"The Mandalorian and Grogu" What the Critics Are Saying Right Now

There are few science fiction stories in American culture that carry the weight "Star Wars" does. George Lucas built something rare in 1977—a myth that felt ancient and modern at the same time, rooted in samurai films and pulp serials, powered by Joseph Campbell and ILM.

Generations of smart and handsome men grew up with those movies. The Force, the Falcon, the cantina band, they are not entertainment so much as shared memory.

That legacy matters, which is why what happened to the franchise over the past decade stings as much as it does.

The Disney Purchase

Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012 and, in the years that followed, produced a string of films that ranged from flawed to outright poor. The sequel trilogy began with promise and ended in incoherence. Spin-offs arrived and mostly faded. More troubling than the box office results was a creeping sense that the storytellers had lost the thread—that "Star Wars" had become less interested in timeless adventure than in checking cultural boxes. Whether through poorly drawn characters, stilted dialogue, or stories that seemed designed by committee, the franchise's voice grew faint.

The best thing Disney produced in this era was "The Mandalorian," which debuted on Disney+ in 2019. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni built it the old-fashioned way. A quiet, capable hero, a helpless creature to protect, and the code of a warrior who keeps his word. It owed more to Akira Kurosawa and Sergio Leone than to anything produced under the Disney banner before it. Fans responded. The show ran three seasons and gave the franchise something it had been missing: genuine affection.

Then came the trouble. Actress Gina Carano, who played fan-favorite Cara Dune, was fired by Lucasfilm in February 2021 over social media posts the company deemed unacceptable. Carano sued Disney for wrongful termination, a case backed by Elon Musk. The two sides settled in August 2025, with Lucasfilm noting it looked forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Carano in the future. The character of Cara Dune was never recast and never returned to the series. The whole episode, whatever one thinks of the particulars, was a distraction and a reminder of how quickly politics can sour a good thing.

"The Mandalorian and Grogu"

Now comes "The Mandalorian and Grogu," the franchise's first theatrical release in seven years, directed by Favreau and co-written with Filoni and Noah Kloor. The film follows Din Djarin and his apprentice Grogu as they are enlisted by the New Republic to rescue Rotta the Hutt in exchange for information on a New Republic target. The cast includes Pedro Pascal as the Mandalorian, with Jeremy Allen White as Rotta and Sigourney Weaver in a supporting role.

The critics have seen it. The verdict is in. And it is, to put it politely, mixed. Below are several recent reviews, arranged from harshest to most generous. The range is instructive. This is not a film that bores everyone, nor one that thrills everyone. It is, by most accounts, something in between — which may be the most honest thing that can be said about it.

"Drab and Stone-Faced to a Fault" — Vulture

Bilge Ebiri of Vulture is among the harshest of the major critics. He finds the film drab and stone-faced to a fault, struggling to capture the inventive vitality of the better "Star Wars" movies, with action scenes that feel frustratingly pro forma and lifeless performances that seem determined to lull us to sleep. The Mandalorian, he notes, basically marches through these sequences, somehow entering highly fortified locations without meaningful resistance and dispatching all his adversaries cleanly and quickly. For Ebiri, the film is not so much bad as it is inert — a "Star Wars" adventure that generates almost no excitement.

"This Is Not the Way" — Den of Geek

David Crow at Den of Geek is disappointed in a very specific way. His critique centers on Pedro Pascal, a fine actor who spends the film entirely encased in armor. Whether Crow gets nothing from the beloved Mando in Favreau's expensive Memorial Day relaunch — the costume catches the reflection of sunlight on a shimmering IMAX screen, but there's little of the enigmatic presence and physicality that Pascal brings to other roles. He compares the film to a summer tentpole blockbuster that feels like a small screen rerun. The review isn't a demolition job, but its assessment is clear: the film is a disappointingly average entry in a universe that once inspired awe.

"The Least Consequential Mandalorian Chapter Yet" — RogerEbert.com

The reviewer at RogerEbert.com gave the film 1.5 stars out of 4, writing that "there's no reason for anything in this movie except the wish to make even more money." The site's review notes the franchise's inability to resist tying everything back to the same extended family — centering the plot on the fate of Jabba the Hutt's son — and observes that there have been so many "Star Wars" shows on Disney+ that the studio apparently ignored its own former CEO's conclusion that too many Marvel streaming shows "diluted the focus and attention" of the fanbase. The critique is pointed: "It's been a long time since we saw a band of losers saving the galaxy."

"Aimless, Lazy, and Inconsequential" — Tom's Guide

Malcolm McMillan at Tom's Guide argues that the film is not a good movie, and those just hoping to see Baby Yoda will have a good time, while the rest will be disappointed in yet another aimless "Star Wars" flick. His headline makes his thesis plain: "The Mandalorian and Grogu" proves Disney doesn't know what to do with "Star Wars." He sees the movie as a symptom of a larger creative drift — a studio with a beloved property and no coherent vision for where to take it.

"Not the Way for Star Wars" — Gizmodo

Germain Lussier at Gizmodo makes a reasonable distinction that frames his whole review. On its own terms, he writes, the film checks all the boxes — it's big, beautiful, has a few laughs, great action, and a story with a beginning, middle, and end. By basic movie standards, he concedes, it works. But he holds "Star Wars" to a higher standard. Favreau aimed to make a film someone could watch cold, without needing to watch three seasons of the TV show first — but what he neglected to do is make a "Star Wars" movie for people who had followed the franchise. The film, Lussier concludes, has little winks, nods, and Easter eggs throughout, but doesn't tell a vital story that pushes the characters into new territory. It just kind of flies by without any major consequences. Not a failure, he says, but close.

"Just Good Enough to Make You Wish It Were Better" — The Hollywood Reporter

Frank Scheck at The Hollywood Reporter lands in the moderate-negative camp. His review notes that the film mostly fulfills its goal of being better than the much-maligned "The Rise of Skywalker" and gives its titular characters a viable launch on the big screen. But it's hard not to wish that it had aimed a bit higher. For Scheck, the film is competent without being compelling — a "Star Wars" movie that earns a passing grade and not much more. The title of his review says most of it.

"Star Wars at Its Most Generic" — IndieWire

Kate Erbland at IndieWire takes a measured but deflating position. She calls the film "inessential and inoffensive, frequently adorable and fun for the whole family" — a film that feels like three good-enough TV episodes pressed together. Her most damning observation is also her most precise: "It feels disposable. It feels like, well, what most things feel like these days: content." Her grade was a C+. She is not enraged. She is not charmed. She is, in the most deflating possible way, unmoved.

"An Efficient Adventure" — Variety

Owen Gleiberman at Variety is more sympathetic, though his review is carefully hedged. He describes the film as one that benefits from a collective sense of lowered expectations, and that the characters translate just fine to the big screen in part because of how much goodwill they've earned. Gleiberman finds Favreau's direction competent and the film watchable, even if he acknowledges it never achieves the scope or feeling of the classic trilogy. His bottom line: Jon Favreau directs a big-budget movie with a tidy small-screen consciousness — but maybe that's what "Star Wars" now is.

"Light, Low-Stakes Fun" — Boston.com

Kevin Slane at Boston.com represents the moderate-positive camp. He finds the film light, low-stakes fun that's only mildly more ambitious than the Disney+ show, which he means as a qualified compliment. For viewers who simply want to spend two hours with Din Djarin and Grogu — and who have kept their expectations realistic — he suggests the film delivers. It doesn't transcend the television series that spawned it, but it doesn't embarrass it, either.

"Made for You" — Mortal Cinema

Luke Y. Thompson at Mortal Cinema is the most enthusiastic voice in this roundup, and the most specific about who the film is for. He opens with a test: if you are old enough to have wondered who Amanaman was when his action figure came out — the coolest thing ever in the original "Star Wars" toy line — "The Mandalorian and Grogu" was made for you. He frames the movie as Favreau's love letter to the bizarre, creature-heavy corners of the original "Star Wars" universe, grabbing all the coolest action figures of the wildest aliens and making a story about them. His review is honest about the film's limits — it proceeds like a video game, clearing one stage before going to the next — but he finds that approach satisfying in context. The film knows what it is and does it well.

"Families Will Find a Good Time" — Plugged In

Plugged In, the review site from Focus on the Family, takes the most family-centered view of the group and emerges relatively positive. The site's reviewer, Paul Asay, describes a film that feels like a stand-alone adventure rather than an addition to the Star Wars canon, where families will find a bit of "Star Wars" spirituality and a lot of bloodless violence. The surrogate-father story between Mando and Grogu is what Plugged In values most: by this point in the Mandalorian's story arc, he is most assuredly a good, albeit violent, guy — a surrogate father to Grogu who is willing to do whatever it takes to keep him safe, up to potentially sacrificing his own life. For parents looking for a film their kids can watch without incident, and that carries some honorable themes about protection and loyalty, this review suggests the film earns its place.

A Final Word

This is a divided verdict, but not a shocking one. "The Mandalorian and Grogu" is not "The Empire Strikes Back." It is also not "The Rise of Skywalker." It lands somewhere in the honest middle — a reasonably entertaining film that carries the genetic material of something great without quite being great itself.

If you have written off "Star Wars" entirely, this film probably won't change your mind. But if you have any residual affection for Din Djarin and his small green companion — if that original series reminded you of why you loved science fiction in the first place — there is enough here to justify a trip to the theater. The Force theme still sounds like it should. The galaxy still looks like a place worth visiting. And for two hours on a summer weekend, that counts for something.

Give it a try. You've spent more time in worse company.