The Star Wars spin-off from Disney+ is back with its signature mix of violent toughness and attentive parenting – but can Mando keep Baby Yoda safely in his armoured pushchair?
Mando’s back and, like a lot of stressed single parents, he still hasn’t got time for any of your nonsense. The Star Wars spin-off from Disney+ works because it mimics its bounty-hunting main character and unwaveringly follows its own path. The Mandalorian has all the quirky luxuries of the fictional universe you know from the films – the monsters, the gadgets, the characters who only previously appeared in Return of the Jedi novelisations – yet it never lets the weight of expectation slow it down, as it does exactly what it wants.
What it wants is to deliver sleek, lean action stories that jettison the lamer elements of the movies and focus on the cool bits. No to windy philosophising, yes to punch-ups against bipedal reptiles in bars with blue clientele. Less sentimentality over fallen heroes, more moments like the one halfway through the season two opener, where a failed attempt to snare a ravenous sand-worm leads to perhaps the funniest horrific death in the whole Star Wars canon.
