With ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu,’ Star Wars Commits Fully to the Side Quest

Jon Favreau’s “The Mandalorian and Grogu” arrives in theaters as a stand-alone adventure, but it never shakes off its television roots. The film opens with a title card to catch up anyone who missed the Disney+ series, then follows Din Djarin and Grogu on a hunt for ex-Imperial officers. It’s post-war Nazi hunter territory, a deliberate vibe that pits the duo against an AT-AT in an early action beat before they report to Colonel Ward, played by Sigourney Weaver.

The mission sends them across planets like Shakari and Nal Hutta, home to a very different kind of Hutt. Rotta, Jabba’s son, is now a ripped prizefighter with angst about his nepo baby status. Jeremy Allen White voices the character, his lines digitally altered into something Hutt-adjacent. It’s a strange choice that works mainly as a fact to hold in your head while watching.

Favreau has said this film is separate from the canceled fourth season scripts, yet the structure betrays him. You can feel where each potential episode would have ended. The movie plays like a three-part arc given an IMAX screen but no larger sense of scale. Other TV-to-film leaps have taken the opportunity to expand. This one shrinks.

The live-action Star Wars universe keeps growing, but these stories feel increasingly minor. “The Mandalorian and Grogu” is a side quest that, even with its deranged moments, doesn’t argue for its own necessity. It’s just more.