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Tom's Guide Verdict: 'The Mandalorian and Grogu'Rating: ★★½ starsVerdict: "The Mandalorian and Grogu" is just season 4 of "The Mandalorian" condensed into a 132-minute film. The writing is lazy; the story is ultimately pointless; and Ludwig Göransson's synth-laden score is a surprising miss. Still, if all you want is Baby Yoda, you'll likely be entertained.Where to watch: See "The Mandalorian and Grogu" in theaters now"The Mandalorian and Grogu" was always going to be set up to fail. This movie was added to the Disney theatrical slate only after Lucasfilm decided to pivot from an already written season 4 of "The Mandalorian" on Disney+. Having now watched it, I don't know that they ever changed the story; I think they merely threw stuff out to cut down on runtime.Now, if that had been the story Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni (who makes an egregious fan service cameo) and Noah Kloor had stuck with, maybe there would have been some potential here. Hunting down remnants of the Empire would have tied in nicely with "The Mandalorian" season 3, the upcoming "Ahsoka" season 2 and the entire Grand Admiral Thrawn storyline that the Filoni-led 'Star Wars' universe seemed to be on.But unfortunately, the movie abandons that story halfway through, seemingly committing the same errors of other 'Star Wars' properties in recent years. Whether it's 'Solo,' 'The Acolyte' or 'The Rise of Skywalker,' this franchise has been afraid in recent years to commit to an interesting storyline that has a risk of falling flat. Instead, 'The Mandalorian and Grogu' opts for boring, watered-down or less consequential stories that leave fans disappointed time and time again.The one thing that this movie hasmthat those other three properties didn't is Grogu, which is this film's saving grace. Despite flashes of potential from Jonny Coyne's Lord Janu and an intriguing backstory for the swole Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), Grogu is the only character that shines over the more than two-hour film. It's enough to entertain you, but not enough to make this movie good. At best, it's just enough to save it; at worst, it proves that Lucasfilm has no idea what to do with 'Star Wars.'Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022. He watches dozens of new releases every year to make sure you don't have to watch any of the bad ones.This 'Star Wars' movie is a series of baffling choicesThe premise of this movie is for The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal/Brendan Wayne/Lateef Crowder) and Grogu (an adorable puppet) to hunt down the enemies of the New Republic. The trailer portrays this as meaning primarily former Imperial warlords, but as we see, it also includes a pair of Hutts known as the Twins.
