Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

Disney/Lucasfilm;

Stars Pedro Pascal, Brendan Wayne, Lateef Crowder, Jeremy Allen White, Jonny Coyne, Martin Scorsese, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Blum, Shirley Henderson, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Hemky Madera, Matthew Willig.

In lieu of a fourth season, the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian” received an upgrade to the big screen for a feature-film continuation, the first “Star Wars” movie in theaters in nearly seven years.

Set about five years after Return of the Jedi, the series depicted how the bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) came to adopt the former Jedi youngling Grogu, and in so doing became embroiled in a scheme by a former Imperial warlord to resurrect the Empire.

Picking up from the events of the series, The Mandalorian and Grogu finds the title characters now working for the New Republic, tracking down more leaders of the Imperial remnant with hopes of staving off a new civil war. This is part of an ongoing storyline that will play out on season two of “Ahsoka,” and like that show the film draws a lot of influence from the lore contributions of co-writer Dave Filoni, the chief creative officer of Lucasfilm.

At the behest of Col. Ward (Sigourney Weaver), The Mandalorian’s next mission involves making a deal with the Hutts to rescue Jabba’s son Rotta (Jeremy Allen White) from a rival criminal faction in exchange for information about the whereabouts of another rogue Imperial. Rotta, who was originally introduced as a baby way back in the 2008 animated Clone Wars movie, has renounced his family legacy and found success fighting in the gladiator pits of a remote world.

Directed by Jon Favreau, who created “The Mandalorian” series, the film echoes the structure of the show, which often involved the Mandalorian tasked with side quests to further a larger goal. Because the film plays so episodically, a natural assumption would be that the filmmakers just took the storyline intended for season four and condensed it. However, Favreau stated during the film’s promotional campaign that this wasn’t the case, and the story that evolved from restructuring the series into a movie became more of its own thing.

While it includes some references to the series, and some earlier “Star Wars” animated shows, the movie plays more like a standalone adventure that doesn’t require viewers to have an intimate knowledge of the franchise for the audience to follow along.

The result is an enjoyable new chapter of the “Mandalorian” saga and fun film set in the “Star Wars” universe that pays off a few dangling plot threads from previous installments of the franchise.

While the film employs a healthy dose of CGI, the visual effects aren’t overwhelmed by them, with a lot of puppetry and practical effects on display that should appeal to old-school “Star Wars” fans.

On the other hand, The Mandalorian and Grogu is marked by a few oddities for a “Star Wars” movie. It’s the first “Star Wars” movie with actual opening credits, that run over a kind of “Top Gun” homage that shows off the New Republic military compound run by Ward. Notably, the cast list also includes the two stunt performers, Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder, who perform the bulk of the action in the Mandalorian suit. Pascal provides the character’s voice and only appears in one scene when Din Djarin has his helmet off.

The Mandalorian and Groguis also the first “Star Wars” movie that doesn’t make any use of the actual “Star Wars” theme, with composer Ludwig Göransson centering the score around his own leitmotifs from the series, and some electronic experimentation.

The home <a href="https://comicvibe.com/grange-house-live-nations-new-entertainment-venue-will-open-at-orchard-road-by-mid/” title=”Grange House, Live Nation's new entertainment venue, will open at Orchard Road by mid”>entertainment presentation of the film includes a commentary by Favreau in which he does a fair share of explaining what’s happening mixed with discussing behind-the-scenes details of the scene being played.

There are also four behind-the-scenes featurettes that run more than 40 minutes in total. The 20-minute “Crafting: The Mandalorian and Grogu” provides a general view of the production; the six-and-a-half-minute “Biomes: From Snow to Swamp” delves into creating some of the exotic locations for the film; the nine-minute “Welcome to Shakari” details the creation of an expansive set to depict a bustling alien metropolis; and the six-minute “Dejarik for Real” focuses on the creation of the combat scene in which Rotta and the Mandalorian fight the living versions of the monsters from the holographic game first seen in the original Star Wars in 1977.

In the film’s 4K combo pack, the regular Blu-ray Disc includes all the extras, while the 4K disc has just the commentary.