Review: STAR WARS: ANDOR Is Shaping Up to Be a Grounded, Gritty, and Smart Spy Thriller Heist Series

When Lucasfilm first announced a new Star Wars series that was going to focus on the Rogue One character Cassian Andor, I was not excited at all. I personally didn’t find the character really all that interesting. Then the trailers for Star Wars: Andor started to be released and the footage I saw piqued my interest. This actually started looking like a story that I might be interested in watching. The more I saw, the more pumped I got for the series. But, I had to keep my expectations in check.

The best thing to come from Star Wars in a long time was The Mandalorian series. Both The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi dropped the ball hard with the storytelling, and we just couldn’t be sure which way Andor was going to go.

I’ve watched the first four episodes of the series, and I’m happy to say that I’m loving it so far! This series is a slow-burn story that takes time to build up the story and the characters that fill it. These characters are involved in an intricate situation that takes time and planning, and I love that the series is using their time wisely to build up to this Empire heist. Yes, this is a Star Wars heist story, and this is turning out to be a great heist story so far!

This is a very different kind of Star Wars project. The series is gritty, grounded, and the writing and storytelling aspect of it is smart. One of the things that I appreciate most about this series is that it isn’t dumbed down like some of the previous Star Wars projects. This is all thanks to series writer and executive producer Tony Gilroy.

Gilroy worked on Rogue One, but he also the films in the Bourne franchise, and it’s that intense level of storytelling that we are getting for Andor! This is the kind of awesome storytelling that I wish the other disappointing projects would have had. Just smart writing and a story that respects the audience and doesn’t treat them like numbskulls.

The 12-episode series is set five years before the events of Rogue One and is described as “tense, nail-biting spy thriller,” which it is! The story tracks how and why Cassian joined the rebellion as the Empire aggressively expands its reach across the galaxy. The series is described as a "refugee story" that sees people trying to escape from a fully powered Empire.

While the story focuses on Rebel agent Andor in the early days of the Rebellion against the Empire, the series also very much explores the inner workings of the Empire. It’s exploring the Empire and the Rebellion in a way unlike anything we’ve seen before, and I appreciate that. There’s an intimacy about this series that is resonating with me.

Also, the most surprising thing that the series is doing to me, is it’s actually making me care about a character that I never cared about before. Diego Luna is back in the role of Andor and he’s doing a fine job. He’s joined by Stellan Skarsgard (Thor), Adria Arjona (Morbius), Fiona Shaw (Killing Eve), Denise Gough (Under the Banner of Heaven) and Kyle Soller (Poldark). Then there’s Forest Whitaker who will reprise his role as Saw Gerrera, Genevieve O'Reilly as Mon Mothma.

I have no idea if this series is going to hit fans in the same way that it hit me. I really do hope that people enjoy it and that they see the strengths in it that I see.