The Mandalorian And Grogu Gives IMAX Scale, Puppet Cracks

Lede

Star Wars has returned to the cinema with proper IMAX muscle, but parts of it still move like the merchandise arrived before the soul.

Hermit Off Script

The Mandalorian and Grogu is exactly the kind of Star Wars film that looks better on an IMAX screen than it ever will on a television, laptop, tablet, phone, fridge door, or whatever cursed screen people now use to avoid silence. The size matters here. The effects matter. The worlds matter. This is a treat for the eyes, and in that sense the film knows what it is doing. It has the familiar characters, the updated Star Wars texture, the clean modern look, and enough pieces from The Mandalorian series to make fans feel rewarded for doing their homework. Sorry, no C-3PO in this one, but the film has enough company around Din Djarin and Grogu to keep the galaxy from feeling empty.

Sigourney Weaver is a clever touch because she doesn’t enter a film alone. Some actors carry a whole museum of cinema behind them. With Weaver, I couldn’t help feeling Alien and Avatar echoing in the room. That isn’t a problem. That is part of the pleasure. She has the kind of screen history that makes a new universe feel less like content and more like a room where other great stories have already left their fingerprints. She doesn’t need to shout her importance. She arrives, and the film borrows gravity.

My issue is with the smaller characters. Grogu and those little ship-builder characters still need more natural movement and presence. Sometimes they feel alive. Sometimes they feel like the studio put expensive dolls into a scene and asked the actors to respect the merchandise. For a film that creates planets, ships and whole civilisations, that tiny artificial stiffness becomes oddly loud. The galaxy can explode beautifully, but if the small creature in the corner moves like a collectible, the spell cracks.

And then my imagination goes further, because this is where cinema is heading whether we like it or not. One day, old films may be remade with AI so they look as if they were filmed with current technology. After that, maybe whole universes will be built in real VR, so close to reality that you don’t watch the story, you walk into it, touch the door, fight the creature, and probably still get charged for a premium skin. Maybe that is 10 to 15 years away. Maybe longer. Maybe sooner if the AI sellers are right, especially as they seem very keen to cash out before the economy becomes one giant subscription login. As an idea, not a fact, I can imagine Star Wars becoming a place rather than a film. But I still miss Jedi stories. The machines can rebuild every surface. They still can’t fake direction.

The Mandalorian and Grogu | Official Trailer 

The Clan of Two Returns to the Big Screen

Din Djarin and Grogu return for a new Star Wars cinema adventure after the fall of the Empire. With Imperial warlords still scattered across the galaxy, the New Republic calls on the Mandalorian bounty hunter and his young apprentice for another mission beyond the safety of the small screen. It is a big-format return built for fans of the Disney+ series, with the bond between the clan of two still at the centre. Disney’s official synopsis says the New Republic enlists Din Djarin and Grogu as it tries to protect what the Rebellion fought for. StarWars.com also describes the film as made for IMAX and opening in cinemas on 22 May 2026.

Cast and credits

Director: Jon Favreau
Writers: Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni, Noah Kloor
Genre: Action-Adventure, Science Fiction
Main cast: Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver, Jeremy Allen White
Composer: Ludwig Goransson
Production company/studio: Lucasfilm, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Runtime: 132 minutes in the UK BBFC listing; 131 minutes 56 seconds in the IFCO listing
Release year and platform: 2026, theatrical release, including IMAX

What does not make sense

• A film built for IMAX scale should not let its smallest characters look like they escaped from a display shelf.
• Grogu is emotionally central, commercially useful, and visually iconic, so his movement should be the most protected magic in the film.
• Star Wars keeps building side corridors while the Jedi-shaped centre of the franchise still feels underused.
• The film wants to welcome newcomers, but a lot of its warmth comes from already knowing the Disney+ series.
• Disney knows Grogu sells, but selling a creature and making a creature feel alive are not the same craft.
• The galaxy looks huge, but the story direction sometimes feels smaller than the ships.

Sense check / The numbers

1. Disney UK lists Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu with a release date of 22 May 2026, directed by Jon Favreau, starring Pedro Pascal, Sigourney Weaver and Jeremy Allen White, with music by Ludwig Goransson. [Disney]
2. StarWars.com describes the film as filmed for IMAX and says Din Djarin and Grogu are enlisted by the New Republic after the Empire has fallen. [StarWars.com]
3. BBFC lists the film as 12A in the UK, with an approximate running time of 132 minutes and content notes including moderate violence, threat and injury detail. [BBFC]
4. IFCO lists the Irish classification as 12A, the distributor as Disney, the release date as 22nd May 2026, and the duration as 131 minutes 56 seconds. [IFCO]
5. AP reported an estimated $82 million from Friday to Sunday in the US and Canada, with $102 million expected by the end of the Memorial Day holiday and $165 million globally. It also reported a 63 per cent Rotten Tomatoes critic score and an A- CinemaScore. [AP]
6. Reuters reported Disney’s estimate of roughly $165 million worldwide, about $102 million in the US and Canada, and said verified moviegoers gave the film an 89 per cent positive score compared with 62 per cent from critics. [Reuters]

The sketch

Scene 1: The IMAX galaxy
An enormous cinema screen shows planets, ships and glowing battle trails. A tiny seated viewer looks up with wide eyes.
Dialogue:
Viewer: “This is cinema.”
Screen: “Finally, someone noticed.”

Scene 2: The tiny problem
A small green creature stands beside tiny mechanics near a shining ship. Their limbs look stiff while a studio executive holds a toy catalogue behind them.
Dialogue:
Viewer: “Why do they move like props?”
Executive: “Props sell well.”

Scene 3: The missing Jedi door
A large door marked Jedi Stories stays closed while a queue of spin-off signs points in circles around it.
Dialogue:
Fan: “Can we open that?”
Studio: “First, another corridor.”

What to watch, not the show

• The return of Star Wars to cinema after years of Disney+ gravity.
• The business test: can a streaming-born Star Wars story behave like a theatrical event?
• The Grogu economy, where character, merchandise and audience affection sit in the same small robe.
• The IMAX push, because spectacle is now one of the few reasons people leave the sofa.
• The missing Jedi direction, which still feels like the unused engine in the franchise.
• The coming AI problem for cinema, where old worlds may be rebuilt before anyone asks whether they should be.
• The gap between visual scale and story hunger.

The Hermit take

The film knows how to look huge.
It still doesn’t know where Star Wars should go next.

Keep or toss

Verdict: Keep / Toss.
Keep the big-screen spectacle and cinematic confidence.
Toss the puppet stiffness and the fear of committing to bigger Jedi stories.

Sources

• Disney UK film page: https://www.disney.co.uk/movies/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu
• StarWars.com film page: https://www.starwars.com/films/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu
• StarWars.com cast interview: https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-cast
• BBFC classification page: https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/star-wars-the-mandalorian-and-grogu-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdmzmdg4
• IFCO classification page: https://ifco.ie/en/ifco/pages/7EE003BF004A308B
• AP box office report: https://apnews.com/article/star-wars-mandalorian-grogu-box-office-2dc63fb8020e66ae521aa30daf7df940
• Reuters box office report: https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/disneys-new-star-wars-film-expected-rake-165-million-worldwide-2026-05-24/
• Entertainment Weekly writer credit and context: https://ew.com/mandalorian-and-grogu-jon-favreau-why-ahsoka-thrawn-dont-appear-11978856