The review embargo has officially lifted for The Mandalorian and Grogu, and critics are sharply divided over Disney’s first theatrical Star Wars release since 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. While some reviewers are praising Jon Favreau’s big-screen continuation of the Disney+ hit series as an entertaining throwback adventure, others are calling it an uninspired, low-stakes expansion.
The film currently sits at 64% on Rotten Tomatoes, narrowly above the “Fresh” threshold.
Positive reviews largely centered on the chemistry between Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin and Grogu, Ludwig Göransson’s score, and the film’s lighter blockbuster tone. The Wrap called the movie “the most purely entertaining Star Wars movie since the 1980s,” praising its heart and straightforward storytelling, while USA Today described it as “an enjoyable throwback romp” that embraces both “the bizarre and the adorable.”
Others appreciated the film’s more modest ambitions. The New York Post called the movie’s relative simplicity “something of a relief,” describing it as “flighty fun,” while The Guardian labeled it a “solid enough addition” to the expanding galaxy.
But several outlets were far less enthusiastic.
SlashFilm blasted the movie as “the most boring” Star Wars film yet, criticizing it for refusing to “aspire to anything more challenging or cinematic.” Vulture called the film “drab and stone-faced to a fault,” arguing the action sequences feel lifeless and emotionally empty.
Other critics argued the film simply feels too small for the big screen. The Hollywood Reporter wrote that while the scale and IMAX presentation “looks, sounds, and feels like a Star Wars movie,” the story remains “relatively inconsequential.” IndieWire echoed similar frustrations, describing the project as “three good-enough TV episodes smushed together.”
A recurring criticism in many Mandalorian reviews is that the film struggles to justify its leap to theaters after streaming. The Independent argued the movie “merely stitches together what is clearly three episodes of the previously planned fourth season” of the Disney+ series, while Empire described it as “the least consequential Mandalorian chapter yet.”
Still, even several mixed reviews acknowledged the enduring appeal of the central duo. GamesRadar praised the “charisma of Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin and the sheer adorableness of Grogu,” while Gizmodo admitted the film is “big, beautiful” and entertaining despite ultimately feeling like “a longer, better-looking, mid-tier episode of the show.”
Whether audiences embrace the film as a fun standalone adventure or reject it as streaming content stretched to theatrical scale may determine where Star Wars heads next on the big screen.
The Mandalorian and Grogu opens May 22.
REELated:
The Boys ends exactly how it lived: bloody and unhinged
