Why THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU Deserves Better Than the Backlash It’s Getting

The reaction to The Mandalorian and Grogu has honestly been kind of baffling to watch unfold. Some critics are acting like this movie committed a crime against Star Wars simply because it chose to tell a smaller, self-contained adventure instead of another galaxy-shaking epic packed with endless lore connections and universe-building setup.

Meanwhile, I loved the movie and walked out of the theater thinking that this exactly the kind of scrappy pulp adventure that George Lucas built Star Wars on in the first place.

Right now, the film sits at a 62% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, which suddenly has people acting like the movie is some kind of disaster. That score puts it alongside movies like Solo: A Star Wars Story and Attack of the Clones, which is funny because both of those films have found plenty of fans over the years despite the initial reactions.

The funny thing about Star Wars discourse is that people constantly rewrite history. Movies fans once trashed eventually become “underrated classics,” while newer projects get dragged through hyperspace before audiences even have time to breathe.

What makes the backlash even stranger is that The Mandalorian and Grogu actually understands something many modern Star Wars projects have forgotten. This franchise started as a weird, energetic space fantasy serial inspired by Flash Gordon, samurai films, and westerns.

It wasn’t built on giant interconnected mythology homework. It was built on interesting characters going on dangerous adventures through a strange galaxy filled with monsters, criminals, bounty hunters, and aliens. That’s exactly what this movie delivers.

The film follows Din Djarin and Grogu on a mission involving Rotta the Hutt, Imperial warlords, and the New Republic trying to hold the galaxy together after the fall of the Empire.

The stakes aren’t centered on saving the entire galaxy from destruction, and that’s refreshing! Not every Star Wars movie needs another Death Star-level threat hanging over everything.

Sometimes it’s enough to throw these characters into a dangerous situation, let them survive impossible odds, and enjoy the ride. That’s the spirit this movie embraces.

A lot of critics seem disappointed that the movie feels more like a “side quest,” but that’s part of what makes it work. This thing moves with the energy of an old-school Saturday matinee adventure serial.

Din and Grogu bounce from one wild situation to another, battling creatures, navigating criminal underworld chaos, and getting pulled deeper into galactic trouble. It’s pulpy, crazy, fun, and it has personality. Those are all things people constantly claim they want from Star Wars, yet when Lucasfilm actually leans into that style again, suddenly it’s somehow a problem!?

I think a big part of the problem is that audiences already spent years experiencing The Mandalorian as a TV series first. If this exact story and these exact characters had launched as a feature film from the beginning, people would probably be losing their minds over how refreshing and fun it feels.

Fans would’ve embraced it as this cool standalone Star Wars adventure that had that classic pulp serial energy that inspired Lucas in the first place. But because it started on Disney+, I think some viewers automatically walked into the movie expecting something “bigger” or more important to the larger mythology.

That expectation feels like it hurt the movie unfairly. Instead of judging it as a fun sci-fi fantasy adventure that stands on its own, some people seem stuck viewing it through the lens of “expanded TV content,” which is frustrating because the movie absolutely works as a theatrical Star Wars experience.

In a weird way, the TV-to-film jump created baggage this story probably wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Also, the handmade craftsmanship in this movie deserves way more appreciation. The practical creature effects, puppetry, miniatures, and stop-motion-inspired visuals gave the film a textured style that made it feel distinct from the endless stream of overly polished CGI blockbusters audiences get every month.

Some people have complained about certain visual effects shots, but a lot of what they’re reacting to is clearly intentional stylistic work inspired by classic fantasy filmmaking. That handmade fantasy aesthetic is part of the movie’s identity, and I loved it.

One thing I keep coming back to is this idea that people say they want to see great Star Wars stories that embrace the spirit of the original films, but when Lucasfilm actually delivers a movie that embraces that some fans immediately dismiss it because it doesn’t feel “important enough.”

That’s such a strange criticism for a franchise that literally started with a farm boy, a smuggler, and two droids stumbling through an adventure-fueled rescue mission.

The truth is, The Mandalorian and Grogu succeeds at what it sets out to do. It captures the adventurous spirit that made people fall in love with Star Wars decades ago. Maybe it doesn’t reshape the entire future of the franchise, but honestly, it doesn’t need to.

Sometimes a really fun adventure with lovable characters and a ton of charm is more than enough. Maybe fans should remember that Star Wars is supposed to be fun, and this was a freakin’ fun movie!