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Seven years ago, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” ended the sequel trilogy and earned the dishonour of being the worst-reviewed movie across the entire “Star Wars” franchise.
Now, at last, the franchise is coming back to the big screen with “The Mandalorian and Grogu” – a film take on the TV series “The Mandalorian” that essentially takes the place of that show’s fourth season.
In recent weeks, there have been concerns about the film’s box-office opening. At present, projections have the film looking at a domestic opening weekend of around $85-95 million.
That would be the third biggest of the year to date, behind only “The Super Mario Galaxy Movie” ($132M) and “Michael” ($97M). That said, it’s only a little more than the $84 million that “Solo: A Star Wars Story” opened to in 2018, which is the worst opening weekend for a major “Star Wars” theatrical release.
The hope was that buoyant reviews could lift those numbers. Sadly, that doesn’t appear to be happening. Following the film’s premiere in Hollywood last night, reactions have started going online and they’re mixed. Here’s a sampling:
“Favreau rightfully chooses to take this IP back to its Eastwood-esque space western roots as he effectively expands this world instead of constricting it, introducing a myriad of exciting new locales, characters and gnarly creatures. The set pieces have needed visceral flair and are brimming with that infectious Star Wars energy I’ve been missing, especially in theaters.” – Tom Chatalbash, FilmSpeak
“I’ve seen #TheMandalorianAndGrogu! Above all else, M&G is a super FUN Star Wars movie. It’s not perfect, but there’s a lot for fans to love. It plays like an extended episode with double the budget and moves from one incredible action set piece to the next. IMAX is a must.” – Chris Killian, ComicBook.com
“The good news is it feels like a capital M movie, not just a TV show stretched to fix the IMAX screen. The stakes and scale are both way bigger. The action is epic but grounded (not a lightsaber in sight). But the bad news is that it doesn’t feel like a Star Wars Movie. It never taps into that special feeling, aside from one scene at the end that gots bogged down in prequels-style CGI.” – Jacob Kleinman, Polygon
“#TheMandalorianAndGrogu is one of the weakest Star Wars movies. An emotionless, predictable experience that doesn’t push Din Djarin anywhere interesting. Dull, unexciting fight scenes; just CGI monsters. Action figures mashed together. A long, colorless made-for-TV movie.” – Jonathan Sim, Coming Soon
“Fine? An inoffensive, technically impressive spectacle that’s kinda a snooze fest. Very much structured like an abridged season of the TV show which unfortunately plays like watching the cutscenes of a Star Wars video game instead of playing one. The expansion of the canvas unfortunately exposes the weaknesses in the writing and lack of emotional connection I’ve felt for much of the series.” – Griffin Schiller, The Playlist
“THE MANDALORIAN & GROGU is a perfect expansion of what the show set up. Truly the best outing yet for Baby Yoda and his dad. And also the best 20 minutes of a side quest to ever exist. God I love Star Wars on the big screen!!!!!” – Rachel Leishman, Collider
“#TheMandalorianAndGrogu is an energising, action-packed adventure that any Star Wars fan can enjoy. All of the fight scenes and high-speed chases will keep you hooked. Pedro Pascal still nails it as Din Djarin, but it’s Grogu (and ALL the puppets) will tug at your heartstrings.” – Christopher Gallardo, Popternative
“#TheMandalorianandGrogu is as expected. A longer, bigger episode of the show. It has one or two stand out scenes but it feels much more interested in developing the story to new locations with new creatures than the characters. Enjoyed some of it, left frustrated but the rest.” – Germain Lussier, io9
“The Star Wars franchise at its most juiceless. A listless endeavor that feels closer to a video game at points than it does a movie. Visually, it flies well below any of the other theatrical entries and really struggles to create any sense of wonder or spectacle. Your kids will likely enjoy it, but this was not for me.” – Bob Goochman, Project Big Screen
The reactions come as a report emerged yesterday on X claiming the film wouldn’t be screened in some major cities for press – claims that seem to have been shot down in the hours since with plenty of critics weighing in and confirming a lot of media will see the film on Monday.
“The Mandalorian and Grogu” opens in theaters May 22nd.
The post “The Mandalorian & Grogu” Reactions Are In appeared first on Dark Horizons.
