Warning! SPOILERS for Andor.Andor has launched its first three episodes, and episode 3, by itself, is already blowing each Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett nicely out of the water. Andor has solely simply began, so there is not any manner of figuring out if the present will have the ability to keep constant high quality for the remainder of its run. That being stated, what Andor has achieved to this point is already doing an awesome job at avoiding loads of the problems that plagued the previous Star Wars reveals.
Andor is a prequel collection to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that is set to chronicle Cassian Andor’s journey with the Rebel Alliance all the way in which as much as 2016’s Rogue One, Episode 3 noticed Cassian staff up with Luthen Rael of the Rebel Alliance to flee from the Pre-Mor Authority officers attacking Ferrix to seek out Cassian. Between the motion, the rating, and the character writing, the episode does a wonderful job at closing out the three-episode premiere and establishing the battle for the remainder of the season.
Not solely did Andor episode 3 succeed at establishing the battle for the remainder of the season, however it additionally managed to blow each Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett clear out of the water when it comes to crafting its personal identification. While Obi-Wan and Disney’s Boba Fett have been each met with optimistic reception early of their runs, they each grew to become more and more divisive as they continued, primarily attributable to a noticeable decline of their visuals, characters, and general tales. Thus far, Andor has managed to keep away from a whole lot of the issues that plagued these two reveals, with episode 3 completely encapsulating its strongest factors.
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Andor Feels Like Star Wars, Without Obi-Wan & Boba Fett’s Fan Service Issues
One of Andor‘s greatest promoting factors to this point is undoubtedly the way it’s in a position to really feel like Star Wars with out overindulging on fan-service, as Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett did. Both Obi-Wan and Boba Fett featured many references to different Star Wars tales, whether or not they be mainstream like the films or TV reveals or extra obscure just like the comics or Star Wars Legends materials. While this was seemingly carried out to flesh out the present canon, this additionally fell into the unhealthy behavior of getting so wrapped up in fan-service that these references would take precedence over their tales. Obi-Wan was targeted largely on references to Star Wars prequel trilogy, Boba Fett was targeted largely on Tatooine and persevering with the place The Mandalorian left off, and each efforts received to the purpose that they have been onerous to take pleasure in with out having a wider information of Star Wars canon—each outdated and new.
Excessive fan-service has been an enormous downside for Star Wars reveals of the previous few years, however Andor has averted that situation from being considerably disconnected from the bigger Star Wars mythos. While different reveals would have a distracting quantity of Star Wars cameos and references, there are additionally little to no references to characters or tales from different elements of the franchise, not even to the Jedi or the Force, and all of the worlds which have been launched to this point are unique to the present. The present does contain the battle between the Empire and the Rebel Alliance, however it’s used primarily as a automobile for the wholly unique story of Cassian’s journey. Even with all of that, it nonetheless has the hallmarks of a Star Wars story by being a sci-fi story of somebody being caught up within the higher conflicts of the galaxy whereas on their private journey, and that leads to episode 3 having the ability to focus solely on its story with no need to hook up with different elements of the franchise . In brief, Disney+’s Star Wars: Andor manages to interact with the viewers with out counting on their nostalgia, and that is doing lots to separate it from its predecessors.
Andor Looks So Much Better Than Obi-Wan Kenobi & The Book Of Boba Fett
Another level in Andor‘s favor over Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett is its visuals and audio. While Obi-Wan and Boba Fett had loads of good scenes, each reveals, most of the time, would endure from both poor visuals—each concerning CGI and normal lighting—or sound mixing that did not work with what the present was making an attempt to do. Disney’s Obi-Wan Kenobi was particularly unhealthy about visuals with how darkish a whole lot of scenes seemed and the way unnatural the lightsabers have been. These issues aren’t current in Andor, although, as not solely is the sound combined much better, however the usage of actual places and fewer dramatic costume designs makes it far more visually interesting. This is greatest exemplified in episode 3 showing to have a whole lot of its motion carried out with sensible results accompanied by a rating that units the temper excellent in each scene. Thanks to the results and rating, the episode was in a position to effortlessly promote the extreme motion of its story, one thing that would not have labored as nicely if it saved to the identical requirements as Obi-Wan and Boba Fett,
Andor’s Characters Are Real People, Not Just Star Wars Archetypes
The greatest factor working for Tony Gilroy’s Andor, in fact, is the characters, particularly in how actual all of them really feel. There are much more good Star Wars characters than there are unhealthy, however even the nice characters can sometimes get slowed down by repetitive character notes and plot traces. If somebody is not some method of Jedi or Sith, then they’re going to nonetheless be somebody residing in some huge, alien world and saying and doing issues far faraway from actuality. As such, Andor finally ends up standing out for the way its dialogues and actions are targeted extra on private points than the affairs of the broader galaxy, making the solid of Disney+’s Andor come off as extra grounded than Star Wars characters normally are. Even the setting helps with this, because the grit and dust of Ferrix assist promote it as a spot actual individuals can be residing in and never a fantastical alien planet that would by no means actually exist. Episode 3 introduced that to its peak by not having a whole lot of motion and being nearly totally centered on dialogues between the characters designed to flesh out their histories and motivations. There’s a level of actuality present in Andor that is not normally current in Star Warsand it is noticeably utilizing it to its benefit.
Andor Is What Modern Star Wars Should Be (Obi-Wan & Boba Fett Were The Past)
Overall, it is not onerous to see Andor for example of what trendy Star Warsparticularly Disney’s Star Warsmust attempt to be. Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Book of Boba Fett each caught to the identical formulation which have at all times endured within the franchise. Because, even their excessive factors ended up being a drag greater than they need to have. While Andor‘s primary story can also be protecting acquainted territory, what makes it work is how completely different all the pieces that makes it up is. Between the characters, the dialogue, and the general look of the present, all the pieces about Andor is a contemporary tackle Star Wars not only for being extra grounded and character-driven, however for telling the type of story that Star Wars normally would not inform. As a prequel to Disney’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyit is sensible that Andor can be like that, and optimistically, it’s going to have the ability to hold to that for the rest of its run and encourage future initiatives to observe its lead.
Andor releases new episodes Wednesdays on Disney+.