The Mandalorian and Grogu (2026) Review

“This is the way”

https://youtu.be/IHWlvwu8t1w?is=oAIdwWYQLna9dViN

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

Like it or not, Disney+ gave Star Wars a more appropriate resurgence with not just more grounded animated shows, but also more live action adventures like the western based series, The Mandalorian. It was supposed to get a fourth season until the WGA/SAG-AFTRA strike led to Jon Favreau & Dave Filoni decided to rework it into a movie, slowly bringing the franchise back to its roots. Was it worth it? Maybe. 


PLOT


2026’s The Mandalorian and Grogu takes place following the events of the third season, showing the bounty hunter Din Djarin & his foundling continue to do missions for the New Republic. After successfully hunting down neo-imperialist warlords of the Galactic Empire, Commander Ward assigns Mando to find the mysterious warlord dubbed Commander Coin. He is given intel by the hutt twins in exchange of rescuing their nephew Rotta, heir and son of Jabba. At the Shakari moon, he finds Rotta comfortable being a popular gladiator for the crime lord Janu. Believing the next fight will free him of a debt, Mando goes to Janu personally to buy out the Hutt, who refuses and plans to put him in a fight where he’ll endlessly fight monsters to the death. Mando would try telling Rotta of this, but he doesn’t believe him. When subdued by security, he gets forced to fight the Hutt in the arena. When refusing to kill him, he demands his freedom as he was promised. Janu predictably refuses and sends monsters as he planned, resulting in him and the Hutt to fight together long enough for the latter to break the arena’s security systems that’ll free them. In the midst of the monsters also escaping, Mando is able to capture Rotta with the assist of fellow rebel Zeb Orrelios (Steve Blum). When explaining he’s hired to bring him home in exchange for finding Coin, the Hutt explains that the twins want to kill him to inherit the Hutt Cartel and that Janu is Coin. Trusting him, he and Zeb would track him down in one of his compounds and brings him to Ward. However, the colonel warns him the Hutts won’t take likely in keeping their nephew into hiding. Returning to the city of Nevarro, Mando assigns the Anzellans (Shirley Henderson) to modify his new Razor Crest. By nightfall however, he and one Anzellan get captured by bounty hunter Embo, tasked by the Hutt twins to take him to Nal Hutta. Grogu follows with the other Anzellans. At Nal Hutta, the twins reveal to Mando they have already subdued Rotta and intend to torture him for hundreds of years until they eventually kill him. As punishment for not keeping his end of what he was tasked, he is dumped in a pool of water to be fed by a giant dragonsnake. He gets poisoned, but the Anzellans blast a hole in the pit to help him escape. Because he doesn’t fit their ship, he gives them enough of a distraction to hold off the Hutts’ Droid Gatra pursuers. Of course, Grogu chooses to stay behind with his adopted father to help him recover from the venom. Thankfully, he gets an antidote from a friendly fisherman named Gatori. Once Mando recovers from it, he confronts the Hutts and destroys a giant droid guarding them. When dueling with Embo right after, Grogu frees Rotta which gives him the chance to fight the Twins but it leads to all three hutts falling into the dragon snake pit. Embo falls in too, but he escapes through one of the tunnels as the twins get devoured by their pet beast. Luckily, Grogu uses the force to pull Rotta out. On top of that, the Anzellans do return as promised with the company of Ward leading a New Republic squadron. The squadron is able to destroy the palace just as the father son pair escape with the remaining Hutt. When Ward later confirms suspicion that the twins were in cahoots with Coin, Rotta chooses to stay and work with the New Republic. Continuing to do more missions, the film would end with Mando deciding to teach Grogu to pilot Razor Crest.


THOUGHTS


The best way to describe this film is through Pros and Cons.


Pros: To be clear, I don’t dislike this movie the way basic Star Wars fans do but I see part of the reason behind the animosity. A big gripe would have to be how you enjoy it better having seen all the shows apart from this movie’s predecessor since Zeb comes from Rebels, while Rotta & Embo were first introduced through The Clone Wars. Once you do ignore this aspect, you can still enjoy this as a standard sci fi adventure. Favreau & Filoni are able to keep the pace in a way that feels like an extended episode which isn’t the worst thing considering its source. This could’ve been stretched out to 8-9 episodes as intended, but the 130 minute runtime is good enough for me. As soon as I hear Ludwig Göransson’s iconic score from the series, I knew we were still in for another good time. Since this is still Star Wars we’re talking about, you know the technical aspects are gonna be cooking. When seeing the puppeteer work on Grogu and the Anzellans, they remain adorable as shown in the series. Although the latter were hilariously annoyed of the former during Season 3 due to being annoyed of him being a hugger, it was cute they were on the same page to save their family. Then the VFX goes splendid with the production design seeing the other alien characters blend in with their environment, especially the dragon snake as I still got chills seeing this creature that’s been known to the lore since The Empire Strikes Back. Apart from hyperspace still looking gorgeous, I’m still trying to process that the same Dejerik monsters in the arena were the ones in the Millennium Falcon’s hologram board game. Considering there are so many aliens in Star Wars, I don’t anticipate repeated appearances for each one. With Favreau previously voicing the Ardennian Rio Durant in Solo, I was stunned to see a fry cook named Hugo to be voiced by the legendary Martin Scorsese, who directs Mando to Rotta and Janu Coin. I never would’ve expected an update on Rotta following Order 66 nor would I expect him to have an English speaking role when the Hutts have mostly spoke through their foreign language, yet here we are. I don’t even expect an amazing voice performance of actor Jeremy Allen White, but he sure does give of believability to prove he’s not like his family. Everytime he says he’s not his father, he proves it when showing kindness, specifically when bonding with Grogu. He even holds his own compared to the twins, which isn’t a surprise considering he actually bulked up overtime to rely on strength rather than mass. With that mindset, it makes sense for him to be a reliable ally to the New Republic. His arc is part of the story’s selling point to remind fans how important it is to choose empathy over hardness, otherwise you’ll be stuck in misery rather than less clouded of a conscience. The Hutt twins definitely prefer the latter since it’s all they choose to know and are much comfortable being so hence aligning with Coyne. Portrayed by Jonny Coyne, he sure lived up to being just as greedy, which cost both parties by the end of it. This is why we root for the protagonist pair who are far from that mindset. Apart from the shoutout to Lateef Crowder & Brendan Wayne became reliable stunt performers, Pedro Pascal is the voice of Mando apart from being the face when unmasked. We’ve always liked the Mandalorian when the series premiered on Disney+’s launch day because he tries to be honorable first and fierce after now that he makes Grogu a responsibility on the job. Whenever the truth is revealed, he’s always able to adapt to his plans while still managing to be stoic on the field. Grogu may still be young, but he learns so much from him even though he has yet to speak. The oldest proof goes to how he protected him with the force when meeting during Season 1, but here, it comes to him choosing to stay by his side when he could’ve saved himself and left. There would’ve been no shame for him to do so, but the love of his adopted father is too high that he couldn’t bare losing him either having survived Order 66 and lost many Jedi brethren. Due to his loyalty, it sure impressed Gatori enough to give him what he needed. I enjoyed Stephen Henderson’s voice performance of the fisherman because he’s the most easygoing he’s met since Captain Bombarier and the Duchess from Season 3. Last but not least, it was pretty cool to see Sigourney Weaver part of the New Republic and pilot an X wing. As Commander Ward, she is of course most seasoned and is just as direct as Mando when it comes to getting things done. Although she may not always like how he has to change things up for the absolute, she still respects it thus makes her intuitive enough to trust him throughout. If she never did, she would’ve not rescued him.


Cons: This movie is generally fine, but there are still some things storywise that don’t add up. Like for instance, a silhouette wanted card is not helpful when you don’t have an ID on Coin yet. It looked a bit dumb when Ward gives it to Mando, but it gets dumber when he shows it to the twins. And when I say dumber, I’d say when it comes to how he doesn’t see any of the gladiator posters of Rotta until after Hugo points it to him nearby. Also, Rotta shouldn’t be surprised Mando assumes he needs to be rescued when he’s the one behind bars. I know he thinks he’s about to pay off a debt, but the imagery speaks for itself. It’s even confusing Mando only asks Hugo for Janu when he could’ve asked Rotta first. And if Janu doesn’t want to give up Rotta, he should’ve not told Mando his intent to kill him after his last fight. There also could’ve been a glass ceiling and some spikes to block anyone from escaping the arena. I swear these bad guys are never that smart when it matters most. Now I do think it’s cute to see Grogu to take care of Mando, but I’m honestly he doesn’t use the force to make the shelter and only to push him in for hiding. Plus, Grogu is lucky Embo told Gatori what was Mando poisoned with otherwise he would’ve not known what kind of antidote to give him. Lastly, the Anzellans could’ve went to Ward way before following Embo the first time.


In conclusion, The Mandalorian and Grogu gets the right checkmarks in being a generally entertaining sci fi adventure you want to expect from the Disney era of Star Wars. If you’re a fan of the series’ past three seasons, I’m sure you’ll dig this too.