"Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu" Lacks The Saga's Important Human Touch

“It is possible to go too far with these things.” - George Lucas

These are important words to heed for anyone making a special effects-heavy film, from one of the major pioneers in the industry. It is possible to lose sight of what's important in a story, a franchise or even just a single character if you get too caught up in the razzle-dazzle. Lucas himself went too far in some respects, but perhaps he gained some wisdom from the experience of making those Prequels. We don’t have to dive too deep into that discussion in order to see the most inherent flaw that plagues Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu throughout its running time: Creator and director Jon Favreau went too far in one direction and sacrificed the one thing that makes Star Wars work in the first place. It’s not the creatures. It’s not the spaceships. It’s not the special effects. 

It’s the humans. Even in the bad Star Wars films, whatever you think they are, at least they had human faces.

We spend so much time watching this movie without seeing a single human face, but many synthetic ones. Many will watch it and wonder, “how come this works as a series, but not as a movie?” The answer is simple (and bare in mind I’ve only seen the first two seasons). The reason it works on Disney+ in small increments is because the creators (Favreau being one of them) remembered that Star Wars needs people, and because our main character (Pedro Pascal, who is still very good at acting through his confines) spends the entirety of the narrative behind a mask, it's important to populate the world around him with people who have emotions, motivations and mannerisms that are decidedly human. Characters such as these are in drastically short supply here.

The relationship between our titular leads has already been well established elsewhere, but for anyone who missed out on the series (and are still on a well-earmed Disney+ boycott), the relationship between the two will be puzzling. The film never makes an effort to show why these two need each other, how they depend on one another and why their relationship in this galaxy is so unique. The Mandalorian (a specialized bounty hunter, for those of you not in the know) has a special set of skills when it comes to battle, warfare and following the bounty hunter code. It probably goes without having to explain Grogu (a.k.a. Baby Yoda) being a baby Jedi. It’s a father-son relationship, but the movie gets so bogged down in its plot and excessive CGI that you hardly notice the film being a two-hander. 

And what about the plot? It involves bounty hunting, of course. The Mandalorian first has to search for the son of an intergalactic gangster (guess who?) named Rotta The Hutt (voiced and mo-capped by Jeremy Allen White), who needs rescuing from another gangster who has forced Rotta into a UFC-type cage battle for money. Rotta is actually perfectly fine with this existence as a means to try and live down his familial relation to the notorious Jabba. Favreau wants this to be the human side of the story as Rotta eventually becomes the unwitting accomplice to the Mandalorian and Grogu in their journey back to the planet where he took the job from Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver, who thankfully gets to retain her appearance). On the way, they encounter monster after monster and battle after battle, all of which we know will turn out just fine. 

The father-son elements of the story are superficially explored on both counts. Rotta’s need to keep a distance from his lineage might make for an interesting movie, but with White in the role and the way it’s written, it becomes the kind of casting that exists only for the sake of a nod or a wink to something else in his career. Like Martin Scorsese being the voice of a short, fast-talking, street vendor with bushy eyebrows, White seems to exist in this role because he often plays tough, vulnerable guys with daddy issues. It’s as if the casting alone is supposed to compensate for the lack of depth in the script. 

Furthermore, there comes a sequence way too late in the film where Grogu must care for his adoptive father, thereby tying together the father-son stories and making the film thematically relevant alongside the other trilogies that covered this ground. Sure, Star Wars has always had father-son conflicts as the backbone of its emotional core, but in this case… so what? Here, it's hollow and no different from referencing legacy characters, Land Speeders or AT-AT Walkers. 

Then there is the general problem with Star Wars itself and its longevity. The specialness of a new film after a seven year hiatus from the big screen feels all but gone here. Perhaps that’s a symptom of the Saga being around for close to fifty years, or maybe it’s just this film. From the get-go, with its lackluster opening credits, Star Wars: Mandalorian and Grogu just feels uninspired. I kept watching it wondering what I would remember from it, years from now when we all go back and rank all the movies one more time. Nothing. The film wants to have so many stand-up-and-cheer crescendos, but the audience reaction I saw to every big moment was noticeably muted. It doesn’t help that the plot pretty much ends at the one-hour mark. The second hour just feels like an episode #2 just dropped. 

So many will be wondering, “do I have to have seen all three seasons of the show before going in?” To that, I would say, you may as well just watch those three seasons and see if you really need more. It’s certainly better than what’s here. If you need more or are just curious, this will be streaming on Disney+ soon enough. But what does it say that so many will be wondering that to begin with? So many have lost their investment that they once held dear. This will not reinvigorate anyone to go back and watch more Star Wars. If anything, you may come away from it taking inventory of what you still love about it and if you crave anything more from it. I think I’m good. 

It’s hard to write a simple review for a new Star Wars movie now without having to go into the legacy and the big debates over the OT, Prequels, Sequels and Disney+ add-ons that seem endless at this point. Basically, for me, it has gotten to the point where somewhere along the line, the greatness we all wanted from the Saga so many years ago kept multiplying and just became sameness. I haven’t watched the Original Trilogy or the Prequels in many years. I’m thinking of just waiting until after next year when the fiftieth anniversary rolls around and we become inundated with all things Star Wars for twelve straight months. After that, I will have to take another long hiatus from it all. After all, as this movie proves, you can go too far with these things. 

P.S. Go see The Sheep Detectives instead.