The Mandalorian & Grogu Early Reviews Are In! Is Star Wars Back?
We finally have a new Star Wars movie hitting theaters this weekend, The Mandalorian & Grogu. The premiere for the movie was the other night as well as the first critics screenings. That means we now have the first reactions to the film. What are the critics saying? Is this going to save Star Wars? Let’s talk about it!
The Reviews
- “I saw The Mandalorian & Grogu last night…The stakes and scale are both way bigger. The action is epic but grounded (not a lightsaber in sight). The score by Ludwig Göransson absolutely slaps especially when it gets all dark and synths on the Gotham City-style crime planet Shakari. But the bad news is that it doesn’t feel like a Star Wars movie. It never gets into the special feeling…Mando also barely has a character arc, though if you’re a Baby Yoda fan he gets a LOT of focus here.” - jacobkleinman
- “The Mandalorian & Grogu is the pulpy sci-fi adventure I needed. It throws you right back into a galaxy far far away and reminds you how awesome this universe can be. It may not reinvent Star Wars, but if you’re looking for a fun, crowd-pleasing adventure, this delivers.” - Zach Pope
- “The Mandalorian & Grogu is…fine? An inoffensive, technically impressive spectacle that’s kind of a snooze fest. Very much structured like an abridged season of tv show which unfortunately plays like watching the cutscenes of a Star Wars video game instead of playing one. The expansion of the canvas unfortunately exposes the weaknesses in the writing and lack of emotional connection I’ve felt for much of the series. Favreau has the touch…if only someone else wrote the script. That being said, it’s a nice return to the pulpiness and simplicity of the first two seasons. Ludwig is working overtime to deliver the goods. If you love the show, I’m sure you’ll have fun.” - Griffin Schiller
- “The Mandalorian and Grogu is the Star Wars franchise at its most juiceless. A listless endeavor that feels closer to a video game at points than it does a movie. Visually, it flies well below any of the other theatrical entries and really struggles to create any sense of wonder or spectacle. Your kids will likely enjoy it, but this was not for me.” - Project Hail Gooch
- “The Mandalorian & Grogu feels more like an episodic extended side mission than a major cinematic event. It’s still an entertaining ride with several thrilling set pieces, but it doesn’t take Mando’s story anywhere new. Göransson’s score soars and Grogu is as adorable as ever.” - Doug Jamieson
- “If you think Grogu is the cutest thing ever then you will like The Mandalorian & Grogu. It relies heavily on adorable, comedic moments and big action sequences, but not so much on dialogue and story. It’s ok overall but far too long. I love seeing Zeb in live action.” - Tessa Smith (Mama’s Geeky)
My Thoughts
This has always been an interesting film in terms of the anticipation for it going into 2026. It’s the first Star Wars movie in seven years, but it’s also adapting a tv show into a movie. I’m a massive Star Wars fan, I rewatched all of the movies leading up to this film. But I was never super excited for the film, for all of the obvious reasons of the bad marketing and the lack of excitement for Star Wars as a whole.
I was very curious to see what the reactions for this movie were. Because they premiered the first 20 minutes of the movie at CinemaCon. The reactions coming out of that were very positive and people saying based on the first 20 minutes, their excitement for the rest of the film went up. On that level, I was very curious to see what the reviews were going to be for the people that saw the entire film.
Overall, the reviews that I’ve seen from the critics that saw the film Monday night are about what I expected them to be. Which is a film that’s inoffensive that doesn’t divide Star Wars even more like The Last Jedi did, but it also doesn’t do anything to rekindle that sense of wonder that came from the original trilogy of Star Wars. The fact that a lot of the reviews are saying that it’s very simplistic and feels like a tv show isn’t too surprising to me. Because that was my fear of the movie based on the first trailers that it doesn’t feel like epic like a Star Wars movie should be. Even the positives about the film that people are saying is that it’s a fun time and Grogu is cute. I feel like I could’ve predicted then when the first trailer dropped. Also, Ludwig Görranson has been getting a lot of praise for his score. That was the most common thing I noticed between these tweets was Ludwig knocks it out of the park once again. Which isn’t too surprising considering he’s the top film composer working right now.
I can’t say that these reviews dramatically changed my excitement for the film. It doesn’t really raise or lower my excitement because everything be said, is about what I expected the reviews to say. One key detail, we do have the Rotten Tomatoes score for the film. The film debuted with a 58% with 43 reviews counted. Since then, the reviews have changed and they have gone up. The score has been fluctuating as more and more reviews have trickled in. I’ve seen it go as high as 64% with 70 reviews counted. As of now, the film has a 60% with 120 reviews counted. By the end of the weekend, all of the critics had seen the film. The film will end somewhere between the high 50s and the mid 60s.
Comments