Welcome to Crosstalk, wherein A.V. Club writers discuss their varied (or unvaried, as the case may be) perspectives on a pop-culture topic. This time, Jacob Oller and Monica Castillo find out if this is the way for The Mandalorian And Grogu.
Jacob Oller: A point that our critic Jesse Hassenger brought up in his review of The Mandalorian And Grogu is that this is an example of Jon Favreau—and perhaps Star Wars in general—shifting away from flesh and blood people. Now that we’ve both seen the movie, my question to you is, does Star Wars need people to work?
Monica Castillo: Most of my favorite characters—and dare I say, many of whom made Star Wars one of the biggest franchises in 20th-century pop culture—are and will always be human or human-adjacent. Alien lifeforms and androids are the spice of life of living in a galaxy far, far away, but the heart of the series is almost always human or humanoid. Where would we be without Luke’s emotional journey in the first trilogy, Obi-Wan losing his master then becoming one in the prequels, or Rey duking it out with Kylo Ren at the climax of The Rise Of Skywalker? It’s not to detract from some of the non-human characters in The Mandalorian And Grogu, who save this movie and make it enjoyable, but the lack of a human element felt noticeably missing. This entry to the Star Wars universe feels like a romp more than a story of epic proportions despite the X-wing fighters.
JO: Well, to your point, it felt like a weightless romp when it wasn’t focused on its human actors and like a plodding punishment when it was. Pedro Pascal’s five minutes of face time, Sigourney Weaver’s laughably stiff New Republic officer, all the stuff with the ex-Imperial officers…it’s like The Mandalorian And Grogu was trying to make those moments lifeless in comparison. At least when the film was just focused on the oddities, the various little fur balls (one voiced by Martin Scorsese) and bounty hunters, it felt freed of the stiffness in dialogue and performance that can define so much of the human element in these movies.
MC: I agree to some extent. Grogu innocent, and the highlight of this movie is when he gets to have his own wordless adventure like WALL-E. I was riveted and thoroughly charmed by how the filmmakers sustained that sense of wonder and gave us a break from that clunky dialogue you mentioned. While the Scorsese-voiced creature was also a delight, I cannot say a kind word about Jabba Jr., Rotta The Hutt. The team of screenwriters tried to give him a tragic backstory as a son trying to stand out from his kingpin dad’s shadow as a prizefighter who’s persecuted by his surviving family members, and it just does not work. Swole Hutt is too unserious, too odd-looking—which is saying something for the Star Wars universe—and so underwhelmingly performed by Jeremy Allen White, not even the voice effects the filmmakers gave him could mask how little effort he put into that performance.
JO: And—this is going to sound weird because we’re talking about a big worm-man with humanoid muscles—I think one of the reasons Rotta doesn’t work is that the film is straining to make him too human. The grafted-on daddy issues and, like you said, affectless performance make Carmy The Hutt into a weird hybrid between VFX showcase and a driver of plot/emotion. It really doesn’t help that he’s who Mando has the most conversations with. It’s this that partially made me think that the film would’ve been better doing away with all the human-like folks entirely, leaning into a near-silent feel (or at least more cartoonish approach) where things were entirely driven from an alien perspective. It’s funny, but what comes to mind is the LEGO Star Wars games, which get through a lot of the standard Star Wars story using pantomime and sight gags, which helps them work around some of the more wooden aspects of the franchise.
MC: Mando was a much more interesting character early in the series, so it’s weird to see him so sidelined in the movie that bears his name. His ethical quandary over who to work for and rescue is so clear-cut this time around that there’s not much suspense over his decision. It doesn’t help that Pedro Pascal’s minutes-long cameo was similarly a letdown. Grogu is the star this time around. Honestly, I’m fine if there’s more solo/solo-ish adventures for him, but I do wonder if there’s enough for him to do beyond just being cute and cooing for a feature. If this movie felt like a mini-season worth of episodes stuffed in a trenchcoat, Grogu happened to land the strongest arc. Maybe in the hands of other filmmakers, an almost silent Star Wars version of Lone Wolf And Cub could work, but I’m not sure it would with this team.
JO: Is Mando much more of a person in the show? Here he’s just a killing machine who looks like a Boba Fett action figure and happens to have a little pet Yoda with him. Maybe that’s where I feel disillusioned with recent Star Wars films, where they trade more on iconography than humanity. If they’re gonna do that, you might as well lean all the way in. Go back to podracing.
MC: I will defend the first season of The Mandalorian because the series’ lead killing machine grew a conscience (sort of) and had to reckon with “just following orders” to save Baby Yoda before we knew his name. I do appreciate that he’s grown into fatherhood: moderating Grogu’s cookie intake and chiding him for not wearing a seatbelt while still taking down AT-AT Walkers and chasing the dregs of the Empire. All in a day’s work! That feels more human to me than mere IP recognition. Don’t count out podracing, this may not be the last time we see The Mandalorian and Grogu.
JO: If we see them again, I can’t say that I’ll want more parenting lessons. More street food vendors voiced by treasures of American cinema? That I can work with.
Keep scrolling for more great stories.