Andor Review | A bland start in a misleading format

We have seen the first four episodes of the new Star Wars series and the first impressions are far from positive.

What is the purpose of a prequel? In a very objective way, these backstories serve to expand a storyline that we already know, whether it’s expanding the universe or delving into a character, showing how he became that way. The problem is that went seems to be unsure of what he wants to be and, in the end, presents itself as something schizophrenic that points in all directions without being in the least interesting – and which, worse, reveals what is most problematic in the current management of the universe of Star Wars.

• Andor | When was the Rebel Alliance created?
• What to watch before seeing Andor on Disney +?

The most curious thing is that while the series coming to Disney + this Wednesday (21) really sounds like another unnecessary prequel to the saga, the big question isn’t that this is a story that doesn’t need to be told. . The biggest annoyance that the first four episodes present is in the way all of this is stitched together.

Besides the fact that we’re talking about a protagonist who isn’t even that relevant, the show is once again based on the idea of ​​making a great ten-hour film split into episodes. It sounds like a detail, but it’s the kind of choice that affects the narrative too much and severely damages a script that’s not even that good.

What story to tell?

Let’s face it: even if Thief One great movie, no one left the cinema to find out more about who Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) was. Until the show was announced, I didn’t even remember who this character was, even though he was a big grumpy rebel in the movie. Therefore, revisiting his past seemed pointless.

At the same time, the proposal to show more about the formation of the Rebel Alliance from the anonymous point of view seems very interesting. Making it clear that the heroes weren’t that nice and that there are many shades of gray in this fight of good versus evil is something that had everything to enrich the universe of. Star Wars. The big problem is that none of this appears.

The first four episodes – or a third of a 12-chapter season – are entirely devoted to showing who Andor is, with the great attraction of the character being the fact that he is nobody. So, we spent nearly two hours of story following an irrelevant storyline about a generic Han Solo playing tricks on a random planet and being hunted down by the local police. In short, it’s a complete nothing that doesn’t expand the universe and adds little to the character.

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There are, of course, some attempts to make sense of this great initial stasis. The series brings together past and present, showing Andor’s origins when he was still a child on a random planet and how he was found by his adoptive mother, Maarva Andor (Fiona Shaw), forcing a parallel with the beginning of his relationship with Luthen. (Stellan Skarsgard), who will be his father figure and mentor in the rebellion.

It just doesn’t work. The script doesn’t seem to know how to put these pieces together and this flashback bustle is reproduced and without any impact. Especially since we don’t know any of these characters and the way everything is presented is hollow and weightless. We understand what the plot is trying to tell by showing that just as Maarva saved Andor as a child, Luthen will do the same by giving this little thief a purpose, only there is a gulf between realizing it and making it important.

The point is, in an attempt to prove Andor was a normal person before joining the Rebellion, the series clings to trivial matters. It wastes time showing the protagonist’s goofy antics, creating a sense of urgency that you know won’t go anywhere, and deepening empty relationships with uninteresting side actors. Everything in that beginning is disposable.

Not surprisingly, we have at least three unbearable episodes where nothing really happens. It’s almost as if, to show who Luke is, we have two hours of history showing the young man taking care of the moisture farm and milking the baktas with Uncle Owen. And it’s the script’s fault, which simply stumbles upon the first and most basic stage of the hero’s journey: that of showing the character’s ordinary world.

The cursed 10 hour movie

Sure, you could argue that the beginning is slow because that is the beginning of the story. It’s just that we’re talking about a third of a season where absolutely nothing happens. It is as if, thinking about the classic structure of a film, two hours were dedicated only to the presentation of that world. Who could bear to see him in the cinema?

here’s where went it exposes the biggest problem not only with the series, but with a lot of what has been done Star Wars in recent times: the idea of ​​the film has turned into a series.

We already felt it inside Boba Fett’s book it’s at Obi-Wan Kenobi, but here it is even more evident. Building the story as if it were a great feature film and destroying it does not mean creating a series. They are different formats with their own characteristics and with very different rhythms.

As far as we know where is the script of went in the sense that the way it is constructed and told does not work because the plot was not conceived that way. The result is that there are episodes that have no climax, nothing happens, or that end abruptly and without any kind of engagement for the next. They are basic elements that give rhythm to the season and involve the public, but they do not exist here.

This is so true that the disney decided to release three episodes at the same time in the premiere. And it’s not because the series has been delayed and she wants to compensate the fans, but because this start doesn’t support the weekly format that other productions have had.

Things begin to recover (and still quite timidly) only at the end of the third episode, when Andor and Luthen meet. Until then, the series has been taking audiences to a water bath at a slow and almost unbearable pace.

Self went If it were a movie, those four episodes would be reduced to 20 minutes of story – and that’s generous enough. Therefore, it is torture for the series to extend it to a third of its season. It’s a bad entry card that changes my initial perception of the protagonist: if before I didn’t care to know who Cassian Andor is, now I just don’t want to anymore.

Remains of the good

But what about those other aspects of the rebellion that seemed so promising, where are they? Well, I’m wondering the same thing. Of the episodes released in advance by Disney +, this appears very little in the fourth chapter and much more in the idea of ​​exploiting the miserable.

It is good to see how influential figures in politics, such as Luthen and Mon Mothma (Genevieve O’Reilly), act behind the scenes in favor of this defense of freedom without ever exposing themselves, putting the wretched and anonymous at the forefront of the struggle against the Empire, while continuing with their privileges and status.

However, this is a discourse that is dealt with in a very superficial way at the beginning of the season and that we hope will be worked on better in the next few episodes. For now, there’s nothing too strong in this proposition to work on the rebellion doubt, so there are only sparks of what the script can take advantage of in the future.

On the other hand, there is a very interesting discourse present in the role of the villains of the series: authoritarianism spreads. At first glance, the “great” threat facing the hero is not the Empire, but the local police force, the equivalent of his town’s municipal guard, to make a fairer comparison. And although they are the lowest part of this hierarchical chain, the virulence of imperial discourse “authorizes” the truculence in their actions.

It is in this detail that went brings a breath of fresh air to the universe of Star Wars. We have always seen the establishment of the Empire as the great evil to be fought in this distant, distant galaxy, but it is very rich to see how much of society – especially the police force – incorporates the violent speeches and practices that characterize the Emperor and his army.

inglorious journey

Back to the original question: what is the purpose of a prequel? Or, to put it better: what is the purpose of this prequel? Well, considering the first few episodes, went it still seems to have no answer to justify its existence.

Of course, everything can change and we have a build that proves that, in the end, every fan of Star Wars I need to know who Cassian Andor is. But so far, there is nothing that comes close to it. On the contrary: this mild beginning only detracts from my desire to know more about him.

But it’s not the character’s fault, it’s Lucasfilm’s insistence on betting on this fantastic cinematic idea. In an effort to create something as great as cinema, he underestimates TV and ignores everything that makes a series interesting. The result is a confusing script that offers nothing more than long hours of irrelevant things that add neither to the character nor very little to the universe itself.

And it’s odd to see it come from a studio that seemed to understand the importance of this serialized fiction with The Mandalorian, who knows how to take advantage of the episodic format to introduce new heroes, expand the world around him and mend with the story we already know. But even so, went it does the exact opposite in everything that doesn’t even feel like we’re talking about the same franchise.

With a bland start and full of bad decisions, the new series of Star Wars he will have a hard job trying to reverse the situation for the rest of the season. Good luck to those who follow, because I already gave up at the beginning. I prefer to continue not knowing who Cassian Andor is.

went debut on Disney + Catalog this Wednesday 21 September.

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Source: Terra

Emily

Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.