‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Signals Star Wars Is a Spent Force

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, how and why did “The Mandalorian and Grogu” ever get greenlit? For even at its best, the movie is really just a glorified, extended episode of the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” complete with scenes in which one could go to the bathroom or grab a snack and not miss anything remotely important. The script, in particular, is so threadbare and undercooked that one marvels at how anyone, including Disney executives and director Jon Favreau, deemed it ready to be turned into a major motion picture, one which parents and kids will pay to see and, crucially, enjoy.It has been said by both Star Wars fanatics and casual fans that creator George Lucas should have closed up shop after the initial trilogy, those three imperfect but perfectly mythic films represented by 1977’s “Star Wars,” 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back,” and 1983’s “Return of the Jedi.” The prequels that came over twenty years later, beginning with 1999’s “The Phantom Menace,” certainly didn’t do the Star Wars saga any favors, despite the occasional thrill and intriguing complexity. Then, in 2012, seven years after the last prequel, Mr. Lucas sold the Star Wars brand to Disney, and, as has been widely discussed, a more pronounced decline began. If the Disney sequels to the original trilogy made the prequels look like Shakespeare in comparison, the reason likely stemmed from the fact that there was no visionary like Lucas behind the tri-feature narrative arc. Producer Kathleen Kennedy was blamed for much of the third trilogy’s failures, yet she also produced 2016’s fantastic “Rogue One,” as well as okayed “Andor,” the brilliant, Star Wars-adjacent series created by Tony Gilroy. Undoubtedly, her run at Lucasfilm was spotty, and earlier this year she stepped down as president of the Disney subsidiary.One of the new co-presidents of Lucasfilm happens to be one of the writers of “The Mandalorian and Grogu”: Dave Filoni. Based on his other Star Wars projects, Mr. Filoni clearly revels in the world-building wonder of science fiction and the simple outlines of children’s programming. What he lacks is any sense of filmic dramaturgy or inspired ideation. One expects Mr. Favreau, as director and co-writer, to pick up the slack, particularly considering his success with movies like “Ironman” and “Elf.” Unfortunately, he’s unable to inject much life into the story or the characters, resulting in a film that most adults will actively hate and some kids will be bored to death with.The plot, such as it is, goes something like this: The mandalorian, or “Mando” for short, is helping the good guys, I mean the New Republic, who are currently running the galaxy, to weed out the bad guys, I mean the warlords still faithful to the evil empire. As he takes out or arrests these baddies, he brings young Grogu along on each of these dangerous excursions, leading one to wonder about the sanity of someone who keeps placing a kid in harm’s way. But I digress. One mission sees Mando having to work with the “Hutts,” relatives of the slug-like character Jabba the Hutt from “Return of the Jedi.” As one might expect, the script’s biggest “relevation” involves double-crossing and countless fight scenes are its central component.While watching these action scenes, one generally admires the effective choreography, expert editing, and crunchy sound and visual effects. But after the first few, one’s mind begins to wonder if there’s anything else the film has to offer beyond an endless array of new beasts for Mando to fight. The ultimate tension of many of these scenes frequently hinges on a last-minute save, ensuring there’s never any doubt about whether our hero will survive and thereby draining all drama from the proceedings. So what we’re left with, at least the adults among us who believe that a theatrical release should have narrative stakes beyond video game dynamics, is sheer tedium.Perhaps the movie is not intended for me, despite being a fan of the Star Wars universe. But years of Pixar films have proven that movies for kids need not be dumbed down or mere eye candy. Numerous nods to prior Star Wars works do not make it clever or erudite, leaving viewers wishing that they were watching those others instead. I know I did, despite the grounding presence of Pedro Pascal as Mando, though body doubles are often under the Mandalorian’s helmet. The always-welcome Sigourney Weaver shows up in a few scenes as Mando’s boss but she, too, looks completely disengaged. Actors lending their voices to the film’s many creatures include Jeremy Allen White of “The Bear” and Martin Scorsese, who does his best vocal impression of Woody Allen.As “Baby Yoda,” Grogu still doesn’t talk, but he sure is cute. The character’s visualization as animatronics and puppetry certainly increases viewer affinity, but when he’s surrounded by so much CGI, the rapport with the audience is reduced. Yet the little green being is really the only reason to see the picture, and perhaps why the film was made in the first place — so that we can witness his growth since the last season of “The Mandalorian.” As the kid hasn’t developed much, feel free to sit this one out and wait until he reaches the Yoda equivalent of the “terrible twos.” Let’s just hope that movie isn’t as terrible as this one.

‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’ Signals Star Wars Is a Spent Force

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