The “Star Wars” franchise will be returning to the big screen for the first time in seven years this weekend with “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” and early reviews of the film have started coming in.
The first press screenings for the Jon Favreau-directed movie last Thursday brought short reviews on social media, with varied opinions. The critics’ official reviews are embargoed until Tuesday ahead of the film’s release on Friday, per The Hollywood Reporter.
The newest installment in the “Star Wars” franchise builds off the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” and stars Pedro Pascal as the titular bounty hunter who is accompanied by Grogu, a child (portrayed by a puppet) that belongs to the same species as the character Yoda. The movie also stars Jeremy Allen White and Sigourney Weaver.
In the movie, bounty hunter Din Djarin and young Grogu are recruited for a mission by the New Republic to rescue Rotta the Hutt while avoiding deadly bounty hunters and Imperial remnants.
Some of the early reviews highlight how fun and whimsical the action-packed movie was, while others said it fell flat and was emotionless and predictable.
The positive reviews
Fandango’s Erik Davis gave a short positive review on X: “It’s less about the lore and more a fun, freaky romp across the galaxy. I really dug that about it.”
He continued: “Also really dug Ludwig Göransson’s score, especially the parts that felt like an homage to ‘80s synth-driven horror and action thrillers. … It reminded me how fun ‘Star Wars’ can be when it stops worrying about canon homework and just cuts loose. Treat it like a pulpy Saturday matinee ride and you’ll have a blast.”
Göransson’s score is something that received compliments repeatedly from different critics.
Germain Lussier of io9 praised the score as his favorite thing about the movie, “Instead of a more traditional Star Wars score like on the show, he gives the film an electronic dance vibe I can only describe as Tron Legacy Light.”
Another positive take came from Puck News’ box-office columnist Scott Mendelson, who referred to the film as a “solid line drive past second base, with lots of ‘Neat … haven’t seen that in a STAR WARS before’ charm.”
Journalist and critic Hunter Bolding wrote on X that the movie is “a major return to form for Star Wars. All the things that make Star Wars special are here: whimsy, adventure, weird monsters, action, heart, and rolling Hutts. The score is a beating heart. Star Wars fans should be thrilled by this.”
Critic Adam Hlavac emphasized the lightheartedness of the movie, writing, “It was nice to just exist in the Star Wars universe for 130 min without expecting or waiting for big saga-defining lore drop moments to happen.”
The negative reviews
On the other side of the board, reporter Jonathan Sim didn’t have a lot of positive things to say about the film.
“An emotionless, predictable experience that doesn’t push Din Djarin anywhere interesting,” he wrote on X. “Dull, unexciting fight scenes; just CGI monsters. Action figures mashed together. A long, colorless made-for-TV movie.”
Critic Griffin Schiller was not impressed by the movie as a whole, referring to it as a “technically impressive spectacle that’s kinda a snooze fest.”
“THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU is...fine? An inoffensive, technically impressive spectacle that’s kinda a snooze fest. Very much structured like an abridged season of the tv show which unfortunately plays like watching the cutscenes of a Star Wars video game instead of playing one,” he wrote on X.
There was also direct criticism of White’s character, Rotta the Hutt, son of Jabba the Hutt.
Collider’s Perri Nemiroff wrote, “I am just defenseless against Grogu … Rotta the Hutt? Not as much. Live action Hutts are a challenge to pull off, a gladiator Hutt even more so.”
Another negative review came from Bill Bria, who wrote that he felt like the movie was made for him to despise. “Some cute moments can’t save it from feeling terminally dull & offensively inoffensive. Feels like marathoning the blandest episodes of the show that are also totally inessential. A waste of time & potential,” he added on X.