WHAT WE’RE WATCHING: The Mandalorian and Grogu: A dazzling but bland entry in the Star Wars universe

The good news is that in making the leap from the small to big screen, The Mandalorian and Grogu is extremely cinematic, dazzling the senses. The bad news is that it’s narratively as dull as swamp water.

It’s extremely rare for a TV series to make the leap to the big screen, but The Mandalorian has been Force lightning in a bottle for Disney.

Set within the Star Wars universe, and following the events of Return of the Jedi (but decades before The Force Awakens), the space western is arguably the most popular new addition to the franchise. As a launch title for Disney+, back in 2019, it certainly helped drive streaming subscriptions.

Now it seems like The House of Mouse is relying on The Mandalorian yet again, this time to fill the Star Wars-shaped hole in its 2026 cinema release schedule.

So we have new movie Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, following on from season 3 of The Mandalorian. It’s directed and co-written by show creator Jon Favreau, whose filmography includes Iron Man 1 and 2, along with the “live action” The Jungle Book and The Lion King.

As for the plot of The Mandalorian and Grogu, ever since adopting orphaned baby Grogu (long known as The Child), Pedro Pascal’s titular helmeted bounty hunter has become more “selective” in the contracts he accepts. Put another way, he only hunts down the bad guys, namely former Empire commanders and other threats to the fledgling New Republic.

Then his Republic contact, Colonel Ward (newcomer to the franchise Sigourney Weaver) encourages Mando to accept a mission that will see him work for the treacherous Hutt crime family. In exchange for information on Empire strongmen, Mando must rescue Jabba the Hutt’s son Rotta (voiced by The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White) from a rival mobster.

The good news is that if you were worried that The Mandalorian and Grogu was going to feel like episodes of the TV show simply rebundled for the big screen, you’re wrong. At least technically.

Filmed for IMAX, The Mandalorian and Grogu is extremely cinematic in its framing and scope, going beyond its already movie-scale home viewing origins. Ultra-large-format screens, especially those with updated high-clarity technology, spotlight any CGI that’s subpar, but there’s nothing wobbly here.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is visually as polished as Beskar Steel, while still using charming lo-fi puppetry to bring to life Grogu and the scene-stealing Anzellans, those diminutive mechanics who are basically the Minions of the Star Wars universe.

A further plus is that the movie is scored by Oppenheimer and Sinners’ Ludwig Göranss