The Mosley Review: Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

It is always a good day when I can wake up, go to the movie theatre and see a new adventure in a galaxy far far away . From the moment I could recognize the magic of this beloved franchise and to the day I die, I will always be a die hard Star Wars fan. That being said, I can whole heartedly acknowledge its greatest achievements and its abysmal faults. Now comes a new film that sort of falls in between those lines and I was okay with it. We come to these films hoping to see an advancement in the lore or to see character development of those we love and we get crumbs of that, but not enough in my opinion. Its false to say that the spirit of adventure was missing, but it is true that this film didn't feel like a story that was either groundbreaking or sadly, necessary. I hate saying that because I know that there is a lot love that goes into these stories, but I can't shake the shocking amount of ambivalence that washed over me once the credits began to roll.

Pedro Pascal, Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder all return as Din Djarin/ The Mandalorian. Pedro delivers the same level of stoicism to the character we all love and further explores his father like feelings to his adopted son Grogu. Brendan and Lateef continue to bring the amazing physicality to the character in some of the best stunt work I've seen for the character. From his classic cowboy swagger to his quick and brutal fighting style, its all a show stopper in the great action set pieces we get along the way. Grogu is still the cute foundling and I liked that he has become more confident and effect. He gets his own amount of side quests and I found one particular scene with a fisherman the most compelling scene in the film. Steve Blum returns as Garazeb "Zeb" Orrelios and it was great to see the character enjoying his job as a pilot for the New Republic. His charm was intact and I thoroughly enjoyed witnessing him absolutely destroy stormtroopers left and right. Sigourney Weaver was good as colonel and leader of the New Republic's Adelphi Rangers, Ward. Her commanding presence was great and I like that she doesn't really where her heart on her sleeve. She is a war time leader and she shows it subtley, but her performance was a pretty hollow. Martin Scorsese provides the voice of Ardennian shopkeeper, Hugo and he was a fun addition to the film. He pretty much was himself the entire time, but you could tell he was having fun. Jeremy Allen White was great as the voice of Rotta the Hutt and I liked that he took the character in a familiar, but new direction. Rotta breaks the stereotype of the Hutt race and truly has his own motivations and dreams. I loved his physicality as his story was more Gladiator influenced.

Ludwig Göransson returns as composer and he continues to deliver the same epic and experimental musical sound the series is known for. Film score is always the second character in a Star Wars picture and his score was very much that. From the bombastic opening to the groovy theme of Shakari to the more intimate themes in the second half of the film, the score soars to new levels of inventiveness. Visually, the film is gorgeous to look at as the action in this film was the main course. The opening AT-AT sequences was brilliant and I loved the snake pitt the most honestly as the visual effects were the best this franchise has seen in quite some time. I witnessed this film in IMAX and that is truly the only way to see the sheer scope of the action. The problem I felt the most about this film is sense of uneven scaling. For a second, it seemed as if the story was leading to some massive reveal or cameo that may have some bearing on the future of this timeline or maybe set up an event. Unfortunately, none of that happens. We come to see Star Wars films branch into a massive arching story that has meaning or growth for the characters involved and sadly none of those staples are here. It was a fun adventure yes, but by the end of this film, I felt like I just watched a higher budget version of the Ewok Adventures films. After you see this film, I want you to ask yourself this question. If this film didn't exist, would it have changed the trajectory of the franchise or effect the main characters in any meaningful way? Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!