bother to outright say "no." Instead, he simply flies off in the ST-70, which is apparently all the "yes" the New Republic needs. From this point on, the ship becomes the new "Razor Crest." Entertainingly, his assigned associate is none other than Zeb Orrelios, whom many Star Wars fans will remember from the series Star Wars: Rebels. Zeb is a member of a species known as Lasat, and in Rebels, he was working to rebuild the Lasat race, which the Empire had nearly rendered extinct. Apparently, he came back to work with the New Republic, working with the Adelphi Rangers. Perhaps he did so at the behest of his long-time associate, Hera Syndulla, whom we know to be a General in the New Republic, as depicted in the Star Wars series, Ahsoka.

Din goes to Nal Hutta and meets with the Twins. They tell him that Rotta the Hutt is to be found on the planet Shakari. (And, if you're a devotee of Star Trek, you can't help but notice the parallels between Shakari, and Sha Ka Ree, the purported "Eden," from Star Trek V, out beyond the Galactic Barrier, where an alien entity masquerading as "God" lives.)

We first met Rotta the Hutt in an episode of Clone Wars, where Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano rescued the Hutling from Separatist forces. As this is years later, Rotta has grown much larger. The Twins, knowing that Rotta is a potential rival to the rulership of the crime syndicate, sent him off to Shakari hoping that he would be killed. But instead, Rotta became a gladiator. After winning his first matches, he was apparently genetically enhanced. He gained arm length and strength which other hutts typically don't possess (as has been noted by more than one fan).

When Din Djarin finds him, Rotta insists he isn't in need of rescue, as his aunt and uncle claim. He knows that they simply want to kill him to ensure their rulership of the Hutt Cartel, and he isn't interested in any of that. Instead, he wants to be free and independent. If he wins his next fight, he will have paid off his debtors' contract, and will be legally free. That's all he wants. He refuses Din's offer of "rescue."

Din goes to the man who holds Rotta's gladiator contract, a man named Janu. After some fisticuffs with Janu's underlings, he manages to see him. He offers to buy out Rotta's contract. Janu not only refuses, he admits that Rotta will die in his last match. He counteroffers to buy off Din Djarin, by not only giving back all the credits Din offered, but by giving him a substantial amount of salt -- something that particular world counts as highly valuable.

Din discards the salt and decides this will have to be done the hard way. He decides to break Rotta out, whether he wants it or not. But the plan backfires. Rotta, still believing that he can free himself with one more victory, calls security. Din is gassed. He tells Grogu to flee, but passes out before he can do anything.

When Din comes to, he realizes that the next opponent Rotta will have to fight is him. Grogu, he sees, has been caged nearby. He fights well, but loses, as Rotta crushes him. Only his beskar armor saves his life. When he recovers, he manages to take one of Rotta's blades, and fights well enough to bring the blade to Rotta's throat. The crowd chants loudly for Din to kill Rotta. But he refuses. He throws his weapons down, says he yeilds, and declares Rotta the victor.

Janu declares Rotta the winner, and says he is free - to die. At this point, he releases several fearsome creatures, most of whom fans recognize as the same creatures from the board game Chewbacca plays against R2-D2 in the original Star Wars film. In fact, in the ensuing melee, some of the creatures' moves even parallel that board game exactly!

Rotta and Din work in tandem. When one of the creatures, who possesses a bio-electric charge as one of its weapons, is thrown into the electric barrier, the entire system shorts out. The beasts, realizing that they are suddenly free, abandon their opponents and rush into the crowd, devouring and terrorizing as they go.

Rotta, Din, and Grogu are all freed. Rotta at first decides to flee, saying he can't go back to Nal Hutta. But Din chases him down and captures him.

On transit back to Yavin, Rotta fills Din in on the real story. Once Rotta is turned over to the Twins, they will give him the information he wants, which is that Janu is actually Commander Coin. With this useless information given, they'll kill Rotta, and warn Coin in advance.

Din decides to check Rotta's story. Sure enough, when Rotta guides them to Janu's palace, they see oodles of stormtroopers. They sack the palace, capture Janu Coin, and take him back to the New Republic.

Colonel Ward, on seeing this, is less than fully pleased. True, they got the information, and the warlord they wanted, but at the expense of backstabbing the Twins. The New Republic had apparently been working to ingratiate the Twins for some time, and now all that work had been undermined. She warns Din that the Twins won't take kindly to the double-cross.

Din returns to Nevarro. He enlists the help of the Anzellans to help modify the new Razor Crest. We remember the Anzellans from the final season of The Mandalorian, as they repaired IG-11 into IG-12, turning it into a transport which Grogu could pilot. ("Bad baby! No Squeezie!")

But all is not well on Nevarro. The Twins enlist the assistant of a bounty hunter named Embo, who is characterized by his wide-brimmed beskar hat, impervious to blaster fire. He successfully traps Din, and then flies off to Nal Hutta.

Grogu, now alone, teams up with the Anzellans, who journey to Nal Hutta in pursuit. They succeed in finding Din, in large part because both they and their vessel are so small that they escape notice. Grogu, working alone, must find his adopted father before it's too late.

And that's about as far as I can take the story without spoiling too much. What I've outlined is the first 1.5 segments of a three-segment plot, abbreviated for the sake of turning something which was originally and eight-part miniseries into a two-hour movie. And that effort works, but it does feel periodic at times. When Din comes back to Yavin, culprit in hand, the film feels over. But we all know, it's too soon. Something, somehow, will go wrong, and does.

I can tease certain things already revealed by trailers: a giant white snake, a long trek by Grogu through swampland, a huge X-wing squadron strike.

But that's all. This is a five-star movie for fans. For movie reviewers who are only passingly familiar with the franchise, it is a 3-star movie at best.

And if that movie reviewer doesn't know who Zeb Orrelios is, you can rule out that person's opinion.

Eric

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