“Mandalorian and Grogu” A Fun and Exciting Addition to the “Star Wars” Franchise

Now that I finally had the chance to get through the three seasons of “The Mandalorian on Disney Plus, it was time to see their big screen adventure in “Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.” While this big screen adaptation can feel like an over-long episode of the series, it is still a fun “Star Wars” adventure!

The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin and his young apprentice Grogu. 

Even though I’m just a casual fan of the on-going franchise, it’s good to see the series return to the big screen after being stuck on streaming since 2019. Sure “The Mandalorian and Grogu” might not be the best big screen offering for the “Star Wars” franchise, yet it still delivers some fun action and is something while whole family can also enjoy together - especially if you like the series or just a fan of Grogu (a.k.a. Baby Yoda).

The overall narrative of the first theatrical “Star Wars” movie in years is fairly simple and it actually mirrors the magic of the show’s first season. I really enjoyed how the movie strips away the complex, heavy lore setups of the third season and just delivers us a straight-forward, stand-alone space western. This movie also gives us some heartfelt “found family” moments from Din Djarin and Grogu (who also gets plenty of moments to shine).

Throughout the big screen Mandalorian and Grogu adventure, there is still plenty of action to enjoy. We get to see Din Djarin back to his peak form as we see him kick some major butt in quite a few action-packed moments. In one scene, we see Djarin face off against a giant sear serpent-like creature in a tense moment after dealing with the Hutts.

The opening sequence is probably one of my favorite scenes of the movie as it sort of echoes “The Empire Strikes Back.” In the thrilling opening, our favorite Mandalorian single-handedly takes down multiple AT-AT walkers. Also, in this sequence, there’s a hilarious moment where Mando delays exiting a bomb-filled walker, causing Groru to panic, repeatedly banging his tiny hands on Mando’s helmet. There’s also a fun

sequence where Din Djarin and Rotta the Hutt (Jabba’s son) have to survive inside a gladiator-style fighting pit.

There’s a pivotal, and also moving role reversal care-taking segment that makes Grogu truly shine. When Din Djarin is severely weakened, Grogu takes charge without relying solely on the Force. He goes on a little mission to gather resources, hides Mando from numerous hunters and ends up nursing him back to health.

While the movie’s production team uses a lot of CGI for quite a few sequences (and still looks pretty decent), they also used some practical effects that makes the overall story feel grounded. The creature designs look awesome and the Grogu puppet really stands out and reminds me of the use of puppets in the original trilogy.

The overall response to “The Mandalorian and Grogu has been heavily divided, resulting in a classic split between critics and audiences. While critics found the movie to be “too safe,” general audiences have really enjoyed this “Star Wars” adventure. Fans are also praising the movie for its fun, action-packed adventure and the beloved dynamic between the two leads.

Cast: Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian); Jeremy Allen White (Rotta the Hutt); Martin Scorsese (Hugo Durant); Sigourney Weaver (Colonel Ward); Steve Blum (Zeb Orrelias)

Writer/director: Jon Favreau (writer; also director) (The Mandalorian; The Book of Boba Fett); Dave Filoni (co-writer) (Star Wars: Maul - Shadow Lord); Noah Kloor (co-writer)

MPA: Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action   (runtime 132 minutes)

Make sure to follow my Wyoming County Press Examiner reviews page on Facebook to see the latest review slates that I have planned and also some trivia bits on the movies that I check out for the paper. 

https://youtu.be/uwild1rw7Aw?si=qEXUWLrC9MJe0Ro-

• The large robots The Mandalorian fights were stop motion animation created by Phil Tippett, who also created the stop motion effects for the original Star Wars trilogy.

• The creatures in the gladiatorial scene are all full-size versions of those from the Dejarik chess game seen aboard the Millennium Falcon in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977). The floor of the arena also has the same round shape and checkered pattern as the Dejarik chess board. The move that R2-D2 made in A New Hope (a huge gray bipedal creature lifting a smaller yellow one over its head and then smashing it on the ground) is also replicated in the arena fight scene.

• By her own admission, Sigourney Weaver joined the cast of this film because she really wanted to act onscreen with Grogu himself.

• First Star Wars live action movie with cast and crew credits near the beginning.

• With the release of the second trailer on February 17, 2026, LucasFilm revealed that Martin Scorsese has a cameo in the film as an alien, which included the official twitter using the popular "absolute cinema" meme of Scorsese. The famous director and actor is a friend of Star Wars creator George Lucas, and was part of a group of prominent filmmakers from the 1970s that also includes Steven Spielberg and Francis Ford Coppola.

• Jeremy Allen White was never directly present on the set. He had recorded Rotta's lines before filming began, which were played back for the actors.

• The first theatrically-released movie to directly tie-in with the Disney+ Star Wars shows.

• Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau have denied the understandable fan speculation that the film is a compressed version of their plans for the show's fourth season, and they instead designed it from the ground up to work as a standalone work.

• The first Star Wars film in 7 years, since the release of Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker (2019).