Created by Tony Gilroy
Based on Star Wars by George Lucas
Starring
Diego Luna
Kyle Soller
Adria Arjona
Andy Serkis
Stellan Skarsgård
Fiona Shaw
Denise Gough
Genevieve O’Reilly
Faye Marsay
Varada Sethu
Elizabeth Dulau
Executive producers Sanne Wohlenberg, Tony Gilroy, Kathleen Kennedy, Diego Luna, Toby Haynes, Michelle Rejwan
Producers Kate Hazell, David Meanti
Cinematography Adriano Goldman, Frank Lamm, Damián García, Jonathan Freeman
Running time 38–57 minutes
Production company Lucasfilm
Distributor Disney Platform Distribution
Release Original network Disney+
Well. The way things are shaping up here, I except to get irrefutable proof that the Earth really is flat, that Donald Trump is a kind and decent human being, and that fast-food hamburgers will prolong your life.
I just watched a series on the Disney channel that is part of the Star Wars universe. It doesn’t have any icky-cute little aliens, or lumbering and idiotic big alien sidekicks. It only has one snarky robot, and that one is reasonably restrained. No planets get blown up, and nor are there any Death Stars or space destroyers the size of Manhattan. While there are beam weapon fights and lots of other action, the plot doesn’t revolve around startroopers missing everything they fire at. None of the characters seem compelled to utter leaden dialogue with the gravitas of William Shatner on quaaludes.
What it is instead is a solid, intelligent plot, some truly excellent acting, and some of the best adult drama I’ve seen on television this year. Yeah. A Star Wars series.
Andor is the story of one man, Andor, a thief and a mercenary who gets caught up in an elaborate plot to heist the entire payroll of an entire Empire sector. The arresting element was the sophistication of the plot, and the depth of the various characters involves. The first half of the series is a solid heist drama, at least on the level of Money Heist.
The Empire reacts to this incident much the same way the US reacted to 9/11—overbearing, grotesque, cruel and ultimately self-destructive.
In the second half, Andor is arrested on what amounted to looking at a startrooper funny and getting sentenced to six years in an Empire “work facility.”
It then becomes an exceptionally compelling and harrowing prison story, with amazing performances by Diego Luna (Andor) and Andy Serkis (Kino, a prisoner/overseer). Other wonderful performances abound.
Several other plots are interwoven with Andor’s story, including members of the Empire Senate and security council, a small cadre of revolutionaries, and friends and family of the various entities. It makes for a complex and beautifully interwoven tapestry of a story, one that seems destined to be a classic. It is, beyond doubt, everything Star Wars could have been and should have been. It’s great drama, and it’s solid science fiction. Tony Gilroy, Kate Hazell, David Meanti and the rest of the production and creative teams have created nothing less than a minor miracle here.
Now on Disney+