The Mandalorian and Grogu review: Decent one-off tries to restart Star Wars

Running time: 132 minutes.Rated PG-13 (sci-fi violence and action).

In theaters May 22.“The Mandalorian and Grogu” boldly goes where no “Star Wars” movie has gone before.Like rival “Star Trek,” it’s a movie spun off from a TV series.The previously unheard of small screen to big screen leap shows how much the galaxy far, far away has changed.Eight years ago, there were no live-action “Star Wars” shows to speak of, and anything Lucasfilm put into theaters at least partly concerned Luke Skywalker and was a giant Hollywood event. These days, however, the Force isn’t as forceful as it used to be.

Even considering the franchise’s 49-year vastness, cute little Baby Yoda from a streaming service is its only sure thing right now.  I sense much fear in them.And so this is a very different kind of “Star Wars” movie — an elongated and beefed-up episode of television that aims neither to be part of a broader saga or expound on one.I don’t see “The Mandalorian and Grogu” as a starting point for a series of films so much as a likable enough one-off with plenty of exciting action set pieces.  The self-contained adventure directed by the Disney+ series creator Jon Favreau does not try to widen the “Star Wars” universe or even pile onto the “Mandolorian” mythology.

I wouldn’t dare accuse it of containing character development. But, you know, the film’s relative modesty comes as something of a relief.Freed from the burden of canonical responsibility, it’s flighty fun; a Western-y space mission that’s commenced and neatly wrapped up inside of two hours. The story, such as it is, is as simple as Chewbacca’s vocabulary and there’s no arduous homework to do in advance of seeing it.

Unlike Marvel, you don’t have to remember five-year-old TV plots to merely understand what’s going on.The movie is pretty much all shootouts, fights, chases and adorable Baby Yoda antics. Oh, and science-fiction Rent-A-Star Sigourney Weaver ...