'The Mandalorian and Grogu' Review: An entertaining but forgetful return to the 'Star Wars' universe

"A agelong clip agone successful a postulation far, acold away...."

Yes, "Star Wars" is backmost successful theaters. Hard to judge it's been 7 years since the past one. It begs the question whether we truly needed different movie. "The Mandalorian and Grogu" attempts to marque the lawsuit — and with mixed results.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" makes the leap to the large surface from television, a continuation from the Disney+ amusement "The Mandalorian" which ran 3 seasons and ended 3 years ago. I personally ne'er watched the show, but manager Jon Favreau insisted this movie was made for some "Mandalorian" fans and non-fans alike. To his credit, I was capable to ticker it without feeling wholly lost.

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Pedro Pascal arsenic The Mandalorian and Grogu successful Lucasfilm's "The Mandalorian and Grogu." (Courtesy of Lucasfilm. © 2026 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.)

Pedro Pascal stars arsenic The Mandalorian, a bounty huntsman moving connected behalf of the New Republic to question retired immoderate remnants of the fallen Empire (The movie takes spot betwixt the events of the archetypal "Star Wars" trilogy and the Disney trilogy). By his broadside is the adorable Grogu, aka "Baby Yoda," who serves arsenic his apprentice.

Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver) assigns The Mandalorian his caller mission: Capture a mysterious Empire commandant who was believed to beryllium dead. The lone ones who cognize his whereabouts are the duplicate siblings of the precocious sluggy transgression lord Jabba the Hutt. And according to Ward, they are lone consenting to cooperate if they rescue their nephew and Jabba's son, Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White), who has seemingly fallen with a atrocious assemblage — not to accidental the sketchy Hutt clan was ever portion of the bully crowd.

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Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver) successful Lucasfilm's "The Mandalorian and Grogu." (Justin Lubin. © 2026 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.)

Without getting into the weeds, everything plays retired remarkably smoothly arsenic The Mandalorian's ngo goes, which makes the backmost fractional of the movie resistance substantially.

Despite the A-list endowment involved, "The Mandalorian and Grogu" feels similar a "Star Wars" movie without existent stars. Pascal goes astir the full movie with his helmet connected and offers a alternatively stoic and monotone show arsenic the stealthy rubric character. The dependable of Jeremy Allen White (best known arsenic the Emmy-winning prima of "The Bear") is wholly unrecognizable to the constituent that anyone could've been playing the muscly gladiator-style combatant Rotta the Hutt.

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Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White) successful Lucasfilm's "The Mandalorian and Grogu." (Francois Duhamel. © 2026 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.)

Grogu is the existent star. After all, he's each implicit the merchandise. The puppet-like carnal who tin conscionable astir melt anyone's bosom and provides overmuch of the comic alleviation arsenic The Mandalorian's trusted sidekick and de facto child.

Martin Scorsese makes a amusive quality — his voice, astatine slightest — arsenic a four-armed monkey-like fry navigator donning the iconic director's bushy eyebrows who helps The Mandalorian find Rotta.

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The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and Fry Cook (voiced by Martin Scorsese) successful Lucasfilm's "The Mandalorian and Grogu." (Courtesy of Lucasfilm. © 2026 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.)

Like immoderate "Star Wars" film, determination are immoderate coagulated enactment sequences and the ocular effects are apical tier. The aforesaid can't beryllium said for the video game-quality dialogue. 

Three-time Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson delivers yet different well-made people that is capable to abstracted itself from the classical franchise tunes by John Williams.

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Grogu successful Lucasfilm's "The Mandalorian and Grogu." (courtesy of Lucasfilm. © 2025 Lucasfilm Ltd™. All Rights Reserved.)

The Verdict

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" is entertaining capable to get by but lacks the grandeur the emblematic "Star Wars" movie has and overstays its welcome. Fans of the amusement volition apt bask it, but for everyone else, instrumentality it oregon permission it. 

★★ ½ — STREAM IT LATER

"The Mandalorian and Grogu" is rated PG-13 for sci-fi unit and action. Running time: 2 hours, 12 minutes. In theaters now.

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