The review embargo for The Mandalorian and Grogu has been lifted.

While we haven't seen the movie yet, we have unfortunately seen the reviews. Spoiler alert: they're not great. Many critics who have seen the movie have been sharing bite-sized thoughts on social media.

Oh, we can talk about "The Mandalorian and Grogu" now. It's bad. It's really bad. It's the apotheosis of "content" as a creative philosophy.

It's proof that even if you shoot a couple of television episodes with an IMAX camera, they are still television episodes. pic.twitter.com/OM5Culsafo

— Darren Mooney (@Darren_Mooney) May 19, 2026

The critique that seems to be getting the most traction amongst reviewers is that the movie doesn't really accomplish anything. As you may know The Mandalorian and Grogu is a spinoff of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian. The movie has been likened to a long episode shot with more expensive cameras on a bigger screen. 

The frustrating part is this isn't at all a big surprise.

The third and most recent season of The Mandalorian ended with Din Djarin, the titular Mandalorian, and his crew defeating the evil Imperial Moff Gideon once and for all. There was nowhere else for the story to go. The series' initial arc of Din returning Grogu to the remnants of the Jedi was captivating and could've sustained the series for its entirety. By the end of season 2, this was resolved when Luke Skywalker returned, seemingly out of nowhere, and took Grogu to complete his Jedi training, only for Grogu to be returned to Din in the middle of 'Book of Boba Fett,' an entirely different series. 

#TheMandalorianandGrogu is as expected. A longer, bigger episode of the show. It has one or two stand out scenes but it feels much more interested in developing the story to new locations with new creatures than the characters. Enjoyed some of it, left frustrated but the rest. pic.twitter.com/LRlf8x8CVU

— Germain Lussier (@GermainLussier) May 15, 2026

The Mandalorian and Grogu is the first theatrical Star Wars movie in seven years, since the critically panned Rise of Skywalker. The franchise really needed a win, and unfortunately it's looking like this was not the way. It would be one thing if maybe The Mandalorian and Grogu concluded Mando's story or introduced a new major plotline for the series to pick up from, just anything to raise the stakes. Instead the consesus is that it feels more like made-for-tv-movie on the big screen.

Variety writes, "By nudging The Mandalorian onto the big screen, Disney, the purveyor of the Star Wars multiverse, is offering nothing more (or less) than a couple of likable, diverting, semi-forgettable episodes jammed together, albeit with the lavishly scaled action of a big-budget movie adventure. Yet there’s no escaping that The Mandalorian and Grogu comes at us with a tidy small-screen consciousness. The upshot is that maybe that’s what “Star Wars” now is."

Star Wars has always been referential, drawing inspiration from past media like Flash Gordon and Samurai movies. The Mandalorian followed suit with its use of the Lone Wolf and Cub trope, where an adventurer protects a small child on their journey, popularized by Japanese manga.

It was something new for the franchise and fans latched on instantly. Although the trope is still being used, we haven't gotten many new ideas from the series beyond this. In fact, the only "new" elements in the series have been references to older Star Wars movies, becoming self referential.

the problem with dave filoni as creative director of lucasfilm is that he is fundamentally a fanboy, only truly capable of self referential ouroboros style storytelling. a star wars film, first and foremost, needs imagination https://t.co/a7n603QNPB

— internet hottie (@internet_hottie) May 19, 2026

Then again, maybe Star Wars fans aren't Disney's core audience anymore.

The backlash from The Last Jedi, caused a schism in the Star Wars community that brought toxicity into general pop culture. Maybe Disney sees the damage as done with those "fans" and are now focused on nurturing future Star Wars fans. As Director Jon Favreau has stated, he wants to bring in the next generation to the movies. It's unfortunate that the Star Wars fans that helped make the franchise what it is, won't be there as well. 

The Mandalorian and Grogu comes to theaters, Friday May 22.