Star Wars' Mediocre Mandalorian Movie Should Have Been An RPG Instead
Topics: Disney, Star Wars, TV And Film, The Mandalorian, Features, Opinion
Featured Image Credit: Disney
Topics: Disney, Star Wars, TV And Film, The Mandalorian, Features, Opinion
Star Wars finally returned to the big-screen in 2026 after spending the last few years going all-in on TV shows.
Disney Plus is packed full of Star Wars series from masterpieces like Andor, to wastes of time like Obi-Wan Kenobi and those that we may have judged too harshly, like The Acolyte.
One show that’s always stood out though is The Mandalorian. After two strong seasons, it fumbled with the third, yet somehow ended up with a film simply titled The Mandalorian And Grogu.
After watching it in the cinema, I’d give it a mediocre 5/10. It’s not the worst Star Wars film ever made but the problem is it doesn’t feel like a Star Wars film at all. It could have been a kickass game though…
Story Spoilers Ahead
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The first 15 to 20 minutes of The Mandalorian And Grogu will take you back to the show’s humble beginnings.
Din Djarin shows off his skills whilst hunting down an Imperial Officer, dispatching Stormtroopers with his fibercord whip, flamethrower, blaster and even a thermal detonator for good measure.
After masterfully blowing up some AT-ATs and poaching his target, the film’s opening concludes with Din returning to the New Republic to claim his reward.
It's an action-packed and explosive start but unfortunately, the rest of the film fails to top it, though one action scene around the midway point gets sort of close.
Ultimately, the film was rather disappointing but upon reflection, I honestly think this story was told through the wrong medium. This could have been that Star Wars Mandalorian game Electronic Arts cancelled years ago instead.
Perhaps it’s because I’ve been replaying Star Wars: Bounty Hunter recently but so many story beats, locations and events in The Mandalorian And Grogu just screamed third-person action-adventure game.
When Din accepts his next mission with the New Republic he travels to a planet called Nal Hutta, where he converses with the Hutts for information. They’re happy to give it, but only if he rescues their nephew Rotta in exchange.
This takes him to Shakari, a cyberpunk-esque city where Din begins his search for the missing Hutt, bribing a local merchant who points him towards a nearby gladiatorial arena. Rotta is a fighter in the arena and is paying off a debt to a crimelord called Jannu.
At first Din sneaks his way down to Rotta’s cell using Grogu’s small stature to open doors he can’t. When Rotta refuses to leave, Din tracks down Jannu, initially attempting to bribe him but clearly he hadn’t levelled up his charisma enough.
The bribe doesn’t work so Din breaks back in and tries to free Rotta himself. This leads to his capture and he’s forced to become one of the arena’s fighters.
We’ll leave the spoilers there but just know this film feels like one long video game side-quest that didn’t need to be a film.
There’s no reason for the audience to get invested in this storyline and even as an extended episode of The Mandalorian TV series, it’s weak.
However, envision it like a couple of hours playing an open-world Star Wars RPG and it suddenly feels a lot more interesting. Your main objective as a player is tracking down the Imperial remnants for the New Republic but this Rotta the Hutt storyline gets you side-tracked. Whether it be a simple side-quest or part of the main story is irrelevant, what matters is it’d be much more fun to play than it was to watch.
Functionally speaking, it doesn’t sound too far removed from what you get up to in Star Wars Outlaws, and that style of gameplay would probably suit a Mandalorian game quite well.
You’d sleuth your way through the streets of Shakari, interrogating or bribing those with information to locate your next objective. When the plan goes awry you can use all the tools in Din’s toolkit to fight your way out, though, of course, the fight in the gladiator pit would be an unskippable part of the mission and act as its crescendo. It also makes for a nice callback to the opening of Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, as that game kicks off with Jango Fett fighting in an arena.
The Mandalorian and Grogu isn’t a bad film per se, it’s just not a good one either. It especially fails as a Star Wars film because there’s very little reason for anyone to watch it aside from those who’ve kept up with the Disney Plus series.
It does have some redeeming qualities though, and in an alternate universe it would have probably succeeded as a AAA video game or a straight to Disney Plus special presentation.