After Disney took over Lucasfilm a little over a decade ago, there was an explosion of “hate” channels popping up on YouTube and social media, looking for every little thing they could to criticize and complain about regarding how the House of Mouse handled the new efforts for the STAR WARS franchise. And honestly, I’ve been a bit of an apologist for those newer efforts, partly because I still found them entertaining, and partly because I’ve come to the conclusion a while ago that they’re not making these movies or shows for people like ‘me’ anymore anyway. When THE MANDALORIAN hit Disney+, I felt pretty validated as it was so good (thanks largely to showrunner Jon Favreau) even the haters had to admit it was a solid entry for the franchise. And “Baby Yoda” was an instant pop culture phenomenon, even before we learned his actual name was “Grogu” – some are still calling him Baby Yoda, even today. The various series that followed it met with mixed results, sometimes exceptional efforts like ANDOR, and sometimes misfires like THE ACOLYTE, and it seemed as if Disney was just taking a break from the movies for a bit… until now. This weekend sees the release of STAR WARS: THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU, which brings the popular Disney+ show to the big screen for the first time, and is the first STAR WARS movie Disney has released since THE RISE OF SKYWALKER in 2019. After so many felt THE MANDALORIAN saved STAR WARS fandom on streaming, can it also save the franchise fandom on the big screen? Sadly, the answer is probably not.

Opening with an intense and somewhat brutal fight sequence in which The Mandalorian (voiced by Pedro Pascal and performed by Brendan Wayne) infiltrates an underground Empire strategy meeting, wiping out Stormtroopers and officers like a sort of Sci-Fi John Wick, and blowing up giant walkers with ease, all while accompanied by the powerful and adorable Grogu, who seems to be the only one nervous about their odds. They hop into their ship, piloted by Zeb (voiced by Steve Blum), and head back to a base with their X-Wing buddies, led here by Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver), who tells Mando he has a new mission to find and capture an Imperial advisor of great importance, but he’ll have to talk to the Hutts for a lead, which sends him on a side quest to find Jabba’s son Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), who is fighting creatures in an underground ring for clout, and hoping to redefine his reputation as something more than the child of a crime lord. Mando soon feels compelled to save Rotta, while also completing his mission, all while facing great odds and formidable enemies along the way.

Directed by Jon Favreau and co-written by Dave Filoni, the movie features some great fight sequences and shootouts, and plenty of action to keep people interested, but it unfortunately gets pretty mundane pretty fast, and the overlong two hour and 12 minute run time doesn’t help. There’s just not much story here, rather a collection of events and sequences that feels more like watching a video game than a movie. Again, I must acknowledge these movies are clearly not being made for my generation of STAR WARS fans, but this particular entry feels pretty dumbed down and too repetitive for its own good. Even the special effects are rather uneven at times, some looking really strong and effective, and others looking almost unfinished and sloppy. I also found the Hutt subplot to be a bit lackluster and tacked on. But the biggest surprise (and not in a good way) is that outside of The Mandalorian and Grogu, there are almost none of the great supporting characters here that made the show so good – no Katee Sackhoff as Bo-Katan, no Emily Swallow as The Armorer, no Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka, no Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon, no Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, all of those great guest stars that elevated the show are just not here. And the newer characters feel a bit miscast, such as Sigourney Weaver (who I normally love) feeling out of place as the X-Wing leader, Jeremy Allen White sounding odd as Rotta’s voice, Martin Scorsese as a nervous street vendor with inside info, and even the actor playing the underground Imperial criminal Mando is hunting just isn’t very interesting. The characterizations of some of the key roles are inconsistent too, such as Grogu shifting back and forth between overly nervous and overly confident depending on the scene, and even the visuals with that character looking at times rushed and awkward, which never seemed to be a problem on the Disney+ series. Mando himself is appropriately tough and formidable, but certain scenes seem unnecessary, like a point where his helmet is removed to shame him… it wasn’t needed, and Mandalorians aren’t supposed to remove their helmets, like ever, even if it’s happened on the show a few times already.

The movie isn’t a total loss, there’s enough STAR WARS tropes and familiarity here to please hardcore fans, and it does have moments of greatness spread throughout even if the overall production is rather uneven. The biggest problem with it is the lack of emotional resonance and a more cohesive narrative. This is a clear case of style over substance, and it suffers for it. Some have said it just feels like an extra-long episode of the show, and nothing special or movie-like, and that’s a fair criticism for sure. I didn’t hate it, but I found it rather forgettable which is a shame. It reminded me of the X-FILES movie, which was highly-anticipated by fans, but left many with a lackluster reaction, and felt like a throwaway episode of the show rather than something unique and exciting. As an “extended” episode of the popular series, if you want to consider it that, THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU is just okay, highlighted mainly by some strong action sequences and a great score by Ludwig Göransson. As a movie, it’s a letdown, and especially as a STAR WARS movie it just leaves you cold… and that’s heartbreaking, considering we’ve waited seven years for more Lucasfilm on the big screen. To paraphrase the lead character’s key slogan, this is not the way.

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