This weekend, The Mandalorian and Grogu hits theaters, ending a seven-year Star Wars movie hiatus. On paper, the galaxy far, far away’s return to the big screen seems like something that should be one of the year’s premier cinematic events, but anticipation for The Mandalorian and Grogu feels more muted than one might expect. Early marketing materials proved to be divisive (though later trailers were better-received), and then initial social media reactions took a lukewarm tone of “fun yet light Star Wars adventure.” If Lucasfilm was hoping the full written reviews could give the film a bit of a surge heading into the weekend, they were probably looking for slightly better results.
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The review embargo for The Mandalorian and Grogu has been lifted. As of this writing, it has a 61% score on Rotten Tomatoes, with 77 reviews submitted. Unfortunately, that’s one of the lowest Rotten Tomatoes scores for the Star Wars franchise, below 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story (69%) and Attack of the Clones (62%). The only live-action Star Wars films with lower scores are The Phantom Menace (58%) and The Rise of Skywalker (51%).
The Mandalorian and Grogu Continues a Star Wars Rotten Tomatoes Trend
This stat comes with a bit of a caveat because there hasn’t been a new Star Wars movie for so long, but The Mandalorian and Grogu is the third consecutive Star Wars film to not be Certified Fresh (a score of 75% or higher) on Rotten Tomatoes. The first three Disney-era films had no issue clearing that mark; Rogue One was the lowest at 84%, but now the franchise appears to be in a malaise, critically speaking. After The Rise of Skywalker ended the sequel trilogy on a sour note, the hope was The Mandalorian and Grogu could be a triumphant return for Star Wars to the big screen. Based on the word of mouth, it was only somewhat successful in that goal.
A Mandalorian and Grogu Critics Consensus has not been published yet, but skimming over the reviews gives people an idea of the film’s pros and cons. Among the positives cited are Ludwig Göransson’s score and the movie’s pulpy adventurous tone. Even those who enjoy The Mandalorian and Grogu admit it’s not the most ambitious Star Wars film from a storytelling perspective, but it still makes for a fun ride. On the flip side, that lack of ambition is considered a negative by others. Some critics took issue with the narrative coming across as too quaint and inconsequential. While The Mandalorian and Grogu may not be the worst Star Wars movie ever made, there are those who feel it’s an inessential addition to the franchise that doesn’t provide any of the sense of awe and wonder of previous installments.
It’s important to keep in mind that there should be a plethora of Mandalorian and Grogu reviews on the way. As a point of comparison, all of the previous Disney-era films had at least 450 reviews submitted to Rotten Tomatoes. Even if The Mandalorian and Grogu doesn’t receive that many, odds are there are still hundreds of reviews to come. That could cause the score to fluctuate in one direction or the other. However, it’s unlikely the score surges up to the 75% mark to secure a Certified Fresh rating. Typically, the first wave of reviews provides a clear picture of where the overall consensus will land.
It’ll be interesting to see if the reviews have any impact on The Mandalorian and Grogu‘s box office prospects. It was already projected to have lowest opening weekend of Star Wars’ Disney era, and that was before the unenthusiastic word of mouth started to come in. The Mandalorian and Grogu should be able to get off to a decent enough start since it’ll be facing limited competition during its opening weekend, but its long-term legs could take a hit. If the response was stronger, it’d be easier to see it having some staying power, but it looks like Star Wars might have to wait for next year’s Star Wars: Starfighter to get the films fully back on track.
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