Beyond these two, the main character arc of the film involves Rotta, the muscle-bound son of Jabba the Hutt, played with little conviction by The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White. His uncanny, often awkwardly-posed CG visage aside, he spends much of the film feeling like if Woody from Toy Story explained his pathology about his father every time you pulled the string. Perhaps there’s something to be gleaned about leaving a more peaceful path open for one’s children, but if there is, The Mandalorian & Grogu doesn’t have much interest in it – Rotta is mostly a means to fit in a few more references to the original trilogy.
Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni repeat themselves in other ways: most fights involving “Mando”, as other characters call him, feel like they return to the same few narrative beats. There’s nothing more exciting in these moments than what composer Ludwig Goransson is doing with the soundtrack, perhaps the only element of the film which has any real sense of adventure through its clashing electronic and traditional instruments. The same can’t be said for the film’s visual component: often an unintelligible mess during its action sequences (a Colosseum battle perhaps the worst offender), and just completely inert outside of those moments.
As well as the composition, the puppetry and animation are the real stars of the show: Baby Yoda (or “Grogu”) is an expressive little wonder, who feels more alive than any of the flesh and blood people sleepily reciting perfunctory dialogue. As the little cohort of Anzellan aliens (basically, the people of Babu Frik from The Rise of Skywalker), Shirley Henderson might give the best vocal performance in the film, as well as one Martin Scorsese. Beyond the little creatures, the immediately identifiable work of Tippett Studios lends some much-needed tactility to some hulking droids in a final act battle. Glimpsing the genuinely great work of these craftsman makes the flat lighting and murky colours of the rest of the film look even worse.
Beyond occasionally marvelling at the lively work of the puppeteers, there’s not a lot to hold on to in The Mandalorian & Grogu, not even the supposed father and son connection between its marquee characters. As the story returns things to status quo, it’s hard to think of what has even changed between the two, what they might have learned about each other, and if the filmmakers will ever take an interest in finding out.
