Film Review: The Mandalorian and Grogu Brings Star Wars Back To The Cinema

★★★★☆

The Scoop Star Wars The Mandalorian and Grogu

A short time ago in a cinema not very far away…

Ladies and gentlemen, this is it. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. The first live-action Star Wars film to hit cinemas since The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. In a surprising pivot away from Disney+, director and co-writer Jon Favreau takes what could have been The Mandalorian Season 4 and expands it into a two-hour cinematic event.

Disney has spent years mining the galaxy for spin-offs and side quests. Outside of Andor, nothing has connected with audiences quite like The Mandalorian. Set around twelve years after the Battle of Yavin, the story follows Din Djarin and Grogu as they help the New Republic hunt down the scattered Imperial Remnants.

Favreau is an old hand at Star Wars. He helped build The Mandalorian from the ground up, shaping both its tone and identity. Having him steer the ship gives this project immediate credibility.

What made The Mandalorian such a phenomenon was its broad appeal. Andor leaned into political paranoia and rebellion. The Mandalorian tapped into adventure, warmth and mythmaking. Kids adored Grogu. Older fans embraced the stripped-back western energy.

Disney clearly understands that the generation raised on the prequels is aging into young adults, and now another generation is waiting for its own gateway into the galaxy.

This is that gateway. The Mandalorian and Grogu runs on pure adventure logic. Someone gives you a mission, that mission leads to another problem, then another detour, and then another fight. It plays out almost like a great single-player game campaign, but the structure definitely works. And at just over two hours, the runtime flies by.

The film splits neatly into two halves. The first is relentless. Battle after battle, chase after chase, built for adrenaline junkies and audiences raised on constant stimulation. The second half is steadier-paced but has more character and narrative payoff.

It feels really nice to see a Star Wars film on a huge screen with surround sound. Some films are made for cinemas. This is one of them.

The film does prioritise visual spectacle over plot, with a lot of dialogue telling you what’s going on rather than showing you. That being said, the battle scenes are epic and feature enough crunchy violence to feel satisfying without pulling any punches.

Pedro Pascal remains the stoic centre of the story. Cool, controlled and untouchable, he carries himself as the ultimate action figure brought to life. Kids are going to walk out wanting Beskar armour immediately after they leave the cinema.

Jeremy Allen White brings surprising warmth as the voice of Rotta the Hutt, giving the character genuine personality and emotional weight.

Sigourney Weaver serves more as a narrative driver, pushing Mando from one mission to the next rather than delivering a major game-changing performance.

The Grogu puppetry is phenomenal. Every movement lands, every reaction gets a response from the crowd. He remains the emotional core of the franchise, and the audience absolutely melts every time he’s on screen.

Ludwig Göransson’s score does exactly what it needs to do. Big themes, pulsing action, western swagger. Musically, Star Wars is in safe hands.

There are also plenty of fun touches for long-time fans. Modified B1 and B2 battle droids from The Clone Wars era got noticeable reactions from the audience, and Dave Filoni’s cameo appearance earned a solid cheer.

The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn’t reinvent Star Wars. It doesn’t try to tear the formula apart or rebuild the mythology from scratch. Instead, it focuses on being entertaining. Fast-paced, crowd-pleasing and easy to love, it’s the kind of movie families will happily line up to see on a weekend or kids will flock to straight after school lets out.

This is the way.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu opens in cinemas around Australia on Thursday 21 May 2026.

Find tickets at the website below.

Website: https://www.disney.com.au/movies/the-mandalorian-and-grogu

Socials: https://www.instagram.com/starwarsaunz/