By Patrick Boyd Richardson
Diego Luna reprises his role as Cassian in the latest Star Wars prequel series, “Andor.” Disney+ has gone out of its way to carve out a cute story about the formation of the Galactic Rebellion in its earliest days. This seemingly mammoth project, however, is shot in the foot by an unexpected, pared-down approach. It is, in essence, a heist movie.
A heist movie dragged out for nine hours.
Compliments are generous for the cinematography, which is on par for a big-budget series, yet would be static in the film medium. While watching, it feels like the blockbuster film of yore is being shoe-horned into a wildly unusual medium.
The color correction is often more subtle in this show with varying embellishments on a pastoral planet. These shots resemble some split between the countryside in Ireland and the pagan traditions of pre-Christian Russia.
The set decoration, I am afraid, was minimal and didn’t lend much to a spectacular appearance. The whole show performed almost like a Greek play in a labyrinth rather than a Space Age thriller.
The acting throughout the series is superb, making it all the more hard to watch actually. The dialogue is fast-and-loose, at times absurdly unrealistic. This is bolstered only by the fact the actors are so serious about being included in the Star Wars franchise.
A notable malapropism is when an imperial general says “you should be hanged,” falsely indicating that somewhere in the Star Wars galaxy there is an Old West mining town that still captures bandits and all the population on the planets owe this land some of their personal consideration.
The reality is that the show is excellently produced, but is also annoyingly rushed, and feels more so like a puppet-masquerade than a veritable drama.
I do like the commitment to a new planet called “Andor.” This is something I can stand by, even if the original trilogy’s “Endor” was more impressive if not all but identical.