Star Wars: Andor Premiere Review

gamerant.com:

Right from the first scene of the first episode of Andor, the latest Disney Plus Star Wars series, it's clear that this isn't going to be the kind of story that fans have seen before. Everything from the cinematography to the sets to the noir-inspired mood indicates that Andor is setting up a tale far removed from what is usually found in the galaxy far, far away.

In the first three episodes, Andor proves that the Star Wars universe still has plenty to offer in terms of storytelling potential. If there is still lingering skepticism about basing a series on a character only seen in one non-mainline Star Wars movie, Andor will quickly convince viewers that this story was just waiting to be told.

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Andor begins with a crime. The titular character, Cassian Andor (a returning Diego Luna) finds his way to a brothel tucked away in a back alley on an industrial planet. Rain pours down from the sky, making this feel more like a scene from Blade Runner than Star Wars. After a fatal run-in with two security officers, Cassian goes on the run from the law, doing his best to scrape together an escape plan to keep himself and those close to him out of trouble. That involves a meeting with a mysterious buyer (Stellan Skarsgård) to sell an Imperial MacGuffin. Meanwhile, an overzealous lawman (Kyle Soller) is on Cassian's trail and eager to serve justice.

Peppered throughout the first three episodes are flashbacks to Cassian's youth on the planet Kenari. Here, Cassian (called Kassa as a child) and a group of children living a low-to-no-tech existence in the forest, come upon a crashed Republic ship that upends their entire existence. These flashbacks are probably the weakest