Is The Mandalorian and Grogu Movie Any Good?

The Mandalorian and Grogu movie is required viewing for any Star Wars fan in general, and fans of the Mandalorian show specifically.  Lots of Star Wars action, loveable interactions between Mando and Grogu (AKA Baby Yoda), and great alien costumes and special effects.  The plot is not about saving the Galaxy or even a planet (as seen in multiple SW shows and movies). It is not a political show like Andor. What it IS though, is a great popcorn movie (buy the Grogu popcorn tin. Totally Cool!) that is fun to watch. We can root for the good guys, and feel satisfaction when the bad guys lose. Be sure you know what the New Republic is and understand that the Empire is still out there causing trouble.  

Some “critics” online are giving this fun movie negative reviews. I suspect that they are either: 

A. Professional or semi-professional “content creators” who are not actual fans of Star Wars/Mando, or, 

B.  ARE Star Wars fans, but only hew to a narrower concept of what “Star Wars” should be, in their opinion anyway. 

We seem to have the “If it isn’t political, it is crap” wing, who loved Andor in particular. We also see folks (usually older, like myself), who think that the original trilogy is the only true canon, and everything after 1983 is suspect.  We also see those who bemoan the lack of the Expanded Universe lore in modern Star Wars movies and shows.  For the record, as someone who lived through the great Tatooine-like desert of NO NEW MOVIES from the mid 1980s to the cusp of the new century, ANY new Star Wars content is worth seeing. 

Grogu (Baby Yoda) and Friends

Having said that, I thoroughly enjoyed the Mando/Grogu movie (and shows), but I also love the original trilogy, the prequels, Andor, Ahsoka, Rogue One, Clone Wars etc. I enjoyed the Sequels (though with some criticism), and the Solo film, and loved the animated Rebels, among others.

The Mandalorian and Grogu movie was quite fun.  Like the Mando TV show, which is really just a sci-fi space Western, we see the good guys fight the bad guys, we see some cool aliens and monsters, and, of course, the Empire is the big bad, but without the political and socio-economic background we see in Andor and other shows/films. But that is OK!!  Sometimes we just need a popcorn movie to remind us of those bygone days of yesteryear (1977 in my case), when we saw Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, and a couple of Droids save the day, which of course, is the Way!

By the way, speaking of yesteryear, two more things. Callbacks!

On the good side, we see two very nice character callbacks from both Clone Wars and Rebels. If you haven’t yet seen the movie, I won’t spoil the reveals here, but I was happy to see both of them. Very well done!

On the more negative side, apart from four very small callbacks to the Mando TV show, this movie is lacking in any major substantive callbacks to the Mandalorian show.  I saw that several Mando/Book of Boba Fett actors were on the red carpet at the Hollywood premier of this movie, and assumed/hoped that their characters would be in the movie. Rather disappointed they were not included.  But that is a very minor annoyance, and did not really affect my level of enjoyment of this movie.

Go see The Mandalorian and Grogu in the theater now!  I Have Spoken!  This IS The Way!