‘Andor’, a very different ‘Star Wars’ with enormous potential, requires faith and patience

It is difficult to criticize the more than shy beginning of “Andor” because this new series of “Star Wars”, prequel to “Rogue One”, fails to hide its potential., no matter how soporific it may seem in its first three episodes. Tony Gilroy, director of the aforementioned galactic film, returns as the creator of this television drama starring Diego Luna, which was conceived by embracing a temporary … complicated structure. Gilroy himself has had to explain on several occasions, probably thinking of the aforementioned “zombie” start-up, how he will develop his proposal from the point of view of the plot. If the creative team of “Andor” wants viewers to get on the merry-go-round that will culminate in the event narrated in “Rogue One”, You have to warn that the series will not always be like its first few chapters.

In fact, all of Disney must be aware of the problem because it broke the dynamic they had maintained until now. The press couldn’t see anything of “The Mandalorian” or “Obi-Wan Kenobi” before its premiere, but the first four chapters of ‘Andor’ have been sent. Furthermore, exceptionally, Disney + suddenly premieres the first three episodes of the series this September 21st. Based on a script by Gilroy, Toby Haynes directs these episodes centered like a “movie” within a plan that goes through. organize the first season in 4 blocks of 3 episodes each, to tell just one year of the protagonist’s life. So, the second season, it will skip a year with each block, that is every 3 episodes will advance a little more towards a climax that we have already seen.

That is another. The path in this case must be ‘particularly’ fun because the end is already known, so the experiences that lead to Cassian’s sacrifice must be built thinking that they are attractive without counting on the surprise of said conclusion … Something that in the first three episodes are not met. “Andor” grew up in the purest “The Wire (Under listening)” style, which prompted some tweeters to describe the series as saying that if HBO had developed a galactic fiction, it would be a bit like that. The time / style chosen by Gilroy goes through cooking the texture over very low heat, but, far from the excellence of the aforementioned David Simon series, it overlooks the secondary ones. At least to start. The worst thing is that said creator, who initially thought about doing 5 seasons, one a year; defend this season as a “character introduction”that is, I shoot the extended version of an “origin” film.

Everything changes a bit in episode 4, when some political intrigues begin to glimpse drooling, especially when Genevieve O’Reilly and Stellan Skarsgård are on screen. Look, Luna stands up to her, but it’s seeing such titans of interpretation thinking about how to undermine the Empire by a stealthy Resistance and die of pleasure. Of course, the problem is this is a scene in just over two hours, so the viewer has to embrace infinite faith and patience thinking that “Andor” can be brutal if it stabilizes at that moment’s level.

Just as the plot demands that the edge shine as it should, production is 10 from the first minute. ‘Andor’ is the first real action series of ‘Star Wars’ that refused to use The Volume, technology that began to be exploited in all its glory at the hands of ‘The Mandalorian’. This proposal, starring Pedro Pascal, popularized a cinematic instrument that had already taken its first steps with the filming of “Rogue One”, at which time Gilroy got a taste of his possibilities. Said director must not have taken a liking to, because he has now refused to shoot his series this way. From 2016 to today, StageCraft has evolved to the point of becoming an asset that “hits” in most cases, but it must be that six years ago it was still in its infancy and Gilroy got burned. Thanks to that experience we receive this gift, a series of “Star Wars” shot entirely in a traditional way: in physical locations and with the construction of sets. The reason for this ‘return to origins’ is none other than the impossibility of combining both options. Apparently, at the moment, shooting some scenes as in the past while others take place on the aforementioned set with its giant LED screen is too expensive, hence the need to choose. only one of the two options (as he tells us in his interview with eCartelera.com).

The visual spectacularity of “Andor” is a delight, with its successful setting always linked to the cold that “Rogue One” already broadcast, which is a much needed push given the hesitation of its initial approach. Also, this positive point has to pull the bandwagon enough because in this case we don’t have any winks at legacy characters or too many connections, so the hook of seeing some Skywalkers, who appear to be in the middle of a galactic evening, is not a possibility. Nor should it be a drawback. Many “Star Wars” fans can’t wait to see the adventures that leave behind the most overworked family in the galaxy, and in the case of “Andor” fits because his approach has nothing to do with what we’ve seen so far in the franchise, not even with what was collected in ‘Rogue One’, which in its first 12 minutes includes flashbacks and visits different planets. That film was much livelier in contrast to “Andor,” a series with which we slowly go to lay some groundwork that we’ll see if they win from the perspective of juicier episodes to come.

You must be a fan

When could it be a series of espionage on that fight against the Dark Side that has advanced its origins thanks to the duplicity of some senators who have tried to sabotage the Empire from its heart, a series open to all those who love political intrigues, ‘Star Wars’ apart; ‘Andor’ is carried away by its arrogance at the hands of a label that the average viewer may not recognize. You have to be a huge fan to read BBY5 and know what they are talking about. This temporary situation may be irrelevant, but we are in the middle of a countdown, a clear mindset could fuel the feeling of recovery.

BBY, as most established followers will know, is the acronym corresponding to ‘Before Battle of Yavin’, a pivotal moment in the galactic timeline found in ‘Episode IV’, when the rebels destroy the first Black Death. Wouldn’t a reference to how soon “Rogue One” is considered this series have been more useful? of course yes It would be an ‘opening’ for those Disney + users who have just jumped on the Mandalorian success band and don’t know much more.. Beyond that, it will be necessary to see if the latent potential develops in the direction it suggests and should, one that leads us to an interstellar “Game of Thrones” with Mon Mothma (O’Reilly) in the lead. Fantasy.

Note: 6

The best: Which could turn into a formidable series of political rip-offs.

Worse: That the structural “whim” meant a start with three loose episodes, as well as tremendously slow.