"Andor" - The Star Wars comes of age

One thing in advance: There are **no spoilers in this review.**You will only read information that is known from the trailers that have already been released.

Anders. If I had to sum up "Andor", the prequel series to "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story", in one word - it would be "different"
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Different than I'm used to "Star Wars" being. Different than I expect "Star Wars" to be. But I like this differentness. It's multi-faceted. Dark. Mature. And sometimes even contradictory: big in its ambition and scope, but told as a small story in a spy war series - at least at first. But above all, "Andor" is one thing: not kid's stuff. And thus a breath of fresh air.

That's what "Andor"

is about.
The Empire's power has been unbroken for 14 years, and the Resistance's struggle against its superiority is a desperate one. Andor Cassian (Diego Luna) has no particular sympathy for either side. As a thief, crook and rip-off artist, he makes his mostly lonely way in a galaxy far, far away. Not without reason: Andor's origins are a secret. If the Empire knew about it, he would become a target for far worse powers than his already nefarious creditors.

But Andor wouldn't be Andor if he didn't take risks. Sometimes one too many. So the title character ends up on the Empire's wanted list after all - and inadvertently sets things in motion that will one day turn him into the revolutionary we know from "Rogue One". And who will one day ignite the spark of the rebellion that unites the galaxy against darkness.

Tony Gilroy: Remember this name

If you had asked me a year ago which "Star Wars" series I was most looking forward to - "Andor" would certainly not have been the answer. The appeal of "Book of Boba Fett" was too great. The anticipation of "Obi-Wan Kenobi". And the faint hope of getting the third season of "The Mandalorian" this year after all.
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But "Andor"?

Perhaps it should have been more obvious. Already in "Rogue One", although not the main character, Andor Cassian is one of the most exciting characters: although there he fights for the rebels - for the good guys - but with questionable means that even the noblest of ends can hardly justify. This was exciting because traditionally in "Star Wars" clear lines are drawn between good and evil. Not so with Andor, the main character, played outstandingly by Diego Luna. In fact, he was even honoured with the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor - one of the most important awards in the genre of science fiction, fantasy and horror on US television.

Yes, I should have known better. Not only because "Andor" - after the first four episodes made available in advance by Disney and Lucasfilm - actually has the potential to surpass even "The Mandalorian". But because "Rogue One" is still considered one of the most popular Star Wars films of the Disney era. Precisely because it is melancholy, serious and surprisingly adult by "Star Wars" standards.

These are precisely the strengths that also distinguish the series. "Andor" easily has what it takes to become the "Star Wars" series that no one was waiting for, but which will inspire everyone. It is ambitious enough. There is a reason for this: Tony Gilroy. As producer, writer and showrunner, this is his project. His baby. Good thing. Because where the 65-year-old American has his fingers in the pie, great things usually come out. For example, "Nightcrawler", directed by his brother but based on Tony Gilroy's script. Or on "House of Cards", as a consulting producer. On the "Bourne" trilogy as a writer. On the totally underrated "Bourne Legacy" film, as director.

And on the now iconic Hallway Scene in "Rogue One", where Darth Vader slashes his way through pitiful rebels. This scene was not created under the actual "Rogue One" director Gareth Edwards. Edwards had already left the project at that point because he didn't agree with the massive reshoots. The scene was actually made under Gilroy, who was hoisted on board by Lucasfilm to rewrite the last third of the script from scratch and finish work on the film itself.
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With success. Also, or perhaps because of the infamous Hallway Scene.

Perhaps the most ambitious "Star Wars" TV project ever

Tony Gilroy's complicated but thoroughly successful history with Lucasfilm must have earned him a lot of trust. Because his "Andor" of all things turns out to be the most ambitious "Star Wars" TV project ever - not "Book of Boba Fett" or even "Obi-Wan Kenobi", which is about two of the most popular "Star Wars" characters ever.

Tony Gilroy's complicated but thoroughly successful history with Lucasfilm must have earned him a lot of trust.

And yet Gilroy and his team are said to have spent longer on this first season alone than the makers of "The Mandalorian", "The Book of Boba Fett" and "Obi-Wan Kenobi" put together. This is due to their far-sighted concept: the series begins five years before "Rogue One". Two seasons of twelve episodes of 40 minutes each have already been completely planned. Including the script. So there will hardly be any reshoots. No subsequent story corrections. No building up of tension around things that later turn out to be unimportant. And no third season either. The direction of travel is clear from the first second; a lesson learnt the hard way after the story tangles of the sequels.

And that's not all: three episodes always form a "blog". Beginning, middle and end - one coherent chapter. And each blog is shot by a different director. While the entire first season depicts one year, the four blogs of the second season each depict one year. This in turn results in exactly the five years that lie between the beginning of the series and "Rogue One". After all, "Andor" is supposed to lead into the first scenes of "Rogue One" just as "Rogue One" once did at the beginning of "Star Wars: Episode IV". These are epic "Game of Thrones" proportions that have never been seen before in "Star Wars" series.

Clearly more cinematic than its sister series, "Andor" is also more cinematic in its making: Gilroy dispenses entirely with stagecraft, Hollywood's new all-purpose weapon, which ironically was co-developed by "The Mandalorian" creators.

Not that Stagecraft is bad. On the contrary, a series of high-resolution LED screens create a world around and above the actors that can be captured directly by the camera. This looks much more realistic than effects added afterwards on the computer, helps the actresses with their acting - and is more cost-saving to boot.

Stagecraft, however, is also constricting. Action scenes in particular never take on the same epic proportions as a shoot in real locations or on huge sets. "People would accidentally run off stage all the time," Gilroy says in an interview about the decision to forgo stagecraft. That's exactly why "The Book of Boba Fett" and especially "Obi-Wan Kenobi" seem somehow ... smaller.

"Andor", on the other hand, was shot exclusively on real locations or large sets. This is immediately noticeable in the series. It is more visually powerful. More epic. It seems grounded and real. And more cinematic than any "Star Wars" series before, including "The Mandalorian".

A warning: Not for children - and not superficial entertainment

So at least the first four episodes shine with beautiful shots - by "The Crown" cinematographer Adriano Goldman, by the way -, captivating dialogue and a story that deliberately unfolds slowly. On the other hand, anyone expecting a car chase, blaster shootout or lightsaber fight in the best "Star Wars" tradition every 20 minutes will be bitterly disappointed. "Andor" has action - damn good action. But it is well-dosed. That's better: no one wants to see lame speeder planes due to the budget anyway. That leaves more room for character drawing.

Let me explain. Storytelling is always based on either plot- or character-driven stories. Good plot-driven stories have compelling characters, but the story is still driven primarily by the plot - by the action. Character-oriented stories, on the other hand, focus on the development of deep characters. Emotions and feelings are in the foreground. The plot is subordinate to the development of the characters - not vice versa.

"Star Wars" is one of the action-oriented stories. "Andor" doesn't. Not clearly, anyway. Gilroy's script takes an insane amount of time with its characters. Uses the series format like no other "Star Wars" show to explain to us who our characters are at their core, why they do what they do, what their fears and dreams are, and why we shouldn't care about their fate - whether Imperial, Rebel or politician. We learn exactly how the galaxy is, how it is oppressed and exploited by the Empire and how, despite this, hardly anyone finds the strength to stand up against it. Often I don't dare avert my gaze for even a second. I am too sucked in by this dark, ominous atmosphere that literally cries out for "Rebellion!"
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An example from the first episode, without spoiling too much: Andor is caught committing a crime in a place I won't reveal. Actually, the omnipresent Empire should investigate. But it doesn't. The crime was committed in an establishment that should not exist, that the imperial security forces who were harmed could not afford and in which said security forces consume special alcohol that is forbidden. The matter is being swept under the carpet for the time being; no one wants to risk digging too deep. Who knows what might come of it ...

And Andor? Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen), the Force-sensitive guardian from "Rogue One", will once say to him: "There is more than one kind of prison, Captain. I feel that you carry yours with you wherever you go." The ambivalent morality with which Andor pursues his goals is also shown in the series. The only thing is that Andor's approach does not leave him unscathed. He is tormented by feelings of guilt. Guilt that gradually builds the prison that the future Captain Andor will drag with him wherever he goes.

It is a bleak, hardly child-friendly and altogether dark grey picture that "Andor" paints of this galaxy. Full of brutality and political intrigue. No matter whether it's Andor in the deepest hole - or in the luxurious, highly polished political banquets of the Senate on Coruscant. Where other fascinating characters, such as Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) or Luthen Rael (Stellan Skarsgård), are trying to build a rebellion, hidden yet in the spotlight, without signing their own death warrant.

A tightrope act that couldn't be more thrilling. And a breath of fresh air in the universe that has been sorely needed since "Star Wars" creator George Lucas himself once said that "'Star Wars' was made for 12-year-old kids".

Conclusion: I'm excited

Intrigue. Conflict. Shades of grey. Contradictions. I am fascinated by these new, rough and different facets of "Star Wars". Children, on the other hand, are likely to be bored or even put off by them. In general, I think it is impossible that the younger audience will be very interested in "Andor".

This is not a criticism, but a compliment. "Andor" is aimed at an older, more mature audience that appreciates an epic whose story, tightly crumpled up at the beginning, is only slowly and gently unfolded. That this would actually suit "Star Wars" so well surprises even me as a big "Rogue One" fan. And this in the Disney era of all things "Star Wars". Brave. Pleasantly brave.

"Andor" will run on Disney+ from 21 September, starting with a three-episode premiere. One episode per week will follow.