those on the board for many years know that I have am a big Star Wars fan. So it should come as no surprise that I took in Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu on opening weekend.
While I am a huge Star Wars fan, for multiple reasons I never watched the Mandalorian series that was on Disney+. I thought that might be a problem, but per interviews it was clear that Disney made this film to stand by itself, in that it was written from the perspective of film watchers not needing to know all the background details of the characters.
Would it work if you've never seen any Star Wars films? It would, but some of the characters would be a little confusing/hard to believe.
To the film: it wasn't the best of the offshoot Star Wars films. But it was quite entertaining. The Mandalorian character is excellent, and lives up to the reputation of a Mandalorian. Grogu was a character that was new to me (I've seen GIFs of baby Yoda, but never saw anything in which Grogu was in). While it would be helpful if he/she spoke, he/she is still young in terms of the normal life of the Yoda-type species (which has never been identified). Grogu seems like a minor character at the start of the film, but he does end up having a key role in the film.
Rotta the Hutt has a major role in the film. The film explains his relationship to Star Wars characters, so I'll refrain from giving that away.
Sigourney Weaver is the only name actor/actress that is a new to playing a Star Wars character. She does fine in her performance.
Filmaker Martin Scorsese has a brief cameo in the film. You could easily watch the movie without realizing he was in the film (a combo of how brief the character he plays is in the film, and the costume and mask he wears in the film).
And in a bit of a twist, or to make you feel old, this movie opened almost 49 years to the day of when the original Stars Wars opened in 1977.
I'd give the film a 3.5 on a scale of 5. I probably would have given it a 4 out of 5 when walking out of the theater (it was that much fun, at least to a Star Wars fan), but upon reflection since I've decided it's good on action and good on an emotional level, though the plot is somewhat thin.