We watched STAR WARS: The Mandalorian and Grogu, and here are our first reactions fresh out of the theater. Everything about it looks and sounds good. The production design is immersive, especially in IMAX. You feel like you’re in the movie. Ludwig Göransson brings Trap beats to a galaxy far, far away, and Grogu is groguing. But is it just a long TV episode, or is this the Mandalorian (and Grogu) we’ve been looking for?
If you want to hear more of Julian’s thoughts on The Mandalorian and Grogu, get into his in-depth review:
“This western-themed galaxy adventure is an engrossing movie. It has great fight scenes, space dogfights, and a lot more. I don’t know if this movie will make every Star Wars fan happy, even as I feel that’s an impossible feat.”
Transcript:
Hosts: Sherin Nicole, Julian Lytle, Sam Leggett Jr, Ulysses E. Campbell
Sherin: We’ve just seen the new Star Wars movie, The Mandalorian and Grogu, and these are our first reactions. Julian, I’m going with you first.
Julian: It has a lot of good Muppet action in this. They were sliding on the enemies. Yeah, it was fun. It had some good action set pieces, some good fighting. And it was pretty cool for a person who never watched one frame of The Mandalorian.
Sherin: Oh, the horror. Ulysses, how about you?
Ulysses: I’ll be honest with you. What it reminded me of was, I don’t know how many listeners are going to be familiar with the old Green Hornet series. Not the really old, but with Van Williams and Bruce Lee. But this was a half-hour TV show. It only lasted one season. I believe it was 1967.
The producers, they did a movie—and I’m doing the air quotes thing with my fingers—because they took several episodes of the series and they edited them together to create a 90-minute film. And that was what this felt like to me, particularly given the way that we had been exposed to The Mandalorian before, the way that the movie flowed, the different things that happened.
It felt almost as if they had taken several episodes of the Disney+ series and cut them together to create a feature-length film. I can see that for sure.
Sherin: Sam, how about you?
Sam: For me, this was the first live-action Star Wars movie I’ve enjoyed in 10 years. I think that the action, like Julian said, was freaking really dynamic from the very opening. Interesting transition from the first to second act. I love the puppeteering, the practical
effects.
But I think that the highlight also was Ludwig’s score. I need this score. It’s very different and very visceral, very kinetic. It always changed and moved depending on what the intensity of it was. Or even if it was a calming moment, it was always fulfilling. So this is the first soundtrack I’ve wanted from a Star Wars movie in a very long time.
But I had a very good time because this was a good movie it wasn’t something just mediocre. But I do think that if you’ve seen The Mandalorian it adds to it for you, but if you’ve never seen The Mandalorian I think it’s enough on its own merits to be constituted as a good film.
Sherin: All right. So for me, it very much took me back to before my time, but like the action serials that people used to watch on television, where every time it ended in a cliffhanger, it has very much that style like of those action adventure serials from another era. And then it was a little bit pulpy with Easter eggs for big Star Wars fans. You’re going to see Dave Filoni pop up more than once, which was kind of great to see.
The production design is absolutely gorgeous. It feels very immersive, especially when you’re seeing it in IMAX, which it was built for IMAX. You’re going to get a lot of good Grogu.
Grogu is Groguing, and he’s progressing. He’s a little more toddler than Baby this time around. It’s a very funny film. There’s a moment where they pay an homage to Blade Runner,
complete with the ramen stand.
And there’s a lot of cameos here, a little Scorsese. I’m not going to tell you where. And so I was also very happy with this as a Star Wars film. I did feel like it’s really a very long episode of The Mandalorian turned into a feature, but it is elevated, and they’re giving you everything they can to make it exciting. So I say I can’t wait for everybody to see this one.
Final thoughts:
Sam: Yeah, like I said, I think that this is one you don’t want to miss. And I think it’s got repeated value of watching. Whether it is you are a Grogu fan or a Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) fan, or you just really wanted to get a good action, emotional, and entertaining feel of a film, I think that Star Wars is back.
Just based on the bare necessities, they hit the mark on what the foundations of Star Wars are in this film in a lot of different ways. Is it perfect? No. Is it the best film this year? No. But it’s very entertaining and one of the better Star Wars films we’ve had in the past 10 years, for sure.
Ulysses: If you’re going to see it, see it in IMAX. I could elaborate, but I know that we’re all trying to get out of the museum before they hustle us out—I mean, I could talk about, yes, it’s shot for IMAX, and you want to see it in the full glory. I mean, in fact, I could say, see it in a true IMAX theater, not one of them bootsy IMAX theaters that does not truly have the big screen.
Julian: This was a good movie. It was entertaining. Again, it has a Muppet slide on the enemy so it’s you know a good time. The score is great though; Ludwig got trap drums in a galaxy far far away. We good.
Sherin: That man never fails. That’s why anytime he’s in the category, you’re not going to win. He’s always going to take the gold. I keep thinking about how this is a Mandalorian extravaganza. It is big. It is pretty. It is Grogu-y. And it is very much Star Wars to its bones. It’s kind of a throwback Star Wars movie. And I think that that’s what’s going to make the fans love it.
So get your Grogu ears on and go see Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu. And I’m going to throw it back to Siskel and Ebert and say: See you at the movies.
