<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been seven years since the last theatrical Star Wars film, \u201cThe Rise of Skywalker,\u201d and nine years since the last good one, \u201cThe Last Jedi.\u201d Disney\u2019s abundant slew of television, video games and merchandise has been lacking something that most of the movies have offered. Watching \u201cThe Mandalorian and Grogu\u201d revealed Disney has no clue how to recapture the childlike wonder that used to be inherent in Star Wars.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Since the release of \u201cThe Rise of Skywalker,\u201d 12 different Star Wars television series have been released on Disney+, including one that this film is a continuation of, \u201cThe Mandalorian.\u201d It was a massive hit<\/a>, spawning three seasons, a spin-off and an unfathomable amount of Grogu (aka \u201cBaby Yoda\u201d) merch. The choice to both continue the show\u2019s story through the cinematic medium and mark the return of Star Wars to the big screen is odd. For a show that already has a huge budget<\/a> from Disney, what can it do to rise in scale and still match the feeling of its television predecessor? An even harder task: How to write it as a full-fledged film instead of a 2-hour episode? The film ends up as an inconsequential blip in the Star Wars franchise, and it doesn\u2019t set itself apart from anything that could be found in the Disney+ catalog.<\/p>\n The film is split into three distinct, glaringly episodic parts, where, at the end of each section, the movie visibly halts for a beat before continuing the story. This structure makes it impossible to separate the movie from television and its narrative feels scarce. The plot follows The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) and his toddler companion Grogu as they are assigned by the newly formed Republic to rescue space colosseum fighter Ratta the Hutt (Jeremy Allan White).<\/p>\n If this doesn\u2019t put you to sleep, then Jeremy Allen White\u2019s rather poor vocal performance as Ratta absolutely will. White uses his regular speaking voice, pitched slightly down, delivering lines empty of emotion, lacking any creative flourish all without any accent, making Ratta sound like someone you would meet on the streets of New Jersey, not in the far reaches of the galaxy. The oddly muscular build of this cosmic slug is displayed in underdeveloped CGI that once again feels like something you would see in a TV show and not a full-fledged movie. He is a character audiences couldn\u2019t care less about, which is not a good thing when the movie is set around rescuing him.\u00a0<\/p>\n