Whenever
I get into a heated debate over whether or not the benefits of Kylo Ren’s
lightsaber crossguard outweigh the many impracticalities of the thing, I have
to remind myself that Star Wars was, and mostly still is, primarily
made for kids. This reminder is a soothing balm for whenever the Jar Jar
Binkses of the Star Wars galaxy stumble onto the screen, but
it is also one that I sometimes forget to apply because I, like many others,
grew up with the franchise. Shouldn’t we older fans be catered to now and then
as well as kids? As they did with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and The
Mandalorian before it, Disney actually obliged this last year by
giving us Andor, possibly the most “grown up” Star Wars project
to date.
The prequel to the prequel to the
original, which is itself the fourth film in a nine-part saga, Andor explores
the early days of the Rebellion from the eyes of Diego Luna’s character Cassian
Andor from 2016’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (mostly from
his eyes, anyway... the cast is enormous). Unlike Disney+’s other Star
Wars offerings, the story of Andor starts slow. Like,
really slow. Nothing much happens in the first couple of episodes, and even
after things hit the fan the events unfold on their own sweet time. I did not
mind this at all. I found it refreshing, in fact, that Andor goes
the more character-driven route rather than feeling the need for a spectacle
every few minutes. A first for a franchise not known for having particularly
good dialogue, the writing of Andor is engaging and
believable, although I definitely recommend watching the show with
subtitles—characters have a tendency to talk quietly and mumble at times, and
when you factor in made up space-words it can be quite easy to miss an
important nuance or two as plans, politics, and even philosophy are discussed.
These mumbly characters are, perhaps,
the strongest asset that Andor enjoys. I said that the cast is
enormous, and it is true, but every character, from the bad guys to the rebel
foot soldiers to Andor himself are interesting to watch, proving once and for
all that you don’t need a Skywalker or a Solo or a Kenobi to make a moving
entry into the Star Wars canon. Despite this large ensemble
Andor solidly remains the main character, a tough juggling act to pull off when
you have as many irons in the fire as his show does.
And it is not all talking, of
course... Andor still takes the time to inject some war into
its Star Wars. When action does happen it is grounded and highly
cathartic, a result of showrunner Tony Gilroy’s ability to ramp up expectations
and let things breathe. The pacing of Andor is very well done,
although I admit that I would have been frustrated if I had watched the show as
each episode aired week after week instead of watching them all back-to-back
like I did. I’m finding it hard to say anything bad about Andor;
not only is it Star Wars for grownups, but it is Star
Wars at its best.
Andor season
1 is now available on Disney+.
This review was first published in The Keizertimes on February 3rd, 2023. Visit at http://keizertimes.com/
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