'Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu' Is Why Star Wars isn't Special Anymore
George Lucas is a genius. He saw how much everyone hated the prequels, then gave his baby to Disney so that the world could see how much worse things could be. Ten years after The Force Awakens, it seems that Disney has learned nothing. Where they’ve excelled and stumbled in the television department, they continually fail theatrically. For as much as Dave Filoni is heralded as Star Wars’ savior, The Mandalorian and Grogu is a scary reminder that he was the guy who made the abysmal Clone Wars movie before the spectacular show. The Mandalorian should have ended as a show after season 2. Yet it got milked to death. This movie has no reason to exist canonically, not just for the fans, but for anyone with half a brain who wants to enjoy any entertainment.
As harsh as my words may be, the film's beginning held promise. The opening slide presents an interesting premise that the movie ultimately abandons in favor of a dragged-out side quest. After the fall of the Empire, Din Djarin, AKA The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal), has retired from hunting bounties after discovering a son in Grogu. Together, the two scour the galaxy to collect bounties on the top heads within the scattered remnants of the Empire.
The movie then cuts to the opening credits, which is something we’ve never seen in a Star Wars movie before. As the names appear on the screen, we see that Jon Favereu and Dave Filoni are the masterminds behind this film. Faverau directing, and Filoni writing. So there has to be a real reason this movie wouldn’t be filler. Right? Instead of having Mando find someone like Grand Admiral Thrawn, who’s currently rebuilding the Empire as established in Ahsoka. Or someone leading up to him that establishes another threat in the greater universe that any non-Star Wars fan can follow. The movie needs a real threat to entice the audience. Yet they get nothing.
Instead, we’re given a movie that involves Mando recovering Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White) The son of the deceased Jabba, who has reasons not to return home as the plot unfolds in spectacularly predictable directions. Don’t call me a snob for calling it predictable when Disney reveals “the twist” in a clip that landed on my social media feeds. This movie is the equivalent of a little kid bashing his Star Wars toys together. There’s no interesting story, let alone any real story at all, to this picture. It’s simply one loud explosion after another. This isn’t a movie. It’s a toy commercial. We’re meant to buy the jetpack and the buff slug Rotta. But most importantly, we’re meant to buy Grogu dolls.
All of Grogus's intention and purpose as a character was tossed out the window as soon as he leaped into Mando’s arms in the Book of Boba Fett. Whatever arc they still can take to give Grogu a purpose as a character is unexplored. He’s simply a doll for kids to buy at this point. Grogu is there for children to pet and sleep with as their Baby Yoda. He’s the perfect embodiment of Disney, this century’s Mickey Mouse. The only depth we get in this film is with Rotta, whose dilemma could be summed up in a thirty-minute episode instead of an overly long feature film.
Mando and Grogu looks like a classic Star Wars film. It has the physicality of real sets and puppets, mixed with the new-age technology of the volume and CGI, which continues to show why Star Wars is the pioneer in visual effects. If poetry repeats itself like Jar Jar being too key to everything, then, just like the Prequels before it, this movie is cutting-edge in its visuals while shallow in its story. Yet, in retrospect, at least there was an end goal, giving the prequels an admirable respectability that films like this lack. The Mandalorian and Grogu is not only pointless, but dull too. It’s what people who don’t like Star Wars assumes what Star Wars is. Without the chance to see the cartoons, one would assume Star Wars is just boring, dumb action. And yeah, it can be. But it can also be poetic.
There’s a virus in Star Wars. And it’s called Andor. It’s a virus where the quality, maturity, and nuance of the show are so good that it will make you not care about anything else Star Wars is making. Not every Star Wars show or movie has to be Andor, nor should it be. Star Wars is made for twelve-year-olds, except when Anakin is killing younglings. The level of laziness in the writing department of this movie makes you realize that this is not the way to treat your audience’s intelligence.
There will be people in the crowd who just want to see their toys on screen. There will also be defenders of the movie who will rationalize that this movie can simply be filler. But it seems hard pressing that anyone who wants to see something with a shred of thought or emotion would be invested in this picture. If you’re seeing Mando and Grogu in IMAX, bring a Tylenol. The movie is unnecessarily, obnoxiously loud, where the laser blasts and explosions are played at such a high decibel level that you can’t discern one sound from the other. After the movie ends, your ears might be ringing. As a Star Wars purist, one knows that Ben Burtt's masterful work with George Lucas is meant to be heard, not shattered. What was beautifully built in a television show that properly rebooted the franchise after JJ Abrams destroyed everything has fallen apart due to the film industry’s greed.
If this is the future of Star Wars, then we’re in trouble. Not in terms of television. Disney mostly has it covered in that department. But in terms of box office, this movie could be brought in cold. Yet, I’m by no means a box office predictionist. What I can say is how I feel, and that feeling is that Star Wars isn’t special anymore. It’s been eight years since we’ve had a theatrical Star Wars film, and there’s a feeling in the force that the audience just doesn’t care anymore. It’s not like 1977 or 2016. Once JJ Abrams made Star Wars great again, the toy factory in the Mouse House released one Star Wars flick after another until the audience began to spot the mediocrity in a redundant product. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu are the result of that product. Something that will leave the fans despondent and parents asleep despite all the explosions. But at least the twelve-year-olds will like it.
