Meerkat Movie Reviews: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
Back when Disney announced their streaming platform, Disney+, one of the first flagship shows for it was The Mandalorian. Steeped in Star Wars lore, and set in a time and place of lawlessness that befitted the concept, the show swiftly proved popular. It filled in some of the gaps between the Original Trilogy and the Sequel Trilogy, and also expanded Disney’s take on the Star Wars universe.
The show ran for three seasons, and whilst there is a general feeling among the fandom that the final season was not as strong as the previous two, the overall reception has been very positive. The question is, does the idea translate well as a movie?
The Mandalorian and Grogu grants this unique double-act a place on the silver screen, but if this meerkat is to offer his honest feelings, I am not convinced the transition from TV to cinema worked. The film felt both bogged down, and yet also rushed, as though they had tried to cram an eight-episode plot into just over two hours of movie. The net result is that deeper stories and intrigue to be had with certain characters are lost, whilst some sections of the film felt like filler to me.
Chunks of the final act could have been lost, and the film would have been better for it. Expansion of the first act, and the general premise of the Mandalorian working with the New Republic to hunt Imperial agents, would have been better, in my view. Alright, sure, having the seedy underbelly of organised crime play a major role is not necessarily a bad thing, for the series was built around that idea, and we’ve seen it throughout Star Wars, but this felt like a story that needed the time to develop properly, via a series, as opposed to packing into a movie.
It’s almost as though the writers were conflicted. To follow season three’s conclusion, the story had to relate to the Mandalorian pursuing Imperial warlords. To tie to the concept of bounty hunters (the original story of the first season of The Mandalorian), you need the underworld elements. The two can certainly be tied together, but this movie sort of jammed the two stories together, and as already mentioned, created a film that felt both weighed down and rushed. A remarkable achievement.
This is not to say there’s nothing to enjoy. Grogu himself is always delightful, and the Hutts steal every scene they appear in. The action is big and bold, and highly polished, as one would expect these days. It’s just a pity this wasn’t developed as a series, with the opportunity to flesh everything out. I can’t help but feel it would have worked better that way.
5/10
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