The Mandalorian and Grogu

The Mandalorian has been at times the pinnacle of Star Wars storytelling and, at others, simply a flavor-of-the-week Law and Order-esque paint-by-numbers bore. The biggest problem, in my eyes, has always been the lack of stakes. After several seasons, the main story has hardly progressed, Grogu's place in the universe has gone nowhere, and the connection to outside lore has only ever been teased.

That said, I was still pumped.

But, why is this a movie? I have no idea. Money, but with more stakes there's usually more budget, so was it worth it? Was it a misstep? Let's see.

The opening salvo is a pulse-pounding all-out assault and a good first impression, but it's clear the budget didn't go to the CGI. The mountain AT-AT scene, the buff Hutts, all of it looks weightless and like it has no collision with the environment. The practicals and composition look great though.

Mando breaks into a bunker attacking a mafioso Imperial devotee, showing off his whole arsenal in a tightly choreographed scene that attempts to establish the dividing line between political strong-arming and heavy action confrontation. It works as an opening statement.

The score by Ludwig Göransson is absolutely brilliant, channeling the show's familiar themes mixed with booming strings and a cavalcade of tricks that maintain the Western feel while hiding a full space opera underneath. Several times throughout the film the orchestrals take center stage more than what's on screen, given ample room to breathe in a nice show of respect to what Göransson has built.

Jon Favreau knows his way around the Star Wars universe. He's proved that. But despite being on board with his vision and direction, I can't help feeling this whole movie would have played better as the B-plot in a larger film, maybe Daisy Ridley's creation of a new Jedi temple as the central storyline, with this running alongside it.

Is it just me, or does Jeremy Allen White's voice just not work for Rotta? There's no modulation. No gravel. No gravitas. It's just JAW, whom I adore, but post-production really let him down here. The whole character is one big post-production misfire. The Dejarik holochess scene is pure service pandering, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't put a little smile on my face watching the characters pop out of their respective doors.

The Shakari moon sequence, is the film's most interesting and visually stunning environment. The diner and surrounding area felt like classic Star Wars pushed outside its comfort zone, which is exactly what the franchise needs more of. Glimpses of a better movie. None of it fully realized.

The movie is clearly already broken up as is it was written as a new season of the tv show. When I've scene is done we jump to the next plot in the next location. It feels like they needed a new Star Wars movie to go to theaters simply because it's been a few years since a new Star Wars movie was in theaters. What did they have? Nothing, but the new season of Mando is almost finished. Let's use that! We don't even get anything special like returning character cameo's, anything from Luke or Ashoka, and no real force use at all outside of some minor stuff.

It's also very "cute" which I'm fine with, SW is a kids thing, it always has been. Old people live or because they saw it as kids, but it doesn't belong to us. It's for the new generation just like the prequels. Star wars was meant to sell toys and Grogu is a cash printing machine, cracked to 11 here. Andor this is not.

Overall, this has no business being a full-length feature. You have the entire breadth of the Star Wars universe to not only tap into but to shape for the next decade. And you do nothing with it. You squander it by progressing no overarching story and pivoting nowhere outside the established dynamic. It's an alright movie. But it's a wasted opportunity with a great score.