With Star Wars‘ 50th anniversary arriving next year, it feels right that the franchise returns to the big screen after a few years of exclusively small-screen adventures in a galaxy far, far away. While late 2019 saw the Skywalker saga come to a close with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, at the same time the franchise expanded with The Mandalorian on Disney+, following the journeys of bounty hunter Din Djarin and his apprentice Grogu (or Baby Yoda as he’s been affectionately nicknamed). Sending this TV duo on a cinematic adventure may seem like an odd choice to relaunch the film series, but with the promise of a bigger adventure forged for IMAX screens, is Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu the galactic blockbuster we’ve been waiting for?

The story sees the eponymous pair on the hunt for Imperial warlords scattered across the galaxy, now working for Colonel Ward (Sigourney Weaver) and the New Republic. A fun opening set-piece on an ice planet starts things off well before the Mandalorian and Grogu’s main mission begins: they must make a deal with the Hutt twins (who previously appeared in The Mandalorian‘s spin-off The Book of Boba Fett) to obtain the whereabouts of another Imperial threat, and in return find the long-lost son of Jabba the Hutt, Rotta (voiced by Jeremy Allen White, who appeared as a baby in the animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars). What follows is a planet-hopping adventure filled with action, aliens and a sprinkling of humour.

Fans will already be familiar with the blockbuster production values of The Mandalorian on the small screen, but for this big-screen outing, director Jon Favreau and the creative team have filmed The Mandalorian and Grogu for IMAX (shot with IMAX-certified digital cameras), with around 53 minutes presented in IMAX’s exclusive 1.90:1 Expanded Aspect Ratio (and if you’re very lucky, select cinemas with Laser locations present these scenes in IMAX’s towering 1.43:1 aspect ratio, delivering the largest image area possible for audiences). The expanded frame adds a greater sense of scale to the action sequences, including the Bond-esque opening set-piece involving some AT-ATs, an aerial pursuit with Mando’s new Razor Crest and some awe-inspiring flight sequences. The film’s sound mix – optimised specifically for IMAX cinemas – is incredibly immersive, further enhancing the alien sound design and Ludwig Göransson‘s phenomenal score.

The Mandalorian and Grogu feels like a return to form for the series after a couple of underwhelming spin-offs and a disappointing third season, leaning away from the more lore-heavy storytelling and focusing instead on a standalone adventure akin to the first and (most of) the second seasons. The story doesn’t require any knowledge of the Mandalorian’s TV adventures, so new fans shouldn’t have any worries about required viewing going into the film. Despite the story reportedly not adapting the already-written fourth season, there is a very episodic quality to the narrative that does lead to a few pacing issues (the film rockets along until the start of the third act, where things stop awkwardly for some smaller character beats). On TV, The Mandalorian‘s strength has always been in visual storytelling rather than dialogue, and the screenplay by Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Noah Kloor features some ropey dialogue akin to George Lucas’ prequel trilogy scripts alongside some clunky plotting here and there.

It’s great to see Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder get such prominent billing as Din Djarin’s on-set performers, and while Pedro Pascal‘s vocal performance is solid, his physical appearance (sans Beskar helmet) feels like a glorified cameo. One big emotional sequence later in the film suffers from the main character’s determination to keep his helmet on when it would have been more dramatic to see the character physically vulnerable. And while a one-take fight scene in an AT-AT is a definite highlight for Mando, most of the action suffers from the sense that the character isn’t in any real peril; his Beskar armour may be sleek but it does seem to make him practically invulnerable to any threats. The inclusion of a giant gladiator slug in the form of Rotta the Hutt adds some novelty to his fights, although Jeremy Allen White‘s vocal performance feels a bit stilted and the character’s dialogue amounts to repeating his motivations as bluntly as possible. The decision to have not just Rotta but also the sinister Hutt twins speak English (or ‘Basic’ in a galaxy far, far away) loses the distinctly alien quality Jabba possesses in Lucas’ films and feels like a bit of a cop-out. The inclusion of Steve Blum‘s Zeb as Din’s pilot is also quite jarring (the character was clearly designed for the animation style of Star Wars: Rebels and doesn’t work well in live action), while Sigourney Weaver‘s role as Ward feels a little thankless given the actor’s pedigree for combatting evil aliens.

The highlight amongst the cast is inevitably Grogu. Even after nearly 7 years of adventures, the little green child is as cute as ever thanks to some brilliant puppetry and subtle digital enhancements. An extended sequence of Grogu exploring an alien jungle makes for a an unexpectedly fun tangent reminiscent of a Jim Henson film. The Anzellans (voiced by Shirley Henderson) are also delightful to watch, and the inclusion of two stop-motion droids provided a very ‘original Star Wars trilogy’ feel, even if doesn’t always mesh well with the obviously CGI characters (perhaps not unlike the Star Wars special editions). It’s clear that director Jon Favreau has a lot of fun working with the crew to realise all the creatures in the Star Wars galaxy, and while some more stylish direction would have been nice to see, the film delivers on its visuals where it counts.

As mentioned previously though, Ludwig Göransson is the MVP of the film, taking his existing themes from The Mandalorian series and expanding them into a dynamic, unique and exciting score that propels the action sequences and provides some much-needed emotional weight to character beats that feel a little under-written – not unlike John Williams‘ incredible work on the Star Wars prequel trilogy. It would be easy for Star Wars soundtracks to fall under the shadow of John Williams’ compositions, but Göransson has really brought his A-game here.

All in all, Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu offers a fun big-screen adventure for its beloved duo, and while it’s difficult not to want something more unique and exciting for Star Wars’ return to the big screen, the story’s more stripped-back approach makes for a satisfying summer blockbuster without any arbitrary sequel set-up or the need to pay off storylines from the Disney+ series. The action sequences look good on a big IMAX screen, the soundtrack is terrific and I love the in-camera effects and puppetry work, even if the script is a bit lacking and the running time a little overlong. Is this ‘the way’ for future Star Wars films? Perhaps not, but with the promise of a new adventure in next year’s Star Wars: Starfighter, perhaps variety is actually the spice of life in a galaxy far, far away…