'The Mandalorian & Grogu' perhaps asks us to adjust expectations

The audiovisual universe of Star Wars continues alive on streaming platforms, but for some years it had been fallow on the big screen. The mandalorian & Grogu is an extension of a series led by the strange duo formed by a hitman hero with John Wick airs and an endearing little Jedi-in-training. No protagonist from the original trilogy is included, but the action takes place in the near future of the events described therein (the Mandalorian bounty hunter seeks those who try to resurrect the Galactic Empire after the collapse shown in Return of the Jedi). And the beginning of the film winks at cinematic memory: the snowy landscape and the appearance of certain technologies invoke the memorable The Empire Strikes Back in a version adapted to the conventions, more accelerated and showy, of current action cinema.Later, the thing perhaps gets a little stuck. The digital effects and visual creations of alien worlds (some of which may recall the classic sci-fi landscapes of pop illustrator Roger Dean) seem superior to those executed in other nine-figure blockbusters. The plot of crossed searches and rescues, on the other hand, is quite routine. Like other highly commercial films embedded in larger sagas, such as Wonder Woman 1984, the result recalls what in comics was called fill-in: a somewhat timeless and not very relevant story that filled a gap in continuity while waiting for more ambitious narratives.. from pop illustrator Roger Dean) seem superior to those executed in other