Lucasfilm

At the core of The Mandalorian and Grogu is the celebration of found family, as well as the ever-present power we as individuals have to tell a new story about ourselves, to change our fates and how others see us. The father/son aspect of the film was beautifully rendered, and again, largely performed between a man obscured by a helmet and a puppet, and yet it feels poignant and believable. Is it all done while remaining decidedly “family friendly”? Yes. But given how unfriendly the world feels right now, that seems like a gift of the Jedi.

The Mandalorian and Grogu is a big-screen spinoff of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, which made its debut in 2019, introducing a brawny, fully-armored, bounty-hunting Mandalorian warrior Din ‘Mando’ Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his tiny, always hungry ward Grogu, resembling a Baby Yoda. Director/writer Jon Favreau begins with some fast-paced, high-octane sequences leading into the New Republic’s Colonel Ward dispatching Mando-the-mercenary to capture an evil Imperial warlord.