Nate At The Movies

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

Just over a year ago, I started my latest trek through the entire Star Wars universe, this time in chronological order. It was an absolute blast getting to revisit all these iconic movies, and I even found some new favorites, both in the movies and TV shows (looking at you, Andor and Rogue One). The three seasons of The Mandalorian were pretty enjoyable, so I was looking forward to The Mandalorian and Grogu, even if the reviews weren’t all that positive. Every review said, “Star Wars has never been more fun!”, which was concerning once I read through the niceties. Turns out, though, they were right, but is that so bad?

For nearly its entire runtime, The Mandalorian and Grogu failed to justify its existence as a movie instead of a group of episodes of the show, but again, that’s not a bad thing. Sure, this movie was just another adventure of Mando and Grogu, but that dynamic was enjoyable again, even after three seasons of TV. Pedro Pascal was entertaining in the central role, Grogu was super cute and was given a lot to do (even if a lot of his “doing” was “being cute”), and the story surrounding the Hutts took audiences to some new places. I wasn’t in love with Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt, though, for two reasons. First, why did he speak exclusively English? It was off-putting to hear that from a Hutt. Second, they didn’t alter White’s voice enough. The Hutts are supposed to have deep, menacing, dual voices, and this felt like White dropped his voice half an octave and they didn’t double it at all. It was weird.

I will say, though, there was certainly something to seeing and hearing this world on the big screen again. How can you be mad at a “fun” movie when it’s this big, loud, and exciting? The visuals popped—the budget was huge—and Ludwig Göransson’s score was outstanding. His music for the series has always been good, but the ways that he stretched his themes and even invented new ones for the film was impressive. This score had it all, from traditional orchestral sounds to rock and roll and sick percussion. I think Göransson is the next John Williams / Hans Zimmer, and even though The Mandalorian and Grogu won’t be the score that gets him his next Oscar nomination this year, this score continued to prove why he’s the GOAT. I hear that Isus4 chord in the main theme and ascend.

While The Mandalorian and Grogu didn’t feel as necessary to the larger Star Wars universe as some other interstitial Star Wars entries like Rogue One or The Clone Wars, I still had a great time at the movies, and maybe that’s all you need sometimes. There have been worse in-between films (like Solo) and even worse main line films (like The Rise of Skywalker), and The Mandalorian and Grogu was able to be fun, connected, and not piss off any longtime fans in one fell swoop. For the first Star Wars film in seven years, it wasn’t too shabby, though I do wonder where the story goes from here. Mando and Grogu’s story felt pretty done at the end of Season 3, so I wonder what they’ll be up to next, and I’d like to see where Star Wars as a whole goes next. Wherever that may be, put more of it in theaters!