3 stars, Rated PG-13, 132 minutes
Sci-fi’s biggest franchise takes a breather in “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” the first Star Wars film to hit theaters since 2019’s “The Rise of Skywalker” — and the best one since director Rian Johnson’s 2017 entry, “The Last Jedi.”
The charming movie, releasing Friday, May 22, should be a salve for longtime fans, and a smart grab for new ones who aren’t invested in the tangled, increasingly tedious lore of the Skywalker family. Notably, director J.J. Abrams’ 2019 terrible “The Rise of Skywalker” steered Star Wars away from Johnson’s exploration of royalty and class struggle, and right into a brick wall of dumb nostalgia.
And yet, “The Mandalorian and Grogu” director Jon Favreau has done what seemed impossible after that abysmal entry: Making Star Wars feel light and fun again. Favreau, lately the tech-forward director of big-budget Disney tentpoles (from Marvel’s “Iron Man” to “The Lion King” remake), imbues “The Mandalorian” with mischief, confidence, and an unabashed love for classic practical effects, from cute puppets to stop-motion animation that shows the human personality of the artists who give them life.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” finds our helmeted hero Din Djarin (voiced and briefly acted on screen by Pedro Pascal) and his “Baby Yoda,” Force-wielding companion Grogu on another adventure to bring bad guys to justice. The action takes place against the grimy backdrop of the Galactic Empire’s attempts to reconvene after the events of 1983’s “Return of the Jedi,” which essentially makes it Season 4 of “The Mandalorian.” That’s a good thing, as Favreau’s bounty hunter action-drama on Disney+ also breathed new life into Star Wars when it debuted in 2019.
And really, that’s all you need to know. Unlike the third season of “The Mandalorian,” which twisted itself into pretzels trying to unite various, canonical Star Wars series (“The Clone Wars,” “Ahsoka” and “Rebels”), Favreau’s handsome, grounded “Mandalorian” movie stands alone by swapping plot for swift action and laughs.
That’s right — this is a movie that cannot be spoiled, because there are no spoilers. There are surprises, sure: the always-great Sigourney Weaver plays a New Republic colonel who sends Mando and Grogu on their latest adventure, which is deeper and more dangerous than it at first seems. Rotta, the son of Jabba the Hutt, is being pursued by an aunt and uncle who want him brought back to their homeworld of Nal Hutta. And Mando? He’s the only one who can do it.
But Rotta, voiced by Jeremy Allen White, doesn’t want to be rescued, as he’s about to win his freedom from a former Empire warlord in his final gladiator bout. The inevitable action is less commentary on humans’ bloodlust and more monster-movie spectacle that recalls the stop-motion genius of Ray Harryhausen (“Jason and the Argonauts,” “Clash of the Titans”) with wild, inventive character designs that prove there are still weird things to uncover in the Star Wars universe.
With his surprising emotional depth and sympathetic rendering, the CGI-Rotta feels unlike anything in the Star Wars universe, and the film is better for it, despite him being a giant, muscular slug. (This is a sci-fi, so why not be strange?)
Like Star Wars creator George Lucas, Favreau and “Clone Wars” creator/Lucasfilm president Dave Filoni have channeled their own influences and love of serial adventures into this era of Star Wars. Lucas may have blended Flash Gordon and Akira Kurosawa’s samurai stories, but this one incorporates decades of Star Wars itself while still leaning heavily on the Western tropes (i.e. justice outside the law) and ancient codes of honor. He also seems to pick up some influence from Denver-reared Johnson, whose “The Last Jedi” found a clever balance of humor and pathos amid the lore-heavy lifting.
It’s hard to overstate just how disconnected this movie is from the Star Wars canon. Though the plot is essentially about tying up loose ends after “Return of the Jedi,” the story requires no knowledge of Star Wars’ uneven backstory. Of course, it assumes some familiarity with the Disney+ series (still the finest Star Wars TV behind ) but spends almost no time rehashing it, dispensing with intros and jumping right into eye-candy set pieces.
It’s glorious high adventure that, like the original Star Wars trilogy, is both accessible and visually daring. It wouldn’t be Star Wars without a lot of father-son role-playing, whether it’s Mando becoming a redemptive surrogate for Rotta, or Rotta himself calling out Mando and Grogu’s special bond. These moments of tenderness are given uncommon elbow room, never overstaying their welcome but always reinforcing the web of connections between characters.
It’s true of the movie in general, which charts an exciting new path for this aging franchise — no lightsabers required.
