Attending the South African premiere of The Mandalorian & Grogu took me back to what truly felt like a bygone era. The days when childhood excitement at the prospect of a new Star Wars story took hold, and queuing around the block to catch the film on its opening weekend ensued. Those who saw Revenge of the Sith in cinemas back in 2005 will know exactly what I am talking about. Cosplayers everywhere, only instead of Sith lords, this time it was Jedi crossing blades with Mandalorians on the escalator, with creatures from a galaxy far, far away lurking around every corner. The energy outside the theatre was exactly what you would hope for Star Wars’ first return to the big screen in seven years.
Now, is this the return that every single hardcore Star Wars fan has been waiting for? Probably not, but we need to acknowledge the paradoxical elephant in the room: nobody hates Star Wars quite like Star Wars fans do. The “Disney era” since the takeover of the franchise from George Lucas has been many things, but one thing it deserves credit for is demonstrating that Star Wars stories don’t exist in a vacuum. There’s a flavour for everyone: from dark and gritty in Andor, to light and whimsical in Skeleton Crew. Not every entry is for every fan, and in a universe that Lucas himself described as being fundamentally “for kids,” sometimes we need a reminder that some discourse amongst die-hard fans is inevitable, and probably healthy.
On that note, this outing in particular is an ode to fans of The Mandalorian series — and a reminder that Star Wars still belongs on the big screen. From the opening frame, we are immediately reminded that no volume stage can replicate the magic we experience when time, money, and care are spent blending practical and digital effects, shooting on location, and building tangible sets. The on-screen claustrophobia that was one of my biggest peeves plaguing Obi-Wan Kenobi is nowhere to be found. In its place: scale, immersion, and the kind of mind-blowing escapism that only time spent in this galaxy can deliver. But “big budget” does not mean “out with the old”. Eagle-eyed fans will immediately notice a beautifully choreographed stop-motion sequence animated by ILM legend Phil Tippett, taking us back to visual beats that feel pulled straight from the Original Trilogy, yet which are seamlessly woven into a modern-day blockbuster.
Ludwig Göransson builds brilliantly on his masterful score that he crafted for the series, incorporating new techno elements and bringing a truly dystopian flavour into a soundscape that feels fresh and fun to explore. The overall formula that the film follows will, however, be familiar to fans: Mando takes a contract, things aren’t quite what they seem, side quests ensue, and there are enough father-son/buddy-cop moments to remind you why you fell in love with these two characters in the first place. Some will dismiss this as just another Mando side quest that doesn’t do much to move the broader Star Wars narrative needle. But I would argue that is merely a symptom of some Marvel-conditioned expectation that every story must service some larger interconnected mythology in order to have meaning. Whatever happened to adventure for adventure’s sake? Joy in the journey? That is where this film excels.
Pedro Pascal is reliable as always — even if his schedule means Mando spends more time in the helmet than out of it. The real revelation here is Jeremy Allen White as Rotta the Hutt. Originally introduced as a wide-eyed infant in the 2008 Clone Wars film, White’s grown-up Rotta is now a broad-chested brawler living in the shadow of his father, the infamous Jabba the Hutt himself. Rotta’s dynamic with Grogu is among the film’s most human and heartwarming, as two creatures who never quite belonged find some touching moments of kinship with each other. The fact that Favreau, Filoni, and White managed to make a Hutt genuinely sympathetic is no small achievement.
The Easter eggs are also plentiful — a Dejarik sequence, a Kenner toy making its live-action debut, Scorsese’s cameo — and longtime fans will have a field day calling them out. New viewers, meanwhile, need no prior knowledge to enjoy what is, at its core, a well-crafted, visually spectacular adventure.
Is it perfect? No. There are moments where it feels more like a supersized TV episode than a cinematic event, and despite Grogu finally getting his time to shine in one of the most fun ~20-minute sequences that showcase his growth (and which I know fans will be dying to see), the overall stakes of the film never quite reach the scale that the big screen demands. However, The Mandalorian & Grogu still does enough to prove that this galaxy has plenty of magic left in it — and for now, it’s enough for this fan to finally see these characters where they belong… on the big screen.
