Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu
What is an adventure without excitement? What is danger without boldness? These are two questions that can be answered by watching Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu.
Set in the Star Wars galaxy, it begins with the Mandalorian bounty hunter (Pedro Pascal) and his apprentice, Grogu, on an assignment to find Rotta the Hutt, who is connected to an ex-warlord, Commander Coin. They go to Hutt's homeworld to find him, but learn that Rotta's not there. So they go to another planet where Rotta's at, and it turns out he's good and his family's bad.
While the movie doesn't have to be an adventure or be exciting, it tries to be but feels fruitless in both. Most of the movie's aspects are there only as their definition, becoming unworthwhile. Action sequences are just characters moving and doing things with power. The action doesn't try to flourish between the movements on screen and the audience, so it really becomes the audience watching broadly as the characters partake in action. While there are also no laws regarding action, it feels like something about the action isn't working when nothing is being built or felt. Perhaps this is because the story isn't invested in character, themes, or much else.
Like the action, the characters exist only as their definition: people (and in this case, aliens) represented in a story. They're not complex because the film isn't particularly interested in asking itself, "who they are." While they do have a few traits, like the Mandalorian caring for Grogu and vice versa, and later, as the film goes on, Grogu and Rotta forming a linkage, these relationships are just simplistic bonds, as the film doesn't show anything beyond that the characters have a bond. While the Mandalorian grows more trusting of Rotta because of Rotta's link to Grogu, the movie still doesn't want to go beyond that as an idea.
Visually, the movie is quite dull- not sharp, not completely flat, just dull. Nothing is impressive, but nothing is grotesque. Like much of the film, the movie feels visually like nothing. Again, there are no laws for a movie's visuals and aesthetics, but the film still feels like nothing.
The only brief spark of interest is a sequence where, after the Mandalorian is severely wounded, Grogu takes care of him for some days. Much of the sequence uses wordless storytelling, and it is fairly nice. The Mandalorian realizes that Grogu's lifetime will far outlast his, and he needs to teach him and prepare for it. This idea, however, is not a theme whose throughline weaves the film together, and is mentioned only a few times. The movie doesn't really have a theme; it's pretty much just scenes in order.
As a whole, The Mandalorian and Grogu feels like nothing. It's really just scenes in order without entertainment value, thematic depth, or emotional depth. There are also no laws about what a movie can or cannot do to make someone feel, just as there is no objective step-by-step process to make a person feel something. Movies can do whatever they want to make a person feel something, or build their themes. However, this movie is just a waste, with the only feeling and atmosphere it creates being nothingness.
