The challenge I laid down for myself last week was indeed achieved by me. What a result! Go me! And what challenge, dear reader, am I talking about? Yes, I braved the early wintery conditions and went to the cinema to see the latest Disney Star Wars entry, The Mandalorian and Grogu.

As always with this constant, ridiculous pop culture project, this blog post contains the second half. The movie preview can be found here.

If this is your first time reading one of my reviews, welcome, and I’m sorry. It’s great that you’re here, but if you’re hoping to get a detailed description of the film, then you will be very disappointed. My woeful reviews are mainly based on the preview, and this disaster is no exception to the broken formula. With that in mind, let’s be smart and start at the beginning.

Just like the immortal tales and legends of old, my cinematic ritual will never change. Following Batman and the Scouts’ motto of be prepared, I had already purchased my ticket, using the tears of my enemies. Wait…that’s a different story. No, I walked into our only cinema, to an empty foyer. I purchased my go-to drink, Pepsi Max, because I live life to the max. Um…no, I don’t.

Anyway, just like every single time I have purchased an advanced ticket, I simply walked into the theatre, with NOBODY checking to see if I had a ticket. It’s great to know they are consistent. By the time the film had started, there were seven people in the theatre, but for a Tuesday night, it was to be expected. Of course, I got to watch the movie from the centre seat of the back row, like a boss.

The trailers were nothing memorable, as in I can’t remember any of them, and then, surprise, surprise, the film started. As always, let’s go over the rules of the review.

1.) Please be aware that there will be spoilers concerning the movie, so proceed with extreme caution.

2.) The aim of my reviews is not to rip apart the subject or trash it. If I liked the subject enough to watch it, then I’ll give my honest (possibly biased) opinion.

3.) I’m not a professional critic, so I’m not going to dive into deeper concepts and themes or the art of filmmaking. I’m just a geek; always have been, and always will be.

I’m not going to fart around any more, as your Granny will show me up. So let’s get on with the review!

I guess the first question is the most basic one: Did I like it? Yes, I did. Is it the best Star Wars film I have ever seen? No, it isn’t. I think it does the job it set out to achieve; anything more than that, I’m clearly not clever enough to answer. However, it was certainly nice to watch a Star Wars movie in a cinema, even one based on a television show.

Things I liked:

These thoughts are in no particular order or importance, just the way my feeble brain works in recalling information.

I’m not sure what planet the story opens on, but whatever it was, it was a Hoth-type planet, covered in ice and snow. I already knew Din Djarin was a bad-arse from the clips I have seen, but I feel the filmmakers wanted to establish early on to new viewers that Djarin and Grogu are devastating as a team, but they still can show mercy, like in the board room, where he spared the representatives of various outposts/colonies. Also, Djarin taking down three Imperial Walkers reinforced this concept.

Let’s talk about the Hutts. When information about the movie was revealed, I read that Rotta the Hutt would be involved. This, of course, sparked my Spidey-Sense: Rotta the Hutt. I knew that name, but I couldn’t remember where I heard it.

After what seemed like an eternity, though it was only a few minutes, I searched for his name, only to discover it was Stinky! He made his appearance in 2008’s movie, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. I remember watching that movie at the cinema, not fully understanding it was a long pilot episode or opening chapter for the Star Wars: The Clone Wars television show.

Anyway, I’ll move on. It was interesting to see Rotta for a few reasons. Firstly, it is a trope to have a grown-up child being painted with the same brush as their parent, because of the parent’s sins. Having said that, it’s not a trope I get tired of, and growing up to be the scion of a crime syndicate would be awkward and demanding.

I liked his friendship with Grogu, and it was referred to that as a Hutt, Rotta could live for hundreds of years, so he would be the perfect candidate for an adopted father or godfather figure to Grogu, when Din Djarin finally dies, as he is only a human, to the best of my understanding.

Since I have not seen every single Disney Star Wars live-action or animated television episode, I can’t say this for certain, but travelling to Nal Hutta, the self-appointed home world of the Hutts, was something I’ve been waiting to see. The criminal underworld of Star Wars is rife with stories, as there is always a Hutt or two involved in the illegal dealings. I have learned that the Twins, the two Hutts involved in the movie, possibly siblings, have already appeared in previous television shows.

In various media, we have seen Hutts acting as agents of order and chaos. This, of course, leads to Rotta’s physique and fighting style in the arena. His rolling technique was quite impressive, and a smart move for the creative team to use; pun very much intended. As for witnessing a Hutt fight, that was not on my 2026 bingo board, as well as the Hutt ménage à trois, or at least that’s what it looked like. It was dark, and I was wearing 3-D glasses. Still, the Hutts fighting each other was great, and I loved it.

Rotta’s reaction to Djarin’s collaboration with the Hutts was important because it stemmed from Djarin’s response to Ward’s (Sigourney Weaver) suggestion of working with them. Djarin’s hesitance to engage in a partnership with the Hutts forced him to explain his position to Rotta, as neither character approved of the arrangement.

It does pose the interesting question of “Do the ends justify the means?” from a new perspective in the environment. Granted, the New Republic can be compared to the Allies after World War II, and Djarin is a Nazi Hunter, contracted to find war criminals. However, it would be like the Allies using the Mafia to track and hunt Nazis, and then paying them for it. I like the idea of putting characters into morally grey areas, where they need to untangle themselves from a situation that they are not comfortable with.

Continuing with Djarin, and after my rant about his helmet in the preview, I’m glad that Pedro Pascal only lost his helmet for a short amount of time, and not for the remaining part of the movie. It did not transition from a Star Wars movie to a Pascal action movie, which I was relieved about.

As a rule of thumb for aliens and me, the weirder the better, which is one of the reasons I enjoy Star Wars, Star Trek, and Doctor Who so much. The creatures in the arena were pretty wild and imaginative, which I enjoyed. And speaking of enjoying things, I thought the Twins’ mismatched droid army was genius. Of course, Hutts would not pay for top-quality droids; they would use whatever droids were cheap and lethal enough. They still have to worry about the bottom dollar, or whatever currency the Hutts prefer.

Today’s blockbusters seem to have a minimum $100 million budget now; whether that is a positive or negative thing, so I’ll let you be the judge of that. Anyway, the film looks great, even with the use of puppets, like the Anzellans. They look awesome, and I have loved the concept of the species, even since Episode IX.

I thought Grogu’s rescue mission was corny, but it was on brand. I mean, Djarin is effectively his dad, so why wouldn’t he try to save him, along with the Anzellans? Their spaceship was hilarious, which, after you think about it, does make sense.

One more thing I want to add is something about Zeb. I realise he was in one of the live-action Star Wars television shows, but I don’t know which one. He didn’t look exactly how he did in Rebels, but bringing an animated character to life isn’t the easiest job in the world to do. The point being, it was good to see him, because Rebels remains a hit in our house. Occasionally, I closed my eyes for a few seconds when Zeb spoke, just so I could focus on Steve Blum’s voice for nostalgic reasons. “Karabast!”

Things I disliked:

Fans of the TV show could answer this, but why does everybody in the New Republic and other places refer to Djarin as Mando or Mandalorian, instead of Din Djarin? Is his name not publicly known? Do soldiers of the New Republic refer to every Mandalorian as Mando? If they met two Mandalorians, would they be referred to as Mando 1 and Mando 2, regardless of gender?

I find this weird because in 2026, would you be ok if people referred to you as the name of your religion, or your race? And then even shorten that name? Like I said, weird. It would be like if people outside of New Zealand called me “Kiwi” or just “Ki,” but never bothered to learn or use my real name.

Continuity errors and issues were something that I wasn’t expecting in a film with a budget of $165 million. I have three, but I could be wrong about these.

The first was when Djarin was thrown into the pit at the Twins’ palace, which was filled with water, aquatic creatures, and a dragonsnake. His helmet was removed, and he was weaponless. The underwater scenes were murky and not 100% clear, so it was difficult to see what was happening.

The point was that Djarin had no weapon in the pit, then, like magic, he had a long war-axe. As I just mentioned, it is possible that Djarin fell into the water and found the weapon, and because of the dirty water, it was difficult for the viewer to see. It’s possible this happened, and because of the low quantity of the water and the speed of the scene, I may have missed Djarin picking the war-axe up. However, if it isn’t the case, then the film crew have stuffed up.

The second issue was on Nevarro, when Embo captured Djarin. It looked like he was stripped of his weapons, so Embo could transport him to Nal Hutta on orders from the Twins. Fast forward a little bit, and Djarin is rescued and saved by Grogu and the Anzellans, though it does take some time.

When Djarin had recovered, he was seen walking into the gunrunner’s ship with his blasters. I was hit with the realisation about where he got the blasters from. To the best of my understanding, Embo took Djarin’s weapons with him on his ship, since we saw them there. So, if that was the case, how did Djarin get the blasters? I suppose it is possible that Grogu and the Anzellans raided Embo’s ship, but how realistic is that?

The third continuity error was about the gunrunner’s ship. Granted, as the viewer, you don’t know how much time has passed since Djrain sent Rotta with the gunrunner on Nevarro, to the time it took to get to Nal Hutta. However, when Djarin and Grogu discover the ship, it looks like it has been there for years, if not decades. The ship was trashed inside and out, but it had only been there for a few days at the most.

Another argument is the lack of action in the movie, or at least, people saying that it’s boring. I do understand this because I believe it’s true. Not boring, but having a lack of high stakes. However, to somewhat defend the project, it was never going to be that sort of film where Djairn and Grogu are trying to save a planet, the Republic, democracy, or the galaxy, from the Empire, Sith or whatever else is threatening to destroy everything.

It was not a macro-story, but rather a micro-story; essentially a story about a guy taking his adopted son to work. The film is lacking in intensity, and the stakes were lower than any other Star Wars film apart from Solo, but I think that’s on purpose. So yes, I disliked the low-stakes concept, but it works for what it was, so I’m ok with that.

I thought Sigourney Weaver would have more of a role in the movie. She was in two scenes at the New Republic’s base, one with the aerial assault and another one back at the base. That was it. This is Ripley herself, one of the original female action and science-fiction heroes, and I feel that her character of Ward was wasted.

I was also hoping to see other Mandalorians in the film, but that was a long shot, and it never happened. This came from the show, and it was on display in the gaping holes in my knowledge of characters and planets. I knew going into the movie that it wasn’t going to play out like an original movie or part of a Star Wars trilogy, since it was based on TV characters. I feel the filmmakers did the best they could to include new fans, as well as catering to the existing fans, but I still couldn’t help myself thinking of all that I was missing.

This involved the names of planets, weapons, and characters, especially characters. Part of the film involved me trying to figure out if characters were from the show or original characters for the film. Was Ward an existing character, for example? Again, I knew it would be like this, but I still felt lost at times.

Having not seen the television show, the film felt like a film and not like extra-long episodes, but there was still the feeling that I was missing things.

So, what about my preview questions?

• Will there be an opening crawl, since this is a Star Wars movie? (I know Rogue One and Solo did not have one) Yes, there was an opening introduction, but it wasn’t a crawl.
• How much time has passed since the end of the third season? Don’t quote me on this, but I think 1-2 years.
• How accessible will the movie be to people who have not seen the television show? It was accessible and easy to follow, but as I mentioned earlier, you do feel like you’re missing out on things.
• Are there any remnants of the Empire? That is a hard yes.
• Will Grogu’s performance be a mixture of puppetry, animatronics, CGI, or everything? It looked a cross between puppetry and animatronics, but I’m not an expert.
• Wasn’t the Razor Crest previously destroyed? Yes, in Season Two. The Razor Crest in the film is another ship that was found, refitted, and given to Din Djarin as an advanced form of payment.
• Will Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett, or any other major character feature? Apart from Zeb, who was advertised in the film, there was a blink-and-miss-it cameo from R2-D2, the bounty hunter Embo and his anooba, and the Anzellans. There were probably others, but having not seen the live-action television shows, I wouldn’t recognise them.
• Is the plot going to drive the story forward, or will it be flat? I’m not sure. Djairn has a new spaceship, which is a replica of his previous one, so I guess there is that.
• Will we get to visit any new planets (to me at least) or discover new alien species? Yes, we got to visit Nal Hutta, a new planet that looked like Scarif, Nevarro (new to me), and Shakari. The fighting arena aliens were awesome, along with the Anzellans, the fishing-hut guy, and the Hutts.
• Will any bad-arse weapons be involved? Djarin was using a mini-scout walker at the start of the film, plus the phase-pulse rifle, which, to me, is new, that can disintegrate targets. It looked like and worked like a sci-fi shotgun, considering that Djarin had to load and reload it.
• Will we meet any force-sensitive characters? If we did, I definitely missed them.
• Who will be the main antagonist? I would say the primary antagonists were the Twins, with Commander Coin/Janu acting as a secondary antagonist.
• Will the movie work as a movie, or behave like long television episodes? It works as a movie, but as I said earlier, it didn’t totally work.
• If the future of Star Wars movies is going to be based on television shows, how will I feel? That’s a difficult question to answer. I believe the future of Star Wars lies in television more than movies, because of the way characters can be fleshed out more. In saying that, movies would be more profitable for the Mouse House, and they are a business. THE business.

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but there are more things I like in the movie than I dislike. There are issues with it and the direction Disney is taking the franchise, which we can’t control. I want the creative teams to focus more on story development and take their time, rather than slapping something quickly together for a quick dollar and destroying the fan base.

One thing to point out is that Star Wars fans are passionate, but we can be toxic and negative, which is not always a good thing. Fans cry out to see new things in Star Wars, then complain and compare the projects to the original trilogy. Fans will then also complain of seeing the same old, same old in Star Wars, and complain that Disney won’t try new things. Sometimes you can’t win with people.

The franchise is facing its 50th birthday next year, so it must be difficult for all of the Star Wars creators across all mediums, whether it is movies, television, novels, learn-to-read books, comics, as well as fact books, along with board games and computer games, to keep the old fans happy, but still draw in the next generation. Not very Star Wars fan is a straight, white, 40-year-old, married male, and hopefully the creators are aware of this.

I want to see and read fantastic stories from a galaxy, far, far away, because it can allow our ideas and creativity to soar, which in turn can also be a reflection of us and how we view each other. I love Star Wars, so whether I will ever get to watch Disney + or not, I need Disney to be getting it right, which, as you would agree, is more difficult than buying a workable droid from a bunch of Jawas.

Anyway, as I’ve said this before, don’t trust me, go watch it for yourself, so you can be the judge. Have you seen Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu? As always, please let us know.

That brings this non-award pop culture literature venture to its obvious conclusion. Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please remember the FIFA World Cup and the Supergirl preview/review will be in June, along with my mid-Winter break, which is coming to New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website.

Remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, wish a homophobe a Happy Pride month, and I’ll see you next month, where we get to discuss the FIFA World Cup. I know, I’m excited too!

Wow, the last time I did a movie preview was back in July 2025 with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, and as I mentioned last week, we have plans to cover movie previews/reviews for Supergirl, The Odyssey, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day as well. The staff will be working overtime.

However, before these three movies have been previewed and reviewed by the most popular blog this side of the street, we have Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu to discuss. It was either this or The Devil Wears Prada 2, and that’s not going to work, now is it?

With Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, I thought I could give you the illusion of being effective and professional, which, of course, is the total opposite. In that vein, I’ll refer to Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu as The Mandalorian and Grogu from now on.

We have not had a Star Wars movie released since 2019, with the release of Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker; however, we have had several Star Wars movies announced and then cancelled for one reason or another. Of course, as you are well aware, The Mandalorian and Grogu is not an original story, or continuing a movie trilogy, but rather a continuation of the television show on Disney +, Star Wars: The Mandalorian, or just The Mandalorian.

So, a new Star Wars movie is exciting enough for me to take the plunge and visit the local cinema. As longtime fans know, I try to buy my tickets in advance, so I can get the best seat, because, you know, that’s what hard-core geeks do. Anyway, my ticket is for Tuesday, 25th May at 5.45 pm. Centre of the back row, thank you very much.

Dun dun duuun!

To make sure we are all on the same page, The Mandalorian and Grogu is the cinematic appearances of the characters from The Mandalorian TV show on, and say it with me, Disney +. And to establish another concept, I don’t have Disney +, so just like all of the Marvel TV shows on the channel, I have only seen clips from YouTube of The Mandalorian, and never any entire episode, like every single Star Wars TV show on the channel.

It’s my understanding that The Mandalorian was released in 2019, and has aired for three seasons, or 24 episodes; eight episodes per season. Now, why there has been no Season 4 or why a movie has been based on the same characters, could be connected, or they could be as far away from each other as O. J. Simpson and the truth. Whatever the true origin of the movie and its existence is, it’s here.

Though, to the best of my understanding, the movie is a continuation of the third season, but that could be wrong. What the hell do I know about anything?

As for the cast, it’s been revealed as follows: Din Djarin/The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal), Rotta the Hutt (Jeremy Allen White), Ward (Sigourney Weaver), Janu (Jonny Coyne), Trapper Wolf (Dave Filoni), and Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios (Steve Blum).

These performances are a mix of live action and performance capture/motion capture, along with other characters, because you’re dealing with crazy arse aliens. This also includes Grogu, which, again, to the best of my understanding, is a hybrid of CGI, puppetry, and animatronics. It could make a nice drinking game; every appearance of a CGI character in a new scene, you drink.

The budget for each TV episode worked out to be around US$15 million; however, the movie’s budget was reportedly set at about US$165 million, which could buy you a lot of frozen pizzas and comics. A lot. Disney seems to have very deep pockets, though I don’t know if that’s a positive or negative thing. Still, Episode IX had a US$593.7 million budget in 2019, so who knows?

Will The Mandalorian and Grogu knock it out of the park, will it flop, or will it be somewhere in between? Join me as we preview the latest Star Wars movie.

Am I looking forward to watching The Mandalorian and Grogu?

Like always, it’s a trick question, because if I’ve taken my time to write a preview of a movie, chances are that I’m looking forward to watching it, even as temperatures are dropping across the country, and especially at night. I’ve tried to have a steady diet of Star Wars content since 2019, mainly in the form of comics and novels.

I have discussed this before; not only do I like reading about Star Wars, but I also do not have, and say it all together…“I don’t have Disney +.” So, just to reinforce the point that I have not seen a single episode of The Mandalorian, only memes and clips on YouTube.

I get the general premise of the show, but obviously, not everything. Having not seen Season 3, I have no idea how it ended, because, as I understand it, the movie is set after that season, but I don’t know if it’s the next day, next month, or the next year.

Going into a Star Wars movie has always been an event for me, seriously, I love Star Wars. I also get that Mandalorian lore has been fleshed out over the years, especially with Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels, which is only a positive thing.

However, after the sequel trilogy, my faith in Disney handling cinematic Star Wars experiences was shaken. Interestingly enough, I really enjoyed Rogue One, and Solo wasn’t half as bad as people made it out to be. But the sequel trilogy thoroughly disappointed me for various reasons. That being the case, I need to be honest. As much as I am looking forward to the movie, I am equally worried, for three main reasons that can be broken down.

The first reason is the previously mentioned concerns about Disney Star Wars movies. Of course, I’m basing these concerns on the sequel movies, and not on any of the animated or live-action TV shows, since I haven’t seen. None of the sequel trilogy movies would make my top five Star Wars movies. However, as I understand, the Disney live-action Star Wars TV shows are a lot better.

Another reason is the fact that since I have never actually seen the TV show, apart from short videos, I don’t know the characters that well, or even at all in some cases. There are three seasons of stories that I’m missing, so I need the filmmakers to have made the movie accessible to people who have never seen the TV show.

Having not seen the TV show, there is the concern that the movie will feel like an extra-long episode. I need them to drive the plot forward, but that’s difficult not knowing where the characters have started from, where they have been, where the audience left them, and where they are going. I want to travel to a galaxy, far, far away, but not feel guilty for not having enough money to pay for the TV show.

Sorry, I have a mixture of emotions, fighting for attention over this movie, and I’m trying to sort them out. I want this film to work.

What is the movie about?

According to Star Wars.com, the premise is this:

The evil Empire has fallen, and Imperial warlords remain scattered throughout the galaxy. As the fledgling New Republic works to protect everything the Rebellion fought for, they have enlisted the help of legendary Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu.

What can we expect?

The running time is 132 minutes, compared to the last three Star Wars movies is short: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (141 minutes), Solo: A Star Wars Story (135 minutes), and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (152 minutes).

A budget of US$165 million is a rather large investment, but other films have had less money and achieved great results, but how many have been set a long time ago, in a galaxy, far, far away? I want to be transported and escape to that galaxy that I’ve grown up loving.

I want to be blown away by visiting funky planets, cool aliens, wicked spacecraft, and bad-arse weaponry. Granted, I can only imagine the amount of time the actors would have performed in front of a green screen, but I still want the razzle-dazzle.

But here’s a problem: what I expect from The Mandalorian and Grogu will be similar to other people who have never seen the TV show, but different to those who are fans of the TV show. Our experiences and connections to the characters will dictate the outcome. Will I be able to adapt to the story being told to me, or will it feel like I’m playing catch-up?

How much of the story is going to unfold versus be explained to us, purely because the filmmakers might have understood that not everyone would have seen the TV show. To prepare for it, I have watched various WatchMojo videos about the TV show, so whether that will help, I have no idea. I believe the movie is set five or six years after Episode VI, but I’m not confident about that.

This is a roundabout way to say, I’m not sure what to expect because I don’t know Din Djarin, Grogu, and their allies and enemies that well. It would be like if they made an adaptation or continued the story of Cal Kestis and BD-1, from the Star Wars Jedi computer games. I know of them, but I have never played the games, so I would feel lost about the plot that has happened previously.

I do understand that in Mandalorian lore (I think), warriors should not remove their helmets in the presence of other people. How much of that relates to other Mandalorians, I can’t really say; however, I have seen Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) walking around without a helmet. I’ve viewed Pedro Pascal’s performance as Din Djarin from afar and have compared it to the two Judge Dredd movies: Judge Dredd (1995) and Dredd (2012).

This is a weird comparison, but I’ll explain. In the comics, Judge Dredd is (im)famous for never revealing his face. When he is working as a Judge, and when is he never not, Dredd is always drawn wearing a helmet. The helmet covers his upper face, but his lower face, as in his mouth and chin, is exposed.

When the creative team need him to be seen without the helmet, whether he takes it off, puts it on, or if it has been knocked off, Dredd’s face is put into shade or shadow. The idea is that it doesn’t matter what Mega-City One’s top lawman’s face looks like, because justice is supposed to be blind.

In the two movies, there is a small but subtle difference in Sylvester Stallone’s (Judge Dredd) and Karl Urban’s (Dredd) portrayal of Judge Dredd. In Judge Dredd, Stallone does an alright job of convincing people that he is the law. You know it’s Stallone wearing the helmet, because you’re not an idiot, plus, the lower part of his face is exposed; you know who it is.

Stallone is kicking arse until his helmet is removed, and it doesn’t go back on. From this moment on, the film transforms from a Judge Dredd movie to a Stallone movie. He stopped being Judge Dredd and was just Sylvester Stallone, running around without a helmet. It went from a crime-ridden futuristic landscape to just another 90’s Stallone movie. The rumour mill said that Stallone wanted to have the helmet removed, so the audience would recognise him. But like I just mentioned, we’re not idiots. Does that make sense?

Alright, flash forward to 2012’s Dredd, and Urban knew the assignment. Apparently, as the rumour mill went, Urban knew the comics and understood the character, so as a fan and audience member, you discovered this fact in the introduction.

When Urban is putting on his uniform, his face is never exposed to the camera, even when he places the helmet on. I was in Nelson at the time when I saw the movie, and when I saw that the filmmakers had obscured his face, I smiled and thought, “Yes, they get it.” I knew from that moment that we would never see Urban’s face, because the filmmakers were not going to treat us as…say it with me, idiots.

Now, going back to Pascal’s Din Djrain, and I could be wrong about this, but from the clips I have seen, the creative team took the steps to conceal Pascal’s face. People knew what Pascal looked like under the helmet; they didn’t need to be reminded. I did need to look this up, but his helmet was removed in the first season by a droid to receive medical treatment.

In the second season, he removes the helmet to infiltrate an Imperial base with Bill Burr’s character (I’ve seen that), and also says goodbye to Grogu, without a helmet. Now I believe, and I could be wrong about this, that in the third season, he had to atone for breaking the Mandalorian creed for removing his helmet in front of someone.

So, given the fact that someone like me, who has never seen an entire episode, understands that Pascal is Din Djarin, and the filmmakers have established the rule about never removing the helmet, there are scenes in the trailers that have Pascal as helmetless!

How much of the film will Pascal be running about without a helmet like Stallone? Is this due to part of the new audience members who won’t understand who is under the helmet? Is it part of a contract clause by Pascal?

Personally, I want to see Pascal’s Din Djarin be like Urban’s Judge Dredd, and not like Stallone’s. Then again, what the hell do I know?

Do I have concerns?

Of all of the movies that I previewed/reviewed, and let’s be honest, it’s not that many, The Mandalorian and Grogu have been the one that I’m most concerned for. Movies based on television shows, and I’m sure you’ll agree, have either hit the target or missed it; rarely settling in the middle. I am worried about this movie, mainly because it’s so unknown to me, and as a Star Wars fan, it’s an odd feeling. Some of my specific concerns are as follows, and will be answered in the review.

• Will there be an opening crawl, since this is a Star Wars movie? (I know Rogue One and Solo did not have one)
• How much time has passed since the end of the third season?
• How accessible will the movie be to people who have not seen the television show?
• Are there any remnants of the Empire?
• Will Grogu’s performance be a mixture of puppetry, animatronics, CGI, or everything?
• Wasn’t the Razor Crest previously destroyed?
• Will Ahsoka Tano, Boba Fett, or any other major character feature?
• Is the plot going to drive the story forward, or will it be flat?
• Will we get to visit any new planets (to me at least) or discover new alien species?
• Will any bad-arse weapons be involved?
• Will we meet any force-sensitive characters?
• Who will be the main antagonist?
• Will the movie work as a movie, or behave like long television episodes?
• If the future of Star Wars movies is going to be based on television shows, how will I feel?

There’s probably going to be more things to think about, but I’ll hopefully cover them in the review. I love Star Wars, so I hope this film works, I really do. Are you planning on watching Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu? As always, please let me know.

Thanks once again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, get ready for the FIFA World Cup next month, and I’ll see you next week for the Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu Review.

Also, I know it sounds boring, and it is, but the New Zealand Government will be announcing its budget for 2026 on Thursday, 28th May, and since it’s an election year, expect a lot of outrage across the media. I love it. Take care, and I’ll see you next week.