Star Wars: Andor

[cavalcade]

This is so much better than all the other TV dross they've churned out it's almost embarrassing. Rogue One is by far the best non-original trilogy movie and this continues the vibe as a bit of TV you could watch with a non Star Wars fan and not cringe every 30 seconds. I found the Mandalorian mediocre at best, and this is a serious step above that. 

 

Actual characters. Good writing. Decent acting. Physical effects. A plot that doesn't just involve nostalgia porn. Thank fuck.

 

 

 

[Hanzo the Razor]

I've watched the first two episodes. It isn't very good is it? There's the odd nod to the fact that this is Star Wars but that's all there is. This could be any other mediocre story but dressed up as Star Wars it gets a pass. There's no humour. There are no relatable characters. It just bland as fuck. This isn't Star Wars. It's boring.

[Hanzo the Razor]

9 minutes ago, cavalcade said:

This is so much better than all the other TV dross they've churned out it's almost embarrassing. Rogue One is by far the best non-original trilogy movie and this continues the vibe as a bit of TV you could watch with a non Star Wars fan and not cringe every 30 seconds. I found the Mandalorian mediocre at best, and this is a serious step above that. 

 

Actual characters. Good writing. Decent acting. Physical effects. A plot that doesn't just involve nostalgia porn. Thank fuck.

 

 

 

 

What drugs are you on? I want some.

[cavalcade]

2 minutes ago, Hanzo the Razor said:

 

What drugs are you on? I want some.

 

The drugs of wanting some Star Wars TV that isn't a pile of fan service CGI shite. 

 

I'll tell you the moment this convinced me. When a character is called upon to identify Cassian the FUCKING SCENE ENDS BEFORE SHE SAYS "YES THATS CASSIAN ANDOR". Actual adult proper editing, unlike the stupefyingly stale way Boba, ObiWin and mostly the Mandalorian play out. Thank fuck for whoever wrote and directed this. 

[Papilio]

12 minutes ago, cavalcade said:

This is so much better than all the other TV dross they've churned out it's almost embarrassing. Rogue One is by far the best non-original trilogy movie and this continues the vibe as a bit of TV you could watch with a non Star Wars fan and not cringe every 30 seconds. I found the Mandalorian mediocre at best, and this is a serious step above that. 

 

Actual characters. Good writing. Decent acting. Physical effects. A plot that doesn't just involve nostalgia porn. Thank fuck.

 

 

 

The acting is decent? No it isn't, not thus far for me. Ewan McGregor, Temeura Morrison etc appear on screen and the acting is effortless and natural. The Mandalorian, even when we don't see his actual face - we know from his body language and tone of voice the depth of his emotions. He carried a scene. The lead can't act, he can't carry the series himself. I'll be looking to side characters to redeem this, if at all. That's just my opinion obviously but I find his acting weak and it is dragging the whole thing down for me at the moment. 

[cavalcade]

Are you shitting me? The acting in Boba and Obi Wan is galactically bad. Mandalorian is a faceless automaton for 2 seasons. 

 

The acting this is actual proper acting like you might see in an actual TV show, not a shitty Star Wars one. Some of you are fucking mad. 

[Sabreman]

54 minutes ago, cavalcade said:

When a character is called upon to identify Cassian the FUCKING SCENE ENDS BEFORE SHE SAYS "YES THATS CASSIAN ANDOR". 

When the show started and she appeared in the bar I said to myself "She'd better be a regular character". So when they were calling up the hologram I said "They'd better bring that hostess in to identify him" and all we got was an out of focus background appearance, I felt jobbed out.

 

What I'm saying is, that character is hot AF.

[Papilio]

1 hour ago, cavalcade said:

 

The drugs of wanting some Star Wars TV that isn't a pile of fan service CGI shite. 

 

I'll tell you the moment this convinced me. When a character is called upon to identify Cassian the FUCKING SCENE ENDS BEFORE SHE SAYS "YES THATS CASSIAN ANDOR". Actual adult proper editing, unlike the stupefyingly stale way Boba, ObiWin and mostly the Mandalorian play out. Thank fuck for whoever wrote and directed this. 

That was it. Your easily pleased. 

[SuperFamiTom]

I’ve only watched the first episode so far and while it’s not massively gripping me yet, it does get at least some points for expanding the universe rather than just being wall to wall fan wank like The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. 

[The Bag]

9 hours ago, Papilio said:

The acting is decent? No it isn't, not thus far for me. Ewan McGregor, Temeura Morrison etc appear on screen and the acting is effortless and natural. The Mandalorian, even when we don't see his actual face - we know from his body language and tone of voice the depth of his emotions. He carried a scene. The lead can't act, he can't carry the series himself. I'll be looking to side characters to redeem this, if at all. That's just my opinion obviously but I find his acting weak and it is dragging the whole thing down for me at the moment. 

What’s wrong with his acting?

[Mogster]

I loved the first three episodes, although I can definitely see why they released them all at once. It was basically a pilot split into three, and quite arbitrarily so as well. It was also very slow paced, although I didn't mind in this case.

[SpagMasterSwift]

Some good and some bad in that first block of episodes.

 

Spoiler

Kyle Soller's Syril, the leader of the planets security team is great, but pairing him with Alex Ferns as the supportive Sergeant really pulled me in. The scene where they are discussing how to handle the murders was the best thing in the show so far. Ones coming at it initially as a complete jobs worth, but the fascism gets stoked in him pretty quickly and with real glee. A lovely contrast to the usual pantomime villainy of the Star Wars universe.

 

The action wasn't great. When all the machine parts started flying around the room I was very much reminded we were in the Star Wars universe.

 

Overall though this could be really good.

[Dirty Harry Potter]

Started watching this with my 11 year old and 13 year old. We were all a bit bored after about 25 mins and switched it off, to watch the rest of Cobra Kai.

 

I think we might be at the point that Star Wars TV shows have lost all their novelty.

[Waggo]

Got to say this is excellent so far.  Loving the pace, intrigue, adult themes, acting, and music.  It also looks fantastic. 

 

I would argue that it is more heavily influenced by Blade Runner than Star Wars, but if you are looking to do something different in the Star Wars universe, then there is no harm in choosing to imitate arguably the greatest Sci-Fi movie ever made.

 

 

[Mogster]

It was definitely very Blade Runner. Especially the opening in the big rainy neon city.

[cavalcade]

8 hours ago, Papilio said:

That was it. Your easily pleased. 

 

If you can't use an apostrophe, you're probably not best placed to offer searing critiques on why someone might enjoy decent writing.

 

We already know the character from earlier. It gives us a chance to wonder whether she told them or not and what her relationship with the security services is. You don't need to SHOW EVERYTHING all the time. It's mature, elegant direction rather than the turgid shit we normally get in these shows.

 

The fact everyone here who wants absolute total retinal stimulation at all times is hating this is brilliant. Finally they've aimed for something more than mediocrity. It's still not Succession or Breaking Bad for sure, but a clear step above what they've done before.

 

[Boothjan]

Only watched the for 2 episodes, but the best thing about this is that it's so drastically different to the preceding TV shows.  I've enjoyed all of the shows so far, but Andor definitely feels like there's something there for anyone who didn't enjoy Mando, BoBF, Obi-Wan etc.

 

Promising.

[Vulgar Monkey]

10 hours ago, Sabreman said:

When the show started and she appeared in the bar I said to myself "She'd better be a regular character". So when they were calling up the hologram I said "They'd better bring that hostess in to identify him" and all we got was an out of focus background appearance, I felt jobbed out.

 

What I'm saying is, that character is hot AF.

 

Shame about the low ceilings.

 

1 hour ago, Waggo said:

Got to say this is excellent so far.  Loving the pace, intrigue, adult themes, acting, and music.  It also looks fantastic. 

 

I would argue that it is more heavily influenced by Blade Runner than Star Wars, but if you are looking to do something different in the Star Wars universe, then there is no harm in choosing to imitate arguably the greatest Sci-Fi movie ever made.

 

 

 

 

1 hour ago, Mogster said:

It was definitely very Blade Runner. Especially the opening in the big rainy neon city.

 

Glad I'm not the only one who felt that. 

For me it was that first scene at corporate hq where we first meet officer tryhard. Hard to say if it was the environmental design aesthetic, the lighting or the shot composition. Maybe all of the above.

 

The early scenes also made me wonder if they used a different film-stock or something as it 'felt' of a different era a bit, but I forgot to pay attention to that after a while.

[hub2]

Didn't realize evil Agent Dale Cooper was in this.

[Pob]

I thought this was great but I'm very pleased I watched all three in one go as they're not really individual 'episodes'. It's much more my tempo than the lightweight action-adventure of the other Disney+ shows. I have grown to love The Mandalorian but I had to go through a period of adjustment once I realised that it's really just a live-action cartoon.

 

I think the Star Wars universe can absolutely support these tonally different shows, aimed at different audience groups. Despite the sombre mood (it was actually much more serious and slow than I even thought it would be) it was still clearly in the Star Wars universe. I don't have a problem at all with the cross-media fan service and nostalgia callbacks of other Star Wars shows - in fact it's one of the things I like about them - but I did appreciate the almost total lack of Star Wars iconography in this. It captured the used-universe aesthetic without recycling old production design and characters.

 

I thought my 10-year-old would be bored but he actually really liked it. He definitely seemed to prefer it to Obi-Wan.

[Boothjan]

Anyone else think it was a satirical take on the current state of the UK?  All British accents, lots of grey, plenty of rain, oppressed subjects etc.

 

Brexit Star Wars style.

[Phantoon]

I really liked that. It took its time, assumed people watching it didn't need everything spelled out and went quite dark, but not so dark it didn't feel like Star Wars any more.

 

I like the grittier feel of this. Nobody thinks they're the villain. The heroes are deeply questionable. Good stuff

[macosx]

I’ve found this beautiful but tedious. Two episodes of nothing but Cassian walking and opening doors, and a decent third one that made the first two redundant.

 

The flashbacks were pointless too, Mad Max Thunderdome pish. This series could be Andor Star Trek if you took out the logo on the McGuffin. Nice and gritty, and the sets are good just that the material is just not that interesting at the moment .Star Wars is space opera at its core, but this although taking it in a new direction just doesn’t have enough story hooks yet. It’s like an overlong series tease, except it is the series.

[boomeh]

7 hours ago, Boothjan said:

Anyone else think it was a satirical take on the current state of the UK?  All British accents, lots of grey, plenty of rain, oppressed subjects etc.

 

Brexit Star Wars style.

Perhaps it was all the English accents from all the officials but I was reminded of some of the depictions ive seen of Northern Ireland during The Troubles in the 1970s, especially Yann Demange's '71. Not just the fact that both depict an ongoing occupation but also how the occupying forces (especially the Agent Cooper guy) refer to their place there not as policing people but under siege everywhere from potential enemies.  There's also a really similar scene were in both where seemingly the whole town sends out an early warning of the approaching forces by rattling on random pieces of metal. Its house wifes banging on dusbin lids in one rather than star warsey wind chimes and the like but I got similar vibes from both.

 

Also I can see why some are a bit cold on this as its almost completely different, especially tonally to the a lot of the other star wars stuff. Theres no cute green Muppet baby or any other assortment of cookie and crazy characters for that matter to really endear you to anything, its all a rather grey and ambiguous world so far but its also alot more interesting and mature for it and I cant honestly wait for more.    

 

[Jammy]

Ok, that’s the exposition out of the way. The first two episodes were slow going, but by the end of the third I was annoyed that I have to wait a week for the actual show proper to start. 

[K]

The first episode was great. I love the way they embrace the 1970s character actor qualities of the original Star Wars, and have loads of miserable-looking British actors walking through beige complexes that look like Cumbernauld shopping centre. It’s also kind of brilliant that they decided the only place in the world that could realistically capture the cosmically dismal vibe that they were going for was Cleveleys. 

[Stanley]

Just watched the first three back to back, thought it was very good. The tone is pitch perfect, it’s exactly what I want from a modern version of Star Wars that respects its audience, and that adds real weight to the original films themes of loss and revenge. 
 

The soundtrack is ace too.

[hauk]

First two episode were slow but looked amazing (even if it’s weird that everyone on Ferrix seemed to be matching their outfits). By the end of the 3rd episode I was hooked. Not sure if fat bastard and Gorman from Aliens will remain as the bad guys, but I kind of like how it showed them being incompetent and not in a comical way. Not sure if I prefer it to the Mandalorian yet, it’s much better than Obi wan and most of Bobba Fett though.

[Sixkiller]

10 hours ago, K said:

 It’s also kind of brilliant that they decided the only place in the world that could realistically capture the cosmically dismal vibe that they were going for was Cleveleys. 

I don't believe we've had the Cleveleys bit yet, or the Derbyshire, Wiltshire or Scotland locations.

 

The first 3 episodes mainly featured locations in Essex, including Coryton refinery.

[Pob]

What are you talking about? It featured Morlana One and Ferrix, located in the Free Trade Sector.