Month: May 2026

Mandalorian and Grogu is a step in the right direction

Once again, a whole lot of the Hollywood movie critic tribe is bashing hard on Mandalorian and Grogu, and I have to call them out for it. It has almost become cliche to bag on Disney over the past few years. That beat-down is well deserved. I don’t have to go over the laundry list of reasons, you are all very aware of them.

Surely it can’t get worse than the Acolyte…can it?

So, you can kind of understand how anyone might roll into Mandalorian and Grogu with trepidation…like we might get another like the thrice-darned* Acolyte. Would they do that to our beloved Yodababy?** History has taught us that no Star Wars heresy is off the table. So yeah. I understand the caution. I get it.

You knew the job was dangerous when you took it

But if you want to do the job of movie critic, you have to widen the gaze. You have to check your preconceptions at the concession stand. Often tough, I’ll grant you. But if you want to be trusted, you have to do it. So I do it.

Mandalorian and Grogu was about as safe a Star Wars movie as you can get

Remember in A New Hope when we saw a brief glimpse of a burned up Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru? As a kid, that was pretty ghastly. Today’s littles might not register that as even slightly shocking. and  Mandalorian and Grogu didn’t have that much viseral content. So yeah, this movie was as close to PG as you can get and still get the PG13 rating. Lots of bloodless violence, just the way Star Wars made it starting out. Which is funny, if you think about how many billions were killed between the destruction of Alderaan AND the ‘sploding of the Death Star. The body count is actually up there. But I digress.

The point is, I could take my 6 year old Naise to see it and we’d be fine. No trauma to deal with in his later years.

Darned if you do, darned if you don’t

So why all the hate for Mandalorian and Grogu? It was clearly a buddy action flick with no other agenda than to tell a single adventure. Yes, it was short on story. When Sigourney Weaver brought Mando in on a mission ‘to see what the Empire is up to’, you knew it was not going to be an Interstellar-level brain bender. And I was fine with that. More than fine, actually. It was a welcome break.

Mandalorian and Grogu was not going to try to stuff in as much SW lore or future movie foreshadowing as they could. It wasn’t going to rely on you knowing everything about every movie, cartoon or book that was ever created a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.

And very thankfully, it contained no noticeable SJW agenda or current socio-political commentary. It was two really good guys dealing a beat-down to really bad guys. Simple as that.

 

And it had Yodababy

I guess that’s what bugs me about all the detractors and critics bashing on Mandalorian and Grogu. Disney took out all the stuff that made Acolyte a garbage compactor fire and made it like Star Wars was meant to be, and the critics cry foul because it didn’t further the lore. Gimme a break. Just enjoy the things that it did deliver. It was well-paced. There was action (the opening sequence was great!). It had loyalty, bravery, self-sacrifice. It had heart. Something that has been mostly lacking in the Star Wars offerings for a while now.

Star Wars Goonies

Mandalorian and Grogu was very much like SW: Skeleton Crew. In fact, Skeleton Crew had a more intricate story. And they both had an innocence more akin to A New Hope. I’m here to tell you that isn’t a bad thing at all. In A New Hope there was no lore yet. No backstory to be mindful of. And no future plans past three space heroes (and two dinged up droids) wearing medals and smiling for the crowd. A simple story with lovable characters. And we adored it. So I ask the question again…why can’t we love Mandalorian and Grogu the same way? Answer: we can. ‘Critics’ be darned.

Therefore…The Average Dude is proudly giving Mandalorian and Grogu at solid 4 out of 5. Could it have had a bit more story to it? Sure. And some of the action sequences really seemed far fetched (you’ll see what I mean). But was it fun? Absolutely. Did I laugh? Yep, in places and mostly due to Yodababy. And unlike last week’s disappointment, I had someone (or two) to root for. I mean, who’s not going to cheer for Mandalorian and Grogu? So quit all the hating and saying Star Wars is dead. This is a step in the right direction. And if we want to save it, we need to recognize that.

*In keeping with the PG/PG 13 theme for Mandalorian and Grogu

**One of my littles hates it when I call Grogu Yodababy. I poke that little bear every chance I get.

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In The Grey – the trailer sold the movie

Talk about your hit or miss directors! I get hopeful when I see Guy Ritchie’s name attached to a movie. I get even more hopeful when I see talent like Jake Gyllenhaal and Henry Cavill attatched. It’s easy to remember his top-shelf annual watch successes like the Sherlock Holmes series, Snatch or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Even his near misses like Man from U.N.C.L.E were entertaining. It makes you forget disappointments like The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. That’s how I felt about In The Grey. Like Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, a movie stuffed with great actors with a genuinely exciting premise, it seemed like a sure-fire winner.

And then it wasn’t

I genuinely don’t know what to make of Guy Ritchie. We can’t say it’s because of the acting talent. You’d be hard-pressed to assemble a better cast than In The Grey. Gyllenhaal and Cavill are bona fide A-Listers. Rosamund Pike and Eiza González are certainly well-known. So what went wrong? Can’t a star-studded cast turn a mediocre story into a hit? Wellllll…

I know what I said

Last week’s review of Mortal Kombat II, I pointed out that retread, predictable, mediocre story + Karl Urban = a decent enough movie. And for MKII, it did. That was just one talented actor. So, wouldn’t more be…more? Apparently not.

So what was the problem with In The Grey? After giving it a bit of thought (which is what you come to expect from me) I think it was the story itself. On multiple levels.

The story of In The Grey was just what the title claims…a story of people making insane amounts of money doing legal but morally questionable things to people doing illegal and morally despicable things. No redemption arc that would have made this a better movie. Not even some internal conflict about motivations or ends justifying means. Just rich people busting the balls of other rich people, with no other motivation than loyalty to one another and to the job at hand. People willing to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal. That’s the first problem with this story.

But wait…there’s more!

Setting aside that we, as normal, average people with a moral compass that has something other than $$$ as its magnetic north, there’s the actual storytelling structure. In The Grey spent an abnormally large amount of its runtime defining and explaining multiple plans for how this movie would play out if all went perfectly. Spoiler that isn’t really a spoiler: it didn’t. I mean, they spent a really long time explaining these things. Not necessary. We get the premise. Plan in place. Plan goes off the rails. Chaos ensues.

What you would expect is a lot of time exploring the stars reaction to their thwarted plan, their emotional struggles. Maybe even a dark night of the soul moment. In The Grey didn’t really have any of that. We were already having struggles emotionally connecting with these characters who live in a totally different (and also, not really real) jet-set/soldier of fortune lifestyle. We couldn’t even have empathy for them on any human level because they were all so emotionally vacant.

Give us the upside

Sure it had action. But action for action’s sake is not much more than background noise. I can’t remember a single action sequence in this movie that sticks out. We’ve seen it all before. And without any investment in the characters, holding your breath to see if they live or die doesn’t happen. I guess if I had to put a pin in the best thing about this movie, I’d say it was Jake Gyllenhaal. In his screentime, he brought as much personality as he could. And his scene from the trailer where he was cautioning Gary to stand quietly in the corner? That was the best scene of this movie. And THAT is the biggest disappointment.

 

So, I am giving In The Grey a very ‘meh’ 2.8 out of 5. There’s nothing new here. Screentime for the headliners was pretty minimal. Henry Cavill was so unmemorable that I can’t even recall one scene of his that stood out. Eiza González had the most minutes. But how much entertainment value can the ‘soulless, tough as nails corporate attorney looking pretty and kicking legal @$$’ provide? This movie was somewhat short on actual action, LOOOONG on exposition and really short on heart. Pretty people doing selfish things and it’s gotten old. And boring. It felt like Ritchie might have been phoning this one in, sad to say. Full disclosure: I nodded off during the big finale action sequence. What does that tell you?

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Mortal Kombat II…sigh…

As you’ve heard me say waaay too often this year, there was not a lot to choose from this weekend. Not psyched for a live-action sheep mystery. No interest at all in a Billie Eilish concert flick. And I don’t even want to know what this is all about.

So, the default winner for this Mother’s Day weekend (Love you, mom! Love you Mrs Average Dude!) is Mortal Kombat II. MKII is the second installment of the reboot, which started back in 2021. Do I even need to rehash my distain over long wait times between sequels? Still waiting on Fast and Furious X pt 2…and ONLY for the over-the-top performance by Jason Mamoa. If the whole rest of the cast drove off into the sunset, that’d be okay-fine with me. But I digress.

Mentally prepared

To remind ourselves about the whole plot and tenor of Mortal Kombat, Mrs Average Dude and I watched the first installment on Friday. It was what you might have expected. Short on story, long on martial arts mayhem. Kicks and blocks and chi super-powers. I didn’t remember one single thing from this movie. Not even that I saw it. After the credits rolled, I might classify it as a mildly entertaining popcorn pusher that probably came out in early August (Yep, I just looked it up. August 18, 1995).

The Urban Effect

I will come right out and say it…after (re)watching the first, I did not have high expectations for Mortal Kombat II. In fact, I probably have skipped it altogether if not for the addition of one Karl Urban.

Urban’s star has never been higher and I can’t remember a single thing he has been in that I didn’t enjoy very much. He nailed Bones McCoy in the Star Trek reboot of 2009. He turned Judge Dredd into a cult classic. His comic take on Skurge in Thor Ragnarök I have mixed feelings on, but only because I respect the original story from the comics as a kid. Do you remember his small but perfect role in the Lord of the Rings franchise? And don’t get me started on Billy Butcher. Karl Urban brings it, every time.

So, on his addition alone I opted in for Mortal Kombat II. And I think that decision by New Line Cinema saved MKII from being a sad, rehash of the tepid first movie that probably would have bombed.

Talk about Yin and Yang

Let’s face it…if you saw the first, you know the story. It hasn’t changed. Nothing new has been added (literally) other than Johnny Cage (Urban). And while the story didn’t revolve around him nearly as much as it could have (and probably should have), he was in it just enough to bring some much needed comedy, empathy and audience engagement. Without that critical element, the only folks who would have enjoyed Mortal Kombat II in the slightest would have been hardcore gamers from the early 90s and total martial arts cinema fans. There’s a reason why every Jacky Chan needs a Chris Rock. Urban was the yin to all the yang in this movie.

There’s really not much else to say

So, was Mortal Kombat II worth my time and corn? Eh, sure. Barely. If I find out I skipped a better movie (I’m giving Sheep Detectives the side-eye right now) for MKII, I’ll be PO’d. As it is, Mortal Kombat II gets a very lackluster 2.8 our of 5. Without the awesome Urban, this easily would have been a 2. At best. My best advice is to wait a couple more weeks and it will be on Prime or Max. Good enough for a pre-summer Saturday night double feature, if your baseball team isn’t doing so well (looking at you, Royals). But for prime time date night? Look elsewhere.

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