mjplysaght

Disney's track record with Star Wars hasn't been great, let's be honest.

The amount of key jangling included in the sequel trilogy, the Mandalorian, Book of Boba Fett and Kenobi, on top of abysmal writing left a bad taste in my mouth.

So when Andor was announced, I predicted it would follow the same pattern. Good god, I was wrong.

This show was so refreshing. Taking a back seat from Jedi vs Sith, lightsabers and the Force and focusing on the journey of a disillusioned man with everything around him influencing him to join the Rebellion. The dialogue is intelligently written, the character arcs are engaging and there are many standout performances from the ensemble cast.

I really hope Season 2 keeps the momentum going. Keep Tony Gilroy around, Kathleen!!! He knows what he's doing!

Had high hopes for this show, based on the performances of Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan from previous Marvel shows. Oh, how naive I was.

The handover of the Captain America shield to Falcon at the end of Endgame was a touching moment, which has been utterly eviscerated and recontextualised in this series. Social and political commentary in movies and TV shows can work when done correctly with some nuance. However, following on with the current trend in modern Hollywood, the overt nature in which the talking points are inserted into the show; it brings the story to a grinding halt.

Add to that heaps of plot contrivances, character assassinations and mind boggling motivations (*cough cough*, Karli), the writing was a mess. The problem with this being a Cinematic Universe is that there are established story beats that came before, which is completely glossed over by the team of writers tackling the work now.

After Rian Johnson 'subverted our expectations' with The Last Jedi, in comes JJ Abrams again to hastily bring the ship that is the sequel trilogy back on track. What we're presented is glorified fan fiction that may as well have been written by a teenager.

The over-reliance on nostalgia is pain-stakingly evident, with Palpatine and Lando Calrissian roped in once again, along with re-used story beats from Empire Strikes Back and Return of The Jedi.

This film is also cluttered with sub-plots that could easily be their own self contained movies. The frantic pacing of the film is off-putting at times. There's a clear sense of desperation, trying to tie up the loose ends of the story.

Even the resolution is very rushed, in my opinion. There's no room to breathe, as the movie throws so much at you. The visuals are nice, though.