The Mandalorian and Grogu Review: A Fun, Family-Friendly Star Wars Adventure Forged for the Big Screen
The Mandalorian & Grogu delivers exactly what director Jon Favreau promised: a standalone Star Wars adventure that welcomes newcomers while rewarding longtime fans. It’s fast-paced, funny, packed with action, and created to play to a crowd. Whether you’ve followed the Disney+ series or are jumping into this corner of the galaxy for the first time, the film is easy to enjoy. While characters and references from previous Star Wars projects appear throughout, you never need to do homework to understand what’s happening. Favreau successfully balances fan service with a straightforward adventure story. The result feels closer to a classic father-son action-adventure than a lore-heavy mythology piece.
This movie is loaded with non-stop thrilling action. Speeder chases, live-action Dejarik matches, and explosive Mandalorian combat that keep the energy high throughout the film. There are also plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, many of which come courtesy of Grogu, who steals nearly every scene he appears in.
The story takes place in the era between Return of the Jedi and the sequel trilogy, as the New Republic struggles to maintain order following the fall of the Empire. Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver) recruits legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his adopted son and apprentice Grogu for a dangerous mission which sends them across the galaxy in pursuit of Imperial threats and criminal syndicates. Their mission leads them to Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White), his aunt and uncle “The Twins,” (seen in The Book of Boba Fett), and a group of tiny Anzellans that must begrudgingly work with ”bad baby” Grogu.
Longtime fans will especially connect with the deep-cut Easter eggs sprinkled throughout the movie. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni (Lucasfilm President & COO / co-writer) must have loved playing with their Return of the Jedi Amanaman action figure from 1985, because his species is brought to life in a big way here. Sharp-eyed fans will catch cameos from familiar Lucasfilm faces including Dave Filoni, Deborah Chow (Obi-Wan Kenobi director), and Doug Chiang (Executive Creative Director), plus exciting appearances from Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum reprising his role from Rebels). Phil Tippet, legendary stop-motion animator on the original trilogy, returned to create two battle bots in the Hutt Twins’ palace and animate them using stop-motion technology.
To our surprise, Rotta the Hutt has one of the strongest character arcs in the film. Based on the trailers — especially seeing the buffed-up Hutt in the gladiator arena — it would’ve been easy to expect a rough, hardened brute. Instead, Rotta emerges as a surprisingly empathetic character once you see everything he’s forced to endure. It quickly becomes clear why the filmmakers needed an actor with real dramatic range to bring Rotta to life through the vocal performance alone.
Musically, composer Ludwig Göransson elevates the movie with a larger-scale cinematic score that expands beautifully on themes from the series. During a press roundtable, Favreau and Filoni shared that Göransson personally reached out asking to return to this universe, and his enthusiasm shows in every cue. The opening swell of the Mandalorian theme over the title credits (a first for a Star Wars film) is genuinely emotional, while the end credits feature an unexpected and infectious blend of orchestral score, folk influences, and almost EDM-style beats. There’s even a fiddle-driven folk version of the Mandalorian theme that will reward viewers who stay through the credits.
Ultimately, The Mandalorian & Grogu succeeds because it understands exactly what it wants to be: a fun, crowd-pleasing Star Wars adventure for all ages. It’s not trying to reinvent the mythology or drown viewers in lore. Because of that it mirrors the format of the Disney+ series; Din Djarin has a mission but is constantly sidetracked. It is a blown up episode that is purely cinematic. Be assured, Grogu exceeds what he could do on the small screen.
Learn more behind-the-scenes facts from Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau:
The Mandalorian & Grogu arrives in U.S. theaters on May 22. The film runs 2 hours and 14 minutes and is rated PG-13. Will you see it? What did you think? Did you agree with our assessment? Let us know!
