Star Wars: Mandalorian & Grogu

I’d heard unkind things about this movie, but I loved it! It's basically a futuristic, cross-species buddy movie with great special effects.

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The dynamic between the Mandalorian and Grogu is layered and interesting. Yes, the Mandalorian is ostensibly ’taking care’ of young Grogu, but Grogu can hold his own in a fight. I did notice, though, that the Mandalorian doesn’t even thank Grogu for all the work Grogu did to get him out of a pretty bad situation. I didn’t like that.

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The plot is simple: the Hutts hire Mando to bring their cousin back. That task turns out to be more difficult than imagined for a number of reasons, which leads to a lot of excellent fight scenes and a situation that seems impossible to come back from.

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There is one scene in which the Mandalorian’s helmet is removed. It’s the worst thing that can happen to a Mandalorian, but that act jacks the tension up by several degrees because we know that those who did that to him - who had seen his face - would have to die.

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That scene is also a clever way to show the viewing audience that Pedro Pascal is the Mandalorian (even though, in reality, Pascal only provides the voice for the Mandalorian: two stunt guys are the ones who do the physical acting and the fighting).

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This film is an excellent addition to the Star Wars catalog. The puppeteering is top-notch, the monsters are alarming, and some scenes are so artistically composed that they look like paintings. 100% recommended.

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