Star Wars: Andor - A Surprise To Be Sure, But A Welcome One!
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- Well who the hell knew Disney had it in em?? I sure as hell didn't!
So I literally stayed up all night to have this video finished before I go away on holidays so you all better bloody appreciate it!
But seriously this was a great show and deserved all the praise it got! So I hope you all enjoy it and there won't be a video next week so I'll see you later and try to survive without me!
Be sure to have plenty of beer and tea to keep you sane!
Don't forget to like, share and subscribe and all that jazz!
Great review! I was just surprised you mentioned Mon Mothmas daughter. She and senators husband were there simply to show how disconnected from here family Mon Mothma is by committing so hard to the cause. And how bored they are with their rich and secure life. Her daughter find meaning in religious practices and her husband in excesses and bad friends. At least this is how I saw it. I don't think there was much screentime for them to be more than background characters.
Yeah they walked this weird line of too much screen time to just be background characters but not enough screen time for me to really connect with them. I didn’t mind Mothma’s husband cos I quite liked how they had differing beliefs but the daughter I just found to be annoying
I agree. I think too many people read the daughter's character wrong. She's a teenager who's resentful of her mother's neglect. Not to mention her going out of her way to connect with a traditionalist Chandrilan group in contrast with her more 'metropolitan' parents. It's all perfectly understandable if one pays attention and thinks about the details.
I agree Mon's daughter and husband were pretty integral to build the world she was swimming in, folks who in the lives of excess had no idea about the typhoon of turbulence that was brewing outside their bubble. Not to mention these are the folks who are so comfortable they see no reason why anyone would want to oppose the empire so they gave the conditions on the planets where rebellion was being born depth and perspective.
The thing about these characters is that they feel real, even if you focus on them only for a few second they feel like living people. And the same you could say about the rest of the secondary and tertiary characters. If you re-watch the series, you'll notice that many of them were already in the background before they took center stage, ie, Lonni Jung, the commandant on Ferrix, Cassian friends. So they are not an afterthought like in most series, even game of thrones, that when they needed a new character they just pop out and actor out of nowhere, or even having two different actors playing the same character at the same time continuum, or recycling an actor whose character died two episodes ago into a new character.
I for one love Andor's development. Things happening to him was the point, he needed to learn that he has to be active to gain freedom. Also, everything happens becaus ehe did do something at the start: when he kills those two corpos at episode 1.
Yeah my problem with that is that it was a reactionary action not Andor taking charge. I wouldn’t say that my method is the only right way to make a character but it’s the way I like my main characters
@@theaussiebrit I mean even in Rogue one he is not really much of a leader, Jyn drives the decision Andor is what he is a cold efficient rebel spy/assassin.
@@RedcoatTrooper pretty much aye? He does what he’s told to and only really starts to think for himself till closer to the end
I actually enjoyed a lot Vel and Cinta relationship. It's not that there's no chemistry, but simply that one of them is crazy in love (Vel) and the other one (Cinta) doesn't care because she's just committed to another thing. It feels uncomfortable because it is
Yeah there's uncomfortable because the relationship is fractured then there's uncomfortable because it's just unbelievable and I felt their relationship fell into the latter
Yes. Cinta is there to get her revenger and that’s her priority. I believe she is not committed to the cause for democracy or anything like that it’s just anger.
I like that the beginning of the Aldhani heist showed us the differences of the many people who joined the rebellion, specially in the early days. Cinta and her anger, Nemek and his ideology, Skeen who is more interested in money…
@@theaussiebrit God damnit -- the show isn't *ABOUT* Cinta and Vel. The show is about *Cassian* . Many of the characters that are introduced are there as measuring sticks by which we can gage where Cassian is, and where he needs to be. The goal of the show is to take Cassian from the self-interested but talented scoundrel who doesn't seem to have any purpose into the leader we see in Rogue 1; a character that can say "I've been in this fight since I was 6 years old" and mean it (even if it is technically an exaggeration.) It's not about zeroing in on the relationship of two side characters. Cinta is an example of someone who has already committed 100% to the cause, driven by blind hatred of the Empire. So much so, it is harming her relationship with Vel. It doesn't matter what the substance of their relationship is, or whether or not they exhibit genuine chemistry on screen, that's too far afield of the thesis of the show -- their purpose in the show is for us to *compare* them to Cassian in the essential characteristics that Cassian has to adopt by the end of season 2.
This is more clearly seen in the character of Skeen. Skeen and Cassian are the most similar characters in the show, which is clearly intentional. They were both "troubled youths" and in the end we see that they are both motivated by getting their "pay day". But unlike Cassian, Skeen is willing to burn his compatriots to maximize his pay day, while Cassian is not. So while Skeen is an interesting and compelling character, his entire purpose is to highlight the fact that Cassian, although a self-interested scoundrel himself, is *not* willing to burn his friends. Cassian is on a path going away from Skeen's self-interest, and towards Cinta's commitment to the cause. But Cassian will never go as far as Cinta -- he is loyal to his friends.
Another example: what is Vel's purpose? In this case, we see during Aldhani, she nearly fucks the whole mission because she almost chickens out of rappelling down that damn at the very start. When she was running across that bridge after disabling the communications, that ISB guy only needed to turn his head for the whole thing to have unravelled. She *IS* a spoiled rich girl who wanted to join the rebellion, but barely has the strength and competence to do so. Luthen knows this, and uses it as an excuse to admonish her for not trusting him in bringing Cassian into the plan ("this is what is means to lead!"). But as is made abundantly clear, Cassian is not that at all -- he takes charge if he needs to, and is extremely competent. He gives that great little speech after Skeen exposes him as a mercenary: "Of course I am scared. But there is a difference between being scared and losing your nerve!" So her purpose is to show that while it may be a little dicey relying on your random cohorts who have not proven themselves in practice, you absolutely can count on Cassian. Cassian's competence is easier to see when you can contrast it with a lack of competence.
So the character of "Cinta" isn't weak -- its just extremely truncated because the show already has a lot of characters, and diving deep into hers does not serve a *needed* purpose for the show. She's there to show the consequences of becoming committed to the cause motivated by pure hate.
Cinta is a badass. Doesn't need any facial expressions.
Eh… glad you think so dude but to me, she was just an emotionless plank of wood
My favorite part of the finale was Hitchock's Bomb and the incredible payoff of half a dozen explosions going off consecutively because of the Empire's hubris with "displaying full force"
In the woman's speech, she dose actually say "Fuck the Empire" but was changed to "fight the Empire". So technically Andor dose have an F bomb.
She then burst out into a mad free flow diss track which was pretty amazing but they had to cut it
@@theaussiebrit it’s in the extended edition
@@Dgrodi24 gotta wait till Christmas for it to come out on blu ray where it costs an arm and a leg and one your unborn children
I think an F bomb would have totally taken me out of the moment.
@@forsaken841 definitely agree. I think something being child friendly is not a bad thing and Star Wars I think can be mature without totally pushing away their core audience
Andor started off like Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, and like those series once the show took off the quality, writing, cinematography, and gravitas was off the charts. The show is brilliant.
Mon Mothma's story went nowhere? She started the season where she didn't know how far she could go for the sake of supporting a rebellion. She went from not wanting to get her hands dirty to essentially being willing to set her daughter up for a gangster. She's willing to sacrifice her family for the rebellion.
Her story started with her having a line she was unwilling to cross to the point where she moved significantly closer to "all in."
Mon Mothma’s plot line did definitely go somewhere. At the beginning she was shown to be trying to keep her hands as clean as possible; she wanted the highest moral ground. By the end she sacrificed her morality and happiness (by throwing both her husband and daughter under the bus) and went all-in on the rebellion. Luthen made a big speech about his journey, but we got to see Mon Mothma’s journey play out.
This review had me lol quite a few times, thanks that was entertaining. Also, this show rocks.
Cheers my dude, glad you enjoyed both my review and the show :)
Yeah, had no intention to watch Andor until a friend recommended it. WOW!
Yeah I had no intention of watching it either but I just kept hearing so many good things about it! So worth the watch
I was really skeptical going into Andor, especially since it was dragging out soooo much at the start. I struggled with distractions and losing focus, which often led to me having to re-watch episodes because it felt like I missed stuff (I didn't lol). However, once the plot got going and I started liking the characters, the show had captured me.
This is a really good summary of its strong and weak points. I have slightly different thoughts about the female characters, though (Also, I didn't even notice the swearing hahah It's like it's part of the English language now).
I loved the Mon scenes. She felt convincing, and best of all... she was gorgeous and elegant and I loved her clothes. She carried herself with grace, something I want to see more of in movies (PJ LotR Galadriel VS she-who-shall-not-be-mentioned). It feels so rare. That beauty without the arrogance. - You can tell where my focus was during her story lol.
I was actually relieved by Vel's and Cindra's (Cyndra..? Cinta?) relationship. It wasn't pushed into our faces. No smooching or cheeky lines that felt overdone or false. Their struggle and their lives are instead reflected in their relationship, which puts more emphasis on the weight and price of rebellion. Their love is fading, which sets something up to be gained in the future episodes. Or lost completely.
Then... I was so ready to hate Dedra after seeing a clip from an interview where the actress was insulting men and virtue signaling. How the she described her character was in the light of yet another Mary Sue. But... She turned out to be very human, and I LOVED it when she showed some dignity and self respect by shooting down creepy Syril's advances. He's the sort of 'nice guy' needy man I'd want to stay faaaar away from, so I can respect a woman who sets clear boundaries. That she loses in the end also makes her more human, and I guess that's where she and mr. creepy will later on bond.
Special mentions to Kino. Another great character. *gollum gollum*
I can’t remember Vel’s girlfriends name that’s how uninteresting her character was. I’m glad it wasn’t pushed in our faces either but I think they could have afforded to make it somewhat more believable.
I did love Mon Mothma, I thought she was fantastic and brilliant I just found her storyline to be really disappointing where it ended cos it ended on basically a cliff hanger which I hate
@@theaussiebrit I enjoyed your vid and humor. I think the point of Andor, which is the title name given not to one single character but to the family of three having the most functional one on display and sparking the rebellion, is how toxic the slow creep of the fascism of an empire can affect all relationships so negatively. That's why you can get characters who seem "uninteresting" because they are forced away from authentic connections and genuine love and support while slowly changing into people who would probably prefer to be more interesting and do more natural things.
@@abeautifuldayful I think maybe a different title of the show might have been better instead of making Andor the titular main character but it’s a very small niggle
@@theaussiebrit I'll admit that I thought the same thing about the title, which is how most people might see it too. Then once I saw Clem Andor soaking the rust off old parts to teach Cassian in episode 12 and Maarva Andor towering high above everyone on Rix Road, I reevaluated the title as the titular family of Andor, not Cassian alone. If it were him alone, then yeah, but I think the beauty of the title is in the sacrifices of the lives of all three in the family, which we have already seen combined here and with Cassian in Rogue One. What better way to honor the one family who, as far as we know, all died without leaving anyone to carry on the family name for the sake of the rebellion? That's why I now love the title, but I can still see why others might not. Perhaps they'll come around before the whole series ends.
@@theaussiebrit But also, btw, I loved your vid. I've probably seen all the Monty Python stuff, Hitchhiker's Guide stuff, etc., and your great humorous similes and metaphors reminded me of them. Really good stuff.
When it comes to Andor being imprisoned, it was sorta his own fault. The reason why he was arrested for 6 years instead of 6 months is the overzealous reaction to the heist he committed. Wrong place, wrong time, just like his Dad, but the Empire's oppression can't be ignored like he wants
Well I mean he got arrested in the first place simply cos The Empire needed more bodies to work on the Death Star and so they just made up excuses which was a cool reveal
Funny that he wanted to “eat, sleep” and ended up in a prison with food available all the time. And he knew it was not enough
Im surprised that the one guy from Rouge One would become the star of the best live action show with the mandelorian instead of someone like Boba Fett or Obi-Wan.
Yeah I had more faith in Obi-Wan than Andor but when Obi-Wan bombed I had no faith in Andor at all. So imagine how surprised I was when the show kicked arse
Out of that line up when it was announced, ANDOR was the only one that I had any interest in seeing. I was really out of loving Star Wars after the sequels and Rogue One was the only film that really engaged me as a fantastic war movie. Now we got Andor as a spy drama. Bring it on!
@@artboymoy I thought Rogue One was kinda forgettable except the last half an hour and Andor himself didn’t exactly set my world on fire. I was excited for Obi-Wan and intrigued by Boba Fett but both left me thoroughly disappointed.
Andor I had no faith in and yet here we are lol
Tony Gilroy co-wrote the script for Rogue One and also directed The Bourne LEgacy.
He also helped write The Great Wall 😂 so he sounds like an interesting choice to say the least lol
@@theaussiebrit George Miller, did both Mad Max and Babe the gallant pig...
@@HansLemurson what’s George Miller got to do with Andor?
@@theaussiebrit Nothing, just reminded me of another guy with some hilariously different work under his belt.
I'm not sure you really understand how history is meant to build upon itself to reach the present. Everything we see is meant to build up to what we see in Rogue One. Why does that seem uninteresting to you in Mon Mothma's story? Sucessful rebellions are funded and equipped. The money had to come from somewhere and Mon Mothma's financial woes could really expose the rebellion before it's formed and IMO, trying to find a way for her to cover it up is as interesting as seeing the planning for the heist. Which they did an excellent job with when it went down in showing us that we didn't know all the details of the heist like taking hostages and using the skeleton crew to load the credits on the ship. That ramped it up considerably. Yes, this season was moving all the pieces where they needed to be. Andor is now on board with the Rebellion, Mon Mothma has put her exposure off for a bit, and Saw's... being Saw. I think the worldbuilding is wonderful to see in this show, not only on Ferrix, but Aldahni and for the culture of Chandrila.
I agree with most of your points but what annoyed me with Mon Mothma's story is I didn't want to see it set up for next season I wanted to see the pay off this season and leave it open for more stuff next season. I felt like there was maybe just a bit too much filler.
I loved the completely different style of rebellion from Andor's plotline which was guns and shooting and whatnot whereas Mon Mothma was secretive and smiling with daggers in her eyes. It just could have tightened up and not had so much fluff.
Andor and Tales of the Jedi: the only two Disney SW that are actually not poo.
Completely agree. Mando s1 & 2 were passable and even quite enjoyable when they came out, but they've aged poorly made worse by season 3's catastrophy
Legend has it that Maarva was supposed to say "Fuck the empire!" instead of "Fight the empire!"
Yeah I heard that was the case which I think would have really ruined that moment
Rogue one was awesome
Glad you liked it my dudebut I was left thoroughly bored by the experience
By Lovecraftian, I hope you meant Orwellian.
Sort of. I get the 1984 vibes but I feel like in this show the Empire was this all knowing beast that was beyond comprehension which is more in line with Lovecraft and his fear of the unknown
But nice point out my dude :)
Well… That was really fun.
That’s what call me, the fun police!
Definitely should give Bad Batch another chance with Season 2 coming
Also 13:20 wow good observation. Didn't even realize this
I didn't know there was a second season but I'll give it a looksee :)
Yeah it's funny how Disney and Star Wars did the same character but one was good and one was awful
Funny that I’ve been waiting for something on Andor ever since Rogue One. My “whyyyyyy” came after knowing the ObiWan (why a show about his years secluded on Tatooine) and Boba (not interesting for me)
I was waiting for a show about Andor working as Fulcrum (I guess that’s season 2) or princess Leia working for the rebellion while doing “diplomatic work”
As far as Star Wars goes, this and the Cad Bane episodes in Bad Batch were the best things top come out in recent years.
I’m looking forward to watching Bad Batch again to see Cad again. I love his hat!
its fitting that the empire is British and the rebellion is mostly Americans god i love history
Yep the Americans are always the good guys, and the Brits are always pompous stuck up aristocratic douche bags. Cinema has taken over history!
@@theaussiebrit agreed
also merry Christmas
@@sav0rybac0n merry Christmas friend :)
Show is great for many reasons, but most important one is they made it far away from Hollywood.
Yep you can tell Kathleen Kennedy didn’t have as much to do with it. Her presence is still felt at times but this show was handled by competent story tellers, good directors and amazing actors!
I did a double take with the cursing as well. Dank Ferrik! What did I hear?
It was so weird! Like hearing an F bomb in the Teletubbies
my theory for cinta was that she actually merked the mother and her kid on aldhani to get away and that why she seems super cold post that. IIRC there a scene where Vel asks her if "shes okay with doing this" or something along those lines before the heist starts. Maybe its just cope
Yeah there's a few lines put in there to try and describe the state of their relationship but I felt like maybe it could have been more than a 10 second scene ya know? I dunno I just found their relationship super uncompelling
Mike Tyson “Loothen” 😂
That’s all I could think of every time I heard his name 😂
Love the review mate, hopefully more Star Wars is closer to this that Obi-Wan
Cheers my dude :) I am much more optimistic about future Star Wars products after seeing Andor and Tales Of The Jedi
funny, I had the opposite reaction to Rogue one and Solo, I really liked all aspects of Rogue one and didn't think it slow, and really disliked everything about solo.
I didn’t think Rogue One was slow I just thought it was boring and really silly how as soon as every character fulfilled their role in the plot they immediately died.
Solo didn’t take itself too seriously and that’s what I enjoyed about it. It felt like an Indiana Jones film in space
@@theaussiebrit I think we have very different taste regarding good character development
@@theaussiebrit the characters in rogue one died because of it being a suicide mission as soon as the shield closed, none survived on the surface, even if they had lived through their firefights, the death star attack would have killed them all anyway
@@gawkthimm6030 yeah I get that but it’s the way it happened. They would literally do their job the plot required then immediately die. It was almost laughable just how quickly it all happened
@@theaussiebrit I think people who find it "laughable" are missing something in their emotions
1. Originals
2. Rogue 1/Andor
3. Mandolorian
Everyone loves Mando but I’ve seen it through once and wasn’t really captivated to see it again even though I did like it
I agree with every word. The "I can't swim" scene flored me.
It completely came out of nowhere which made it so much more impactful! He did all that, knowing he wasn't gonna get out. Andor was such a good show
@@theaussiebrit I actually though he hed not thought of that himself. I mean they were closed inside for years and they just wanted to get outside. And his expression at the end...
@@piotrskodowski7544 well I mean why Andor couldn't just help him stay afloat. It's not that hard and it wasn't that far lol
@@theaussiebrit I you watch carefully Andor loked at him in confuson asked "what?" and than was pushed into the water by other guys.
@@piotrskodowski7544 Been a while since I've seen it aye? Should go back and watch it again. See if my opinion has changed
I watched Resistance and trust me, Bad Batch is AMAZING in comparison.
Hahaha yeah I get that feeling. I’m going to go back to The Bad Batch and give it another go cos it’s got promise
@@theaussiebrit resistance.......I kinda liked the story but it seemed too childish.
@@steelresilience and it just kinda looks like crap if I’m gonna be honest
I feel like you didn't get vel and cintas relationship. They weren't together because of the rebellion. The rebellion was what was tearing them apart.
Also I find it odd that you liked Andor but also that you don't want modern politics put into these shows when Andor is by far the most overtly political Star wars property. Did you miss all of the political messaging or did you just think it was done well?
It was more political intrigue rather than modern politics. It had nothing to do with societies politics but was very isolated to the Star Wars universe which I really liked.
I didn’t “get” Vel’s and Cinta’s relationship cos it was poorly done. Now I’m not saying they needed to be making out every 10 minutes but some chemistry between the two actresses would have been nice
@@theaussiebrit every Arc was filled with real world analogs and messaging. Idk if I want to spell it all out and potentially ruin the show for you.
@@5Amigos32 I’ve seen the whole show and I watched it somewhat carefully but I didn’t see a lot of real world analogies in it
@ 6min in you gotta realize bro they only had12 episodes for like 3-4 different stories as well as setup ongoing stories for season 2 game of thrones had like 8 seasons to deep DEEP dive into characters and the backing of being hbo’s golden goose so they probably got a lot of leeway for cost production and time on set
Well Game Of Thrones was adapting a novel with lots of different stories whereas Andor was whatever they wanted it to be so they had a bit more freedom. Game Of Thrones could have run for like 12-13 seasons to faithfully adapt everything
@@theaussiebrit I’m sure if they had give the director that amount of time we’d see more character centric episodes like Leno was definitely going to have his own ep only 3 eps and fans loved him, monmothmas family dram IS a mini game of thrones and could’ve been fleshed more if the wanted, the relationship between senta and the blonde girl could’ve been deeply explored or back storied, and andors backstory to his all kids tribe could’ve been a season like where’s the adults and if this is a slave planet how hard is it to capture some tribe of kids?
@@gam3rguy174 yeah possibly but I think when the director was only given 12 episodes they should know what needs to be sacrificed to let other plot points develop better
Can't disagree with much you've said. Apart from that Solo was good, that film sucked.
Lol maybe it was because the bar was set sooooooo low when I watched that movie. I mean we didn’t get an official trailer till like a month before the movie came out
I'm sorry, I couldnt hear your video over the sound of the sun setting on the British Empire.
With America's government in tatters, it's only a matter of time till we retake the colonies!
What is Star Wars Resistance?
An animated show that’s supposed to bridge Return Of The Jedi and Force Awakens. It’s at best, really really mediocre
@@theaussiebrit It is super mediocre, except for the fighter combat. Series does overlap with both Force Awakens and Last Jedi but the show was totally not needed. Realistically doesn't actually 'add' to the Star Wars Universe.
@@jeffreyboyle1790 and I don’t like the animation style I think it’s super bland and I’m already not a huge fan of the sequel trilogy so why would I want to watch a show about it? Lol
I actually ended up enjoying Star Wars Resistance. It's a kids show and the first season is kinda dull, but second season grew on me and actually did a lot to forgive the sequels.
Glad you enjoyed it my dude but I was left feeling thoroughly underwhelmed by Resistance. I also just didn’t like the animation style
@@theaussiebrit When I go in with the lowest expectations I tend to end up entertained more often. :)
@@JemyM lol that’s a good way to go through most of life. Hard to be disappointed when you’ve got no expectations
This was a great rundown, and thanks for pointing out the grips were indeed just nitpicks. There were a few character flaws you noticed I just never picked up on since there was just so much going on that was excellent, maybe with a rewatch or two I would have picked them up.
Cheers my dude :) and yeah who knows maybe I’ll feel different on a rewatch after getting to know people a bit better
@@theaussiebrit this happens to me. Rewatch it.
@@MD-yd8lh I’ll rewatch it when season 2 is about to drop. I do the same thing with The Witcher
Rogue One being boring is a you thing btw
Yeah nah it’s a pretty common complaint that it was boring and inoffensive
@@theaussiebrit bro how can a generic war film can be boring. It can be many things, flawed, yes, forgettable, yes but how is it boring?
@@plasticide4095 just wasn’t very interesting. It had moments of being fantastic like all the fight scenes but the dialogue was kinda generic and dull. If you liked it then that’s great my dude don’t let my criticism take away from your enjoyment :)
@@theaussiebrit Thanks, you too
Solo was terrible.
I wouldn’t say it was terrible but I’m not surprised some people didn’t like it. I thought it was quite fun :)
@@theaussiebrit Eh. You watch maulers break down of solo? He hits just about everything I didnt like about it. The whole fembot thing was also just a bit much.
I loved Rogue One, few things I didn't like but overall a great movie. And I'm glad And or came out, best star wars show to date. I do love the clone wars, but I really like the gritty and more fleshed out world that Andor built.
@@elusiveDEVIANT I do like Mauler but I sometimes feel like he’s a little too nitpicky and I don’t want to be that critical. I watched his breakdown of Multiverse Of Madness and while I agree with his criticism, it’s 5 hours long! Like… wow! 😂
I do like the feel of Andor. No flashy set pieces, just ordinary people, doing ordinary things