A Brutally Honest Kid Reviews ‘The Mandalorian and Grogu’

When I became a father, I had all these grand plans about introducing my children to the pop culture I loved when I was their age. I was going to shower my kids with superhero toys. We’d read every issue of The Amazing Spider-Man together from the very beginning. I would pass down all my most treasured films and television shows.

It took me a while to realize that my kids were not going to love the same things I obsessed over as a child. In fact, with very few exceptions, my kids have zero interest in my favorites. Apart from a brief obsession with The LEGO Batman Movie as a toddler, my oldest daughter has never shown any curiosity about superheroes. We read Dog Man together instead of Spider-Man. And forget about passing down my childhood TV shows. I once showed my kids an episode of ALF and within five minutes they were screaming that ALF was creepy. It was back to more Bluey in no time.

Fascinatingly, the one area where our childhood interests overlap is Star Wars. Like me, they enjoyed Star Wars at just about every age, and in every form, from books to comics to movies. They play with my old Star Wars action figures, and have amassed a respectable collection of their own. Their favorite place on Earth really might be Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in Disneyland.

In fact, they might be more Star Wars pilled than I was at ten and eight. They have droids, lightsabers, and elaborate Jedi and Leia costumes. For the last May the 4th Be With You, they wrote their own Star Wars musical called Star Wars Again. (It was quite powerful. The song about Yoda was a bop, let me tell you.)

My kids were born in 2015 and 2017, so The Mandalorian and Grogu marks their first chance to see a new Star Wars movie in a theater. I brought my eight-year-old daughter with me to the Mandalorian press screening, and afterwards — as I often do when we see movies together — I recorded our post-movie conversation. What follows is a very lightly edited transcript of that chat. It includes her response to the movie, whether it was easy to follow for someone who has only seen a handful of Mandalorian TV episodes, and whether she thinks IMAX is a legitimate improvement over a regular theater.

She also turned the tables on me, and started asking me questions about the film and my response by the end. So maybe she is a chip off the old block after all, even if I still can’t convince her that Spider-Man is the greatest fictional character ever created.

What did you think of the movie?

It was good. I didn’t think there would be so much fighting.

Was it too violent?

Some parts could be.

You’ve seen other Star Wars movies. 

I think it’s more intense than some. The whole thing wasn’t scary. And even when it’s scary, it’s still fun. They make it scary but also funny.

Was it too much? Should I have brought your sister instead of you?

Oh, I could handle it.

Okay good. Because you did turn to me at one point and squeeze my arm and say “This is way more intense than Super Mario Galaxy.”

Because it is!

You’re right, you’re right. But not too intense?

Not too intense. It’s not like Hamilton. [pause] Well, Hamilton’s more sad than scary.

Right. There’s not as many snake monsters in Hamilton.

READ MORE: A Brutally Honest Adult’s Review of The Mandalorian and Grogu

Who was your favorite character?

I really liked Grogu.

You kept smiling and laughing any time he showed up. 

I think my second favorite was the Mandalorian or … you know that ship guider guy? Who controlled the ship?

The alien guy with purple skin and the blue uniform?

Yeah.

Sure. His name is Zeb.

I liked him. I especially liked that he, like, do you remember when they were in the thing and they had the stuff?

[no clue what she is talking about] Sure.

He had that staff it almost looked like a double lightsaber?

Yes. He used a staff with purple energy on each end as a weapon.

I liked when he used that.

You and your sister both got so into the original Star Wars movies with Luke, Leia, and Han when I showed you those. How did this one measure up?

I think almost the same. Really good.

What is it that’s so fun about Star Wars?

It’s kind of …. how cool it all is.

The total package.

Yes. There’s spaceships. There’s different aliens. There’s different worlds. Weapons that don’t exist or appear in other shows, like lightsabers. If you go to Disneyland and Star Wars Land, there’s things there that are so cool that you can’t do them in any other lands, or our world.

Were there any parts of this movie that you didn’t like?

There was one part that I thought was a little long, that I didn’t think was too important.

Was it the gladiator scene? That was pretty long and that was the one scene where you did seem pretty scared.

Was that the big battle?

Yeah, with the monsters. Mando fights them with axes and swords and hammers. It went on a long time.

Yeah, that part.

You seemed the most … I don’t know if I would go so far as to say you were freaked out but you were …

Frightened!

Okay, frightened. You were definitely frightened. You held my hand really tight during that part.

It’s a little scary, but once you kind of get used to it because it goes on for a while, it’s not as bad. It was kind of cool. There were a bunch of monsters.

It is a little weird to me that this movie has so much Baby Yoda, who is so cute and so sweet and so funny. He causes mischief, he eats junk food —

He eats a lot. I love when he eats things. He should eat more. I love watching him just chomp away on a weird alien creature.

What I was going to say: He’s so cute and cuddly and funny, and clearly designed for kids. But other parts of the movie are really dark and intense. You were okay, but anyone much younger than you would not be able to hand it.

[Her six-year-old friend] Maggie would be so scared. She definitely couldn’t handle it. But I was fine.

You have only watched the first couple episodes of The Mandalorian. Did you have any trouble following what was happening?

A little, yeah.

What were the parts that you couldn’t understand?

There were certain times where characters would pop up and I didn’t really know who they were. And there were other parts where I just didn’t understand what was going on. At one point, I had to ask you what was going on.

Yeah, you did that once or twice. But not too often.

It wasn’t like every five seconds.

I think the main question you asked me was “Is that Jabba the Hutt?” 

Oh yeah, that was a big thing I was confused about.

Did that make sense eventually?

Yeah.

Did you follow all of the stuff with the Hutts? Like “The Twins” … did you understand how they were related to Jabba?

They were his cousins?

Were they his cousins? Or his siblings? Honestly, I was a little confused myself. [She was right; they’re Jabba’s cousins.] The Jabba the Hutt guy with muscles [Rotta the Hutt, voiced by Jeremy Allen White], did you understand who he was? That was Jabba’s…

Cousin?

Son.

Oh, his son. Yeah when they started mentioning Jabba the Hutt I was like “Huh? What’s going on?” Cause nothing else was from the earlier movies. I kind of remember him, but in this they didn’t really explain who he was, so it was hard for me to be sure.

Yeah, he was in Return of the Jedi. He’s the big slug guy who had Han Solo frozen and has Princess Leia chained up. He’s not in this movie because I think they kill him in Return of the Jedi.

They do? Oh yeah, I remember now. Yay!

What do you think of the Mandalorian himself as a character? Is he a good guy? Is he a bad guy?

I think he’s kind of a mix. He’s, like, a good guy, but he can be a little evil sometimes. But he does work for the good guys.

Why do you think he doesn’t want to fully work for the New Republic? He says throughout the film that he’s independent; he works for them but he refuses to, like, officially join the group. Why is that?

Because he wants to, uh, well, he says he wanted to do things by himself. But I’m not quite sure. That was another thing I was kind of confused about.

I’m not sure I can tell you either. I was hoping you could explain it to me.

[Taking a sip from her Mandalorian and Grogu “Galactic Green Lemonade” from the theater] This is so weird.

Hey, you were the one who refused to throw it away at the theater. You demanded we bring it home with us so you could drink more. How would you describe the flavor?

[Takes another sip] The flavor is good.

I thought it was maybe lemonade with some green apple syrup in there.

[Shrugs]

Well you like it, even though it looks weird.

Yup. It looks disgusting, but it’s delicious.

You just love drinking liquid Grogu.

Yeah, I guess so. [Takes another slurp.]

This was the first movie you’ve ever seen in IMAX? What did you think about that?

I liked it. It made it feel more like real life. You’re not just looking at part of a wall. It’s the whole wall.

We went to a press screening tonight for film critics. But if you’re a fan and you just buy a ticket, they charge extra to see a movie in IMAX. Do you think it’s worth paying extra for the IMAX? Or would you rather just see it in a regular theater?

It would be worth it.

How much extra would you pay? If I said “The regular ticket is $10, but the IMAX ticket is $15.” Would you pay that?

Maybe.

If I said “The regular ticket is $10, but the IMAX ticket is $12.” Would you pay that?

Yes.

What if I said If I said “The regular ticket is $10, but the IMAX ticket is $20.” Would you pay that?

I don’t know.

Sometimes the movie filled the entire screen, and sometimes the movie was just happening in the middle of the screen. Did you notice that?

Yeah.

Was it distracting when it would switch from the whole screen to just the middle section of the screen?

No. It made it cooler, actually.

Did watching The Mandalorian and Grogu make you want to see more of The Mandalorian TV show now? 

Oh yeah.

So overall, it was a success?

Yes.

Do you have any questions for me?

Did you like it?

Yeah. I didn’t love it, but I had a pretty good time.

What are some parts you liked and some parts you didn’t like?

My favorite part was the section all about Grogu by himself. I thought that was really cool. Actually, this is a good question: Do you know how they create Grogu? 

A puppet?

That’s exactly right. They might use other effects to hide things or to improve his performance, but he is a physical puppet. And I liked the part that was all about him, because I liked that this massive movie gave us this scene where we just watch a very convincing puppet do all these incredible things. That’s kind of cool! 

The thing that I maybe didn’t like as much was the fact that it really didn’t feel like much more than a long episode of The Mandalorian TV show. And I would have liked more about the character of the Mandalorian, and maybe even more about Grogu. Like I asked you: Why doesn’t Mando want to be a part of the New Republic if he’s basically working for them? I’m not entirely sure either, and I didn’t feel like he evolved in any way in this movie. It was just him on a really cool adventure. Does that make sense?

Yeah. In a book, the main character learns something or changes.

Or even the original Star Wars movies. Think of Luke at the beginning of the first Star Wars movie. He’s a farm boy, he’s never been anywhere. Then compare that to who he’s already become by the end of just the first movie. He’s traveled the galaxy, he learned about the Force, he decides to join the Rebel Alliance, he blows up the Death Star. It’s a lot! In this movie, Mandalorian starts as the coolest fighter in the galaxy … and that’s pretty much who he is throughout.

On a scale of 1 to 10, what would you rate it?

Uh… you tell me what you’d give it and I’ll tell you what I’d give it.

What number would you give it?

You have to tell me first.

No you have to tell me first.

All right. Out of 10, I would give it a 6. What would you give it?

7 or 8.

That’s fair. Am I being too hard on this movie?

Yeah.

Am I too mean in general?

No. You are nice.