Man, I’m feeling alone in the wilderness when it comes to the new Star Wars shows streaming on Disney +.
I thought Obi-Wan Kenobi was the most horribly directed piece of trash to smear across our collective faces thus far in 2022, but critics on Rotten Tomatoes have given it an 82% rating on the tomatometer. (Audiences were a little a little harsher, at 64%.)
Now comes Andor, which, as of this writing, is 91% fresh with the critics, and 82% with audience—while I think the show kind of sucks so far.
I’ve seen the first four episodes of what essentially is a Rogue One prequel, and nothing has really happened. We’ve been reintroduced to Cassian Andor (Diego Luna). Soon, he will be a leader in the rebellion against the Empire, but he’s basically just a street criminal to start, killing a couple of people and getting himself into trouble.
Stellan Skarsgard shows up as some dude who sees his potential; Fiona Shaw is present as a mother figure; and Adria Arjona is … well, I haven’t figured out what she is yet. She fixes things and looks worried all of the time. Genevieve O’Reilly is Senator Mon Mothma, and her story is only getting started by the end of episode four.
Andor isn’t half as bad as Obi-Wan; the show looks much, much better, and there’s a tighter directorial hand guiding the ship. Still, it’s pretty bad, with half-baked characters, confusing flashbacks and no real sense of where the story is going. It looks swell, but it has a few problems under the hood.
Again, I’m only four episodes in, so there’s a good chance this one will rally and generate a sense of purpose. But so far, it’s just a bland soap opera with slow pacing that is borderline frustrating. I had high hopes for this one, so this is quite the letdown.
Andor is now streaming on Disney+, with new episodes being released on Wednesdays through Nov. 23.
My prediction is that you really should have held judgment until you’d seen the whole series. Your review makes you sound like someone who needs instant gratification, or you’re ready to change the channel. I’m going to assume you liked Rogue One. This is a twelve-episode movie, and we’re going to get two of these. Tony Gilroy and his writing and production team are telling a real, complex, story. The first four episodes are building a foundation for what’s to come. If you want instant gratification, go play a Star Wars video game. When you’re ready to watch a story, Bob, come back and watch Andor, because it’s going to be a good one.
I agree. This is the most boring slow moving Star Wars show I have ever scene. Couldn’t even make it through Episode 1.
Actually, the reviewer sounds like he bailed out after episode 2 because wanted to see storm troopers, senate, Palpatin, and a full fledged rebellion on premier night.
SUCKS! don’t waste your time.
Yes. I don’t want a re-hash of past Star Wars characters and stories, but something being less derivative doesn’t make it good. Andor is well shot and competently acted, but is boring as hell. I actually like “slow” films (Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Kurosawa are three of my favorite directors), but a slow film or show needs to have at least a strong, compelling story or intriguing character development to keep from being boring. This show has none of that. Two-dimensional characters inhabit the paper-thin “story”. While I applaud the move toward a different kind of Star Wars show, I can’t see myself watching beyond the five episodes I’ve already forced myself to endure.
This series ist a complete disaster and Remake of Solo.Same Story but boring to death.The Rebellion Starts with a coward WHO Kills pleading unarmed people and taking hostages with ak 47? Taking Kids as hostages? Seriously? This is Not Star Wars.its Just a Copy of Blade Runner,Wall E.the Alien is onboard of Star Trek.Scotty,Alien.Its Jason Bourne,ist Black Hawk down.Its Just eating Cornflakes with blue Milk.It Looks gruesome.People acting dumb.That is Not Star Wars…….
It hasn’t gotten any better 9 episodes in. The visual homage to THX 1138 is semi-cool. In 9 hours there is maybe 2 ½ hours of usable story if told properly.
It’s one of the most boring shows ever. I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s given up on it. When you have a million things to watch – it helps to know which ones are absolute time wasters.
Go watch some cartoons. Those may be more in line with what you would find enjoyable. Andor is fantastic.
I can’t stand it either! Diego Luna’s acting is annoying. I have to keep putting subtitles on and i speak both english and spanish!
I firmly believe this show is what dumb people call smart TV. The reason it has such high praise but such low viewership is because the only people left who’ll waste their time on Disney are people mediocre enough to think “Slow burn” is a compliment and not a benign description.
seen all 12, wish I’d not wasted my time. Don’t know at all why anyone is saying it is good, dull, boring, drawn out. Very little happens, far too many characters, following characters for no real reason (e.g. Syril and his Mum WT Actual F !). Why, he shows up in the finale to ‘save’ the ISB woman, big deal, so what, why do we have to suffer what seems like un-ending hours of his dull life ! ?
I agree, I feel like everyone else in the world has gone insane. I’ve seen six episodes of this shit and I’m just straight up not having a good time.
Frankly, I believe the first half of Season One is seriously flawed. It’s too slow and I believe it could have used some serious editing. The second half isn’t perfect, but I believe it’s something of an improvement on the first half, due to the Narkina 5 sequence and the Season One finale. My biggest issue with “Andor” is Mon Mothma. I believe her role was too big for this series, considering she had not connection with Cassian Andor during this season. Nor did she serve as some kind of catalyst for his arc. I found her scenes a waste of screen time.
“Andor” was pretty decent. I would rate it 7/10 or perhaps, 7.5/10. I would also rate it after “Obi-Wan Kenobi” and “The Mandalorian”. I think the writing for “Andor” was better than “The Book of Boba Fett”. But it also shared a major flaw with the latter series – the unnecessary presence of certain character.
My real problem with “Boba Fett” was that the showrunner allowed Din Djarin to be the main star of two consecutive episodes near the end of series. I found both episodes dull. Boba Fett only had a brief cameo near the end of the second one. Grogu, Luke Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano’s presence were not needed for the overall narrative. And Mando and Grogo’s reunion could have been show in Season Three of “The Mandalorian”.
In “Andor”, either Mon Mothma’s character could have been minor presence, or never included in the first place. Her presence was not needed in this first season. Her family life was not needed in this first season. Mon Mothma did not serve any purpose in Cassian Andor’s arc. At least in this season. Aside from my belief that this season could have been pared down to at least eight episodes, I also believe Mon Mothma’s arc had dragged this season.