The Mandalorian and Grogu - This Is The Way?

Star Wars has been on a journey for decades: prequels, requels, tv shows and updated versions of the older films...Han shot first.

I was never overly obessed with this franchise. I always did enjoy them for what they were. Fun space adventures of good versus evil. Rebels versus Empire. Hope versus facism. Okay, little more complex if you get too deep into them. Overall, its the hero's journey.

We got the originals and a little over a decade later, the prequels. Another decade plus later, Disney came in and launched the new series of movies. But, there's always more to be made. Enter Disney+ and The Mandalorian.

For two seasons, and about half of a show about Boba Fett (the only good part of the show) The Mandalorian trekked across the galaxy bounty hunting with his charge, his partner, his apprentice...Baby Yoda. The Child. Grogu. The character that launched a thousand memes. If we're being honest, if it wasn't for this adorable little alien, it wouldn't have been as big a draw.

The show itself was fun. Mando would go on these adventures while protecting litle Grogu. It had a clean ending after three seasons, but here we are with a movie.

It essentially plays out like a third season. With crafty editing, you could take this two hour plus movie and break it into a shortened final season. Every thirty or so minutes there's a new act, each leading into the other.

We begin with space adventure! Mando goes John Wick to get his next bounty. They needed him alive rather than dead because he has information about the Empire, information they need. He's sent on his next mission: find mysterious warlord Commander Coin.

He heads to the Hutt Twins for information, then they send him on a mission to find Jabba's son. Which leads to another mission, and another.

This movie would have worked better as a series. Lumped together it was all over the place, but the story did flow well at some parts. It slowed a little when the focus went from Djinn (who was out for a bit) to Grogu. When your secondary important character can't talk, it slows the flow of the movie.

The high points were definitely the action. The movie hit the ground running in terms of action. The Mandalorian blasted his way into the screen and for several minutes did not let up. The return to the Rancor pit. Alien Fight Club. All this kept the movie streamlined at a good pace.

Grogu was his adorably funny self. Eating cookies and using The Force. It will never happen, but I would like to see this little guy grow up and basically become an all powerful Jedi who travels the Galaxy fighting the Empire. He needs to show up in a future movie Yoda-style blasting his way through an intense fight scene.

The downside of the movie was it never felt like a movie. It was binge watching a season of a show with no credits or opening theme...with a higher budget. The villain wasn't all that great and that's the most important part of any movie. You want a good and compelling villain.

While I enjoyed the movie well enough, it wasn't great. It was exactly what you would expect from a Star Wars movie. Space battles, pew pew. Some character growth. Callbacks to past movies.

A fine outing if you love Star Wars fan, casual or otherwise. Just doesn't live up to what you hope it would be.

3/5...Just okay.