A tale of two TV to film follow-ups

This week two new films were released that followed on from two different established streaming TV shows. Although only one of these made its way to the cinema. The films I'm talking about are Jack Ryan: Ghost War (Amazon Prime) and Star Wars: Mandalorian and Grogu (Disney).

These are both very different franchises not only in genre but also in what surrounds them as a media entity. Jack Ryan is an established character that started in the literary world from author Tom Clancy and has gone on to be rebooted multiple times across film and also TV. Whereas with the Mandalorian this was Disney's first push into a live action Star Wars show (crucially not the first Star Wars TV series as a few - albeit animated - predate it).

With Jack Ryan it kind of made sense to wrap up the show (albeit a few years later) with a film, except in practice this current iteration of the character worked better a series. The reviews for the film were middling, which stood out given how well the show was received. I went it being open minded, and whilst I didn't dislike it, I certainly preferred its TV form. The reason for this is that the type of stories it focuses on need space, something an hour and 45ish film doesn't offer. It's not that the film felt rushed, but it just felt lacking. Which is not something I ever said about the show. Sure, it was filmed outside of the US with prominent placing for Dubai and London, but it very much felt like this was for money reasons and not plot. London has generous tax cut incentives to film there and Dubai, that place oozes money. The Emirates airline clearly paid for the elongated take off and landing shots in the film. The film slightly glamorised Dubai, but I felt a bit nauseous watching it, it's a land of excess for the sake of it. Which felt at odds with the core plot of the film which is dealing with a group that thinks it has the moral authority to conduct black ops. This film went straight to Amazon Prime streaming, which partly makes sense because that's where the show was (and Amazon own the platform). But, it was clear that a lot of money was spent of on it (even if product placement and tax breaks helped finance it). It's doing well on there, but I can see it being forgotten about soon enough.

What about Mandalorian and Grogu? This is a film that ironically compared to Jack Ryan could have been a TV movie. This is not to do with its "quality", rather how it is made and put together. There was meant to be a season 4 of Mandalorian (and maybe there still will be) but with the writers strikes they put what had been written to the side and came up with a new script just for this film. However, this still felt like it was being developed with the same mindset as the show, which I think is fine. The end result very much felt like a "two-parter" special of a show. Where there is a longer one off story to tell. Needing two one hour episodes to tell it. This film is that, but with the ability to stich those two episodes into one piece with a bit of extra time to flesh it out further.

Whilst it is clear that some extra budget has gone into this compared to the show, this doesn't feel like it got the full Star Wars film budget though. Some of the CGI, especially in the opening Hoth (apparently it is Hoth, but they don't confirm in the film) part where the AT-ATs look a little rough at times (perhaps this is exacerbated by being in IMAX). But you know what, it was great to see Star Wars on the big screen again, even if it is with characters we know and love from the small screen. Reviews seem to be all over the place, but I had a great time watching it. It's a fun two hour romp with two clear halves that relate to one another. Furthermore, it was nice to watch something Star Wars related in the cinema that doesn't have galaxy wide implications. Usually in the back of my mind I'm wondering about what this could mean and whether so and so and such place could come in. With this I could just enjoy it for what it is.

Meanwhile I'm engaging with Star Wars Legends in the form of games (Jedi Knight 2) and books (Darth Maul Shadow Hunter with the audiobook read by Sam Witwer) so I can get my fill of deeper -albeit non-canon - lore there.

So, two rather different film experiences for the same type of existence. Both were still worth watching, but one is going to stay with me far longer. Although, with Star Wars, it has the worst fans who are going to hate it for all sorts of bad reasons. I might not be a fan of the Sequel trilogy, but I've made my peace with them. But, there is so much Star Wars out there for us to enjoy, and I'm doing just that.