Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu review: 'a sweeping adventure story'
The latest film in the Star Wars franchise is enlivened by some mischievous interplay between the titular leads, writes Alistair Harkness
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu (12A) ★★★
Shorn of the baggage that made the sequel trilogy and some of its spin-off movies so convoluted and unsatisfying, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu gets back to the breezier side of the saga with an action heavy, albeit very cutesy, adventure that picks up from the hit Disney+ series of almost the same name.
Not that you have to have seen much of that show about the titular bounty hunter (once again played by Pedro Pascal) and his “Baby Yoda” companion Grogu to understand what’s going on here. Taking place sometime between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, a scene-setting title card (there’s no traditional Star Wars-style scrolling text or score) brings us up to speed on its place in the canon, with Pascal’s Mandalorian with No Name now working for the New Republic, hunting down former imperial warlords hiding out in the outer rims of the galaxy.
Like a cross between Clint Eastwood and Simon Wiesenthal, he’s got a pretty ruthless streak when it comes to taking out former imperial stooges plotting to make the Empire great again, but when one such mission gets a “bit messy” he’s coerced by Sigourney Weaver’s Colonel Ward into locating the son of Jabba the Hutt as part of a quid-pro-quo plan to locate a mysterious figure who could threaten the nascent Republic’s tenuous peace.
Co-written and directed by blockbuster veteran Jon Favreau (who also created the TV show), the film is topped and tailed with big set-pieces that make use of iconic Star Wars imagery. Mostly, though, Favreau takes a light-touch approach to fan service, throwing in some imaginative deep-cut nods to the original trilogy, but largely focusing on telling a sweeping adventure story with some mischievous interplay between Grogu and his helmeted surrogate father, who parents in fortune cookie soundbites.
Of course, Pascal’s a much bigger star than he was when the show launched, so there are inevitably a few scenes when said helmet comes off; the rest of the time he manages to deliver a distinctive, commandingly physical performance, which is more than can be said for The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White, who gives sluggish voice to the late Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt, a buffed-up cage-fighter trying to shrug off his family’s ruthless legacy.
The script’s pretty clunky too — plus ça change — and the plot is admittedly a bit episodic; but, if you can leave your own Star Wars baggage at the door it, it rattles along entertainingly enough. Oh yeah, and Martin Scorsese pops up voicing a multi-limbed monkey running a food truck.
Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is in cinemas from 22 May.
The Scotsman’s arts newsletter is now sent twice a week - subscribe today
Want the latest Scottish headlines sent directly to your phone? Sign up to our new WhatsApp channel here
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.