There's a cheer inside the Los Angeles IMAX theater before the sneak preview of the first 25 minutes of The Mandalorian and Grogu even begins. The Star Wars fans in the audience of this May the Fourth event recognized a special guest's hat. Dave Filoni, cowboy hat-wearing head of Lucasfilm, has made an appearance, promising the audience that we’re in for "one heck of a ride."
His comments, introducing the Jon Favreau-directed movie, are brief and not especially unique—it's the type of boilerplate stuff you would say about an upcoming film—but a phrase like “one heck of a ride” feels extra telling in The Mandalorian and Grogu's case. Based on the first 25 minutes, the movie—a big-screen installment of a TV show that's a spin-off of a film series—does feel a lot like a ride. A Disneyland-style adventure that captures the vibe of a lot of familiar sights and strings them together into a zippy experience.
