{"slug": "review-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-is-average-star-wars-no-more-no-less", "title": "Review: The Mandalorian and Grogu is average Star Wars—no more, no less", "summary": "The article summarizes that *The Mandalorian and Grogu* is an average, serviceable addition to the Star Wars franchise, offering solid family entertainment for Memorial Day weekend but failing to be the spectacular hit needed to revitalize the series. The plot follows Din Djarin and Grogu as they hunt Imperial warlords for the New Republic before taking on a mission from the Hutt Twins to find Rotta the Hutt in exchange for information on a warlord named Coin.", "body_md": "Hopes were arguably high for The Mandalorian and Grogu, director Jon Favreau’s big-screen offshoot of the popular Disney+ series The Mandalorian. After all, there hasn’t been a new film in the Star Wars franchise since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker wrapped up the three trilogies that make up the so-called “Skywalker Saga.”\nThe new film is … fine. It’s an average Star Wars outing, and it will give families a solid Memorial Day Weekend entertainment option. It’s just not the spectacular home run that might have helped launch the flagging franchise into an exciting new era, and diehard Star Wars fans hoping for more are probably going to be disappointed.\n(Some spoilers below but no major reveals.)\nGrogu (fka “Baby Yoda”) won viewers’ hearts from the moment he first appeared onscreen in the first season of The Mandalorian, and the relationship between the little green creature and his father-figure bounty hunter, the titular Mandalorian, Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal), has only gotten stronger. With the 2023 Hollywood strikes delaying production on season 4 of the series, Favreau got the green light to make this spinoff film.\nMando and Grogu (as his apprentice) are hunting down the scattered remnants of Imperial warlords on behalf of the New Republic, taking orders from Sigourney Weaver’s Colonel Ward, a former pilot with the Rebel Alliance. These missions tend to get messy, with Mando being Mando. Ward really wants the warlords alive to get useful intelligence from them, but they understandably don’t like to come quietly, so sometimes, well, they die with their henchmen. Can’t be helped.\nAfter Mando takes out his latest target, a disappointed Ward offers him a new mission: tracking down Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), son of the late Jabba, on behalf of the Hutt Twins, who took over Jabba’s criminal enterprise. In turn, the twins will provide crucial information on the whereabouts of an elusive Empire warlord named Coin. Mando accepts, mostly because Ward offers him a newly refurbished Razor Crest-like ship, just like his old one that blew up at the end of S2.", "url": "https://wpnews.pro/news/review-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-is-average-star-wars-no-more-no-less", "canonical_source": "https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/05/review-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-is-average-star-wars-no-more-no-less/", "published_at": "2026-05-22 18:30:06+00:00", "updated_at": "2026-05-22 18:36:43.205686+00:00", "lang": "en", "topics": [], "entities": ["The Mandalorian and Grogu", "Jon Favreau", "Star Wars", "The Rise of Skywalker", "Grogu", "Baby Yoda", "Din Djarin", "Pedro Pascal"], "alternates": {"html": "https://wpnews.pro/news/review-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-is-average-star-wars-no-more-no-less", "markdown": "https://wpnews.pro/news/review-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-is-average-star-wars-no-more-no-less.md", "text": "https://wpnews.pro/news/review-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-is-average-star-wars-no-more-no-less.txt", "jsonld": "https://wpnews.pro/news/review-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-is-average-star-wars-no-more-no-less.jsonld"}}