The Mandalorian television series was clearly laid out as an "adventure of the week" western. The movie, while maintaining the high levels of quality the show established, almost felt more like a James Bond film.
It had an action filled cold open, followed by a debriefing and assignment by "M" (Colonel Ward). Mando has all his cool equipment in his armor, meaning a Q-Branch scene wasn't needed, but the Anzellan's filled that role nicely, anyway. The mission turned up the action again, and was achieved successfully, if in a different manner than assigned. The outcome of that mission led to the typical "Bond gets captured and must escape" scenes. After Mando healed, the film ended with a giant assault on the villain base.
Many other characters fit into the Bond mold as well. Criminal connections and enemies came into play. Zeb filled the role of "local law enforcement ally." Rotta the Hutt (Hi Stinky!!!!) was the far more complex than the mission briefing indicated individual needing rescuing but ends up being an formidable ally. Embo- the ninja like opposing bounty hunter - is the physical match for Mando that usually works as the right hand for Bond's main villain. The big difference was instead of a Bond girl , Din has his son, Grogu. While the Mandalorian had to heal, Grogu went on his own hero's journey, in the middle of the film, moving away from the breakneck action pace for a while. He faced his own challenges, and had his own aged, wise, swamp witch/ dragon man advisor. Neat! Amazingly, contrary to "Hero's Journey" standards, this mentor survived...
I'd like to think he survived, anyway.
They weren't real clear about how close his shack was to the massive explosions at the end of the assault on Nal Hutta.
Anyway, fingers crossed!
Overall, it worked fantastically well. It had everything that made Star Wars successful with all ages, with a mix of familiar overall themes, and specific references.
Aside- An embarrassing realization of how deep into Star Wars lore I have lived for the past 49 years. It never occurred to me until seeing an online discussion by folks who did or did not notice the arena fight was based on the game Artoo and Chewie played in the original film that the name of that game being "Dejarrik" was not common knowledge.
I've gotten used to watching the films at home over the years, and more and more Star Wars television series have been released. It is easy to forget the power and event feeling of seeing Star Wars with the full theatrical experience. It really does transport one to a long time ago in a galaxy far far away. (And back to being a seven year old.)
Over the course of multiple animated and live action shows they've presented Mandalorians as being top tier armed and unarmed combatants. However, for dramatic purposes, we've often seen them facing overwhelming odds and firepower, or other Mandalorians and the supposedly rare similarly skilled individuals. It was great seeing Mando unleashed on various Imperial soldiers and technology, along with a huge variation of people and things (the things... are also people), demonstrating how vastly diverse and elite his combat skills are.
The film fits squarely in the serial inspired Star Wars canon. There were kid friendly goofy creatures mixed in with terrifying ones. (Ever wonder what the Dragon Snake that almost ate Artoo back on Dagobah in Empire looked like? Well now we know.) Bringing back Phil Tippet to do stop motion animation on those giant door guard droids was nothing short of awesome!
Based on his own back story in Rebels, having Zeb (who was awesome to see in "live action") be the first one to accept Rotta into the New Republic fit well for both characters.
Another cool element was seeing an organized crime group completely taken down. I've pointed out several times that no matter who is running the Star Wars Universe (Old Republic, Empire, New Republic) organized crime and slavery are rampant. Usually, when a boss gets taken out, another takes their place. Mando's raid, Rotta's revenge, and the X-wing strike destroyed what was left of the Hutt organization, already in disarray.
Final Thought- Anabelle and I had several discussions as to why we thought Sigourney Weaver was in this film. We both had several theories, and I (incorrectly) expected her to be a secret Imperial sympathizer. Glad I was wrong. One of Anabelle's guesses was the closest, "Because she's awesome." When Colonel Ward (Weaver) showed up leading a squadron of X-wings in the climax, we looked at each other and said, "OH! That's why she's here."
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