After years of focusing heavily on streaming, “Star Wars” is finally heading back to cinemas with “The Mandalorian and Grogu,” though the first critical reactions suggest a comeback that is entertaining without being entirely convincing.
Jon Favreau’s latest entry has landed in mixed territory with a 68% score on Rotten Tomatoes from 88 critics ahead of its theatrical release on May 22.
A Familiar Galaxy Returns to the Big Screen
Set after the fall of the Galactic Empire, the picture follows Din Djarin and Grogu as the New Republic recruits them for a mission involving Rotta the Hutt, voiced by Jeremy Allen White.
The project marks Lucasfilm’s first theatrical “Star Wars” feature since “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” and continues the story launched in the Disney+ series “The Mandalorian,” with Pedro Pascal returning as Din Djarin.
For some critics, the transition from streaming to theaters never fully escapes the feeling of expanded television. Writing for Variety, Owen Gleiberman described the title as “fun in a slightly flat way,” arguing that Disney is ultimately delivering “a couple of likable, diverting, semi forgettable episodes jammed together” despite the larger scale and blockbuster action.
That sense of creative hesitation also appeared in The Hollywood Reporter’s review. Frank Scheck questioned whether the picture works as “a worthy theatrical Star Wars movie” or simply “a condensed fourth season of the series,” concluding that it lands somewhere in between. While praising the upgraded visuals, IMAX presentation and Pascal’s performance, he noted that the story still feels “stubbornly small” for a franchise once defined by sweeping mythology and cinematic ambition.
Deadline’s Damon Wise took a broader view of the franchise’s current direction. Although he called the production “pretty entertaining when it’s at its simplest,” he also raised doubts about how long nostalgia alone can sustain audience enthusiasm. Wise suggested longtime fans may be growing restless with stories stuck between the original trilogy and the prequels, especially as younger viewers become less attached to legacy characters and familiar iconography.
Even with the divided reception, most reviews acknowledged that the film succeeds at delivering the elements audiences already associate with the series: fast moving action, recognizable mythology and Grogu’s undeniable appeal. For Lucasfilm, that may be enough to reestablish “Star Wars” as a theatrical event. Whether it represents a bold new era for the franchise, however, remains a much more contested question among critics.