PLOT: The Andor series will explore a new perspective from the Star Wars galaxy, focusing on Cassian Andor’s journey to discover the difference he can make. The series brings forward the tale of the burgeoning rebellion against the Empire and how people and planets became involved. It’s an era filled with danger, deception, and intrigue where Cassian will embark on the path that is destined to turn him into a rebel hero.
REVIEW: After the lackluster reception of The Rise of Skywalker, Lucasfilm has found great success with its small-screen Star Wars projects on Disney+. From The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett to the recent Obi-Wan Kenobi limited series, fans have been treated to a lot of new material they never thought they would see set in a galaxy far, far away. The latest Star Wars series is Andor starring Diego Luna. Reprising his role from Rogue One, Andor is a curious series as it is spun off from a very divisive Star Wars feature film and follows a character that not many fans were interested in seeing more of. But, with acclaimed writer Tony Gilroy on board for a limited, two-season commitment, Andor needs to prove it has a reason to exist. While the production values are the best we have yet seen from a Disney+ Star Wars series, Andor starts out as an underwhelmingly dull entry in the franchise before picking up steam four episodes in.
Set five years before the events of Rogue One, Andor drops us into the pre-Rebellion days of Cassion Andor (Diego Luna). We meet him while he is hiding out on the planet Morlana One which is controlled by Preox Corporation, a mining company with a militaristic security force. When Cassian finds himself mixed up in the death of two Preox security officers, his life changes forever. The early episodes of the series weave Cassian evading authorities searching for him as a suspect with flashbacks to his childhood and what led him on his journey far from home. We quickly meet his close friend Bix Caleen (Adria Arjona), who is one of the few people who know his true identity and Maarva (Fiona Shaw), a maternal figure in Cassian’s life who helps conceal him while he searches for his lost sister. It is through Maarva and Bix that Cassian comes into contact with Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgard), a leader in the just germinating rebellion.
At the same time, we also spend a good deal of time with two antagonistic characters. Syril, played by Kyle Soller, works for Preox and is determined to find Cassian Andor and bring him to justice. The parallels between Preox and the Empire are very clear and it seems that Syril’s eventual indoctrination is a foregone conclusion. The other is Dedra Meero (Denise Gough) begins her investigation into Andor and the Rebellion while also trying to prove her suspicions true to Imperial officers who refuse to believe anyone could stop their progress. Both Syril and Dedra are intriguing antagonists and show an angle to the hierarchy of the Empire that we have not really seen in Star Wars before. While I have only seen the first four episodes, it is somewhat confusing as to why so much time is spent with either character. At the same time, we do have a few scenes with Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly) that deliver a much different perspective to her story in the earliest days of her turn against the powers that be. O’Reilly never got to do all that much in her film appearances in Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One, but from what she brings to this show I would have been intrigued to watch a series just about Mon Mothma.
Andor will have a three-episode premiere on Disney+ and there is a good reason. In watching the first four episodes, I felt that the story takes far too much time to get going and only begins to gain any momentum in the closing minutes of the third episode. The three opening chapters spend a great deal orienting us to the power structure of the Preox Corporation which feels like a bargain bin Empire. Following Cassian Andor as he evades Preox officers and performs petty crimes is a little boring to watch and only gets exciting once Stellan Skarsgard arrives. Skarsgard delivers a great performance as a mentor to Andor and serves as a blend of Woody Harrelson’s Tobias Beckett from Solo: A Star Wars Story with a little Qui-Gon Jinn thrown in for good measure. The relationship between Andor and Luthen is only teased in these early episodes, but his very presence elevates this series greatly. It is only in the fourth episode that the real rebellion side of the story takes shape and left me feeling like the first three hours could have been streamlined into a single episode.
The fourth episode of Andor finally shifts the story into another mode and is also the first chapter directed by Susanna White. The first three are helmed by Toby Haynes who directed half of the season. White’s direction definitely picks up the pace a bit and feels more like Star Wars but it remains to be seen how her other two episodes fare as well as the three directed by Benjamin Caron. The fourth episode is also where Tony Gilroy handed over scripting to his brother, Dan. Tony Gilroy wrote five total episodes, Dan Gilroy wrote three, with Stephen Schiff contributing one and House of Cards creator Beau Willimon drafting the remaining three. With a great score by Nicholas Britell, Andor does succeed in giving us an angle on the Star Wars universe we have never seen before. There is a great level of detail in this series and production values that exceed even what we saw on Obi-Wan Kenobi, but I cannot help but feel something is missing from this series that holds it back from feeling exciting in the least.
As a fan of the Star Wars franchise, including the prequels and sequels, I have found something to appreciate in every series released so far on Disney+. There is a lot of potential in Andor that I can see peeking through in this first third of the season. I love Diego Luna’s dedication to fleshing out his character’s life story and there are some compelling supporting performances here, but I often found myself wondering if this series picked the wrong focal point to explore the origins of the rebellion against the Empire. Tony Gilroy certainly has taken some creative challenges by making this a grounded and gritty look at the Star Wars universe, but it also seems to miss the heart of what makes George Lucas’ franchise so exciting to watch. I am reserving final judgment on Andor until I have had the chance to watch the entire twelve-episode season, but based on what I have seen I am disappointed. Andor is good but should have been great and I may be more generous than I should be.
Andor premieres with three episodes on Disney+ on September 21st.
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