Film Review: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

4.5 Stars

By Joseph Beyer | June 6, 2026

For those of us who grew up standing in lines outside movie theaters waiting to get into the first Star Wars films in the 1970s and '80s, the modern metaverse of films, characters, and offshoots was already daunting when Lucasfilm sold the rights to Disney way back in 2012. Since then, the studio has released seven feature-films and over a dozen episodic series, creating an expansive catalog of live-action and animated content that spreads the mythology of core characters in Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Han Solo, and Princess Leia.

They’ve also introduced new characters and new actors from across the world to play them, with none capturing more cultural mojo than the tiny lime-colored infant with the big ears named Grogu, better known simply as “Baby Yoda” (although there is no confirmed relation to the Jedi Master that we know of yet). The creature is brought to life with primarily animatronic puppetry.

Premiering in 2019 exclusively on Disney+, little Grogu made a splash alongside actor Pedro Pascal in The Mandalorian, a spin-off led by the talented actor that was instantly intriguing despite him being heavily disguised inside a helmet for most of the story. That tradition of mystery, and others from the story of a resistance bounty-hunter turned unlikely caregiver, have been faithfully honored in the first feature-film adaptation Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, which recently exploded into megaplexes on over 4,300 screens.

“Mando,” as both the character and storyline are called in shorthand, is an entirely original set of adventures created by Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni that are rooted in a deep love of the Star Wars styles inspired by George Lucas. In this major new summer movie, director Favreau is in charge, with a rhythm and pace that feels spot-on for most of the journey and delights the audience with an almost-classic approach that honors the best of the early “Popcorn Movie” culture.

Filonu co-writes the script, joined by Favreau and Noah Kloor, and also serves as the creative director to a dazzling portfolio of additional Lucasfilm projects of all kinds. The team shows again how deeply they understand this fantasy world and how earnestly they take the responsibility of expanding it.

Here the plot involves the usual Good/Rebellion versus Bad/Empire politics, hyperspace escapes, and new hope for the future. But it also involves the characteristic father/son dynamics of Mando and little Grogu, a new and very unlikely coming-of-age drama with the Hutt species of Jabba fame, and silent-film style comedic relief from a green toddler.

While feeling familiar, the movie also feels fresh as it blends the old and the new with the usual mix of Star Wars opening credit crawls, screen wipe transitions, and mischievous creatures while adding new spins and episodic style to it all that I really enjoyed. (For those that found Solo more playful than sacreligious, this has those vibes.)

The film also has an incredible score by Ludwig Göransson, who also created the musical mood of the series, and more fisticuffs and hand-to-hand combat than any other installment in franchise history I can recall.

Audiences have given the film an enthusiastic 88 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, while many critics were not impressed. Even I have to admit the 2 hour 12 minute ride had a few bumps, but it blended so much nostalgia with genuine fun that I gave into it and fell back in love with Star Wars … in a real movie theater, on a summer night, surrounded by people who seemed to feel the same.

Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action and starring Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White, and Brendan Wayne (often overlooked as the physical actor who actually dons the suit of the Mandalorian).