I agree, in an alternative universe with a different director (maybe even a different edit), the show could probably be pretty good. HotD was good, but frankly it's a capitalization on how god-awful GoT's 8th season was. They could have produced a wet shit like Amazon did and it would still be a redemption arc for G.R.R.M's television adaptations.
Andor I haven't seen yet (not a disney guy) but I sorta get the same vibes. Disney, for all their artistic weal and woe, makes a ton of safe and boring films these days. It doesn't really impress me that they can put together an M-rated show that doesn't suck.
Andor is really less of a Disney thing so much as Disney allowing the Gilroy brothers (who were involved with the Jason Bourne series and legal thriller Michael Clayton) create an elaborate espionage show stuffed with sociopolitical commentary and historical allusions, which just happens to be set in the Star Wars universe. Others involved with it include people who worked on House of Cards, The Americans, and Black Mirror, so it has that level of pedigree.
It's basically doing to Star Wars what The Wire did to Baltimore.
FWIW I watched Andor on the advice of a friend (I'm also not a Disney guy, nor really a huge Star Wars fan past the originals) and really loved it. The Star Wars tie-ins are a bit besides the point, though the design references are neat. It feels like a movie about an insurgency against Franco, just set in the future.
That's a good point. I'm only part-way through but, so far, you could pretty much take out the various design references to Star Wars and make a few other tweaks and you'd still have a good series not set in the Star Wars universe.
I didn't really dislike the sequels to the original trilogy but they were forced to do way too much fan service.
It's probably no coincidence that the best entrants in the universe in the modern era are probably Rogue One and the Mandalorian which in spite of very obvious tie-in are mostly unrelated to the original series.
Thanks for that recommendation. It sounds like Andor should be worth watching.
I was totally sceptical about new Star Wars shows when Rogue One came out and had no interest in going to see it. However, I ended up watching it while I was tired (but not able to sleep) on a long-haul flight. To my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed it as a solid adventure film and I watched it again a year or two later on Disney+.
Do yourself a favor and watch Andor. It’s the least Disney-ish Star Wars property there is since they bought the IP, and the first time I’ve truly liked Star Wars since I was a kid reading the Thrawn trilogy.
I heard so much hype on Andor. I watched the first ep. I just find I'm no longer interested in Star Wars. Studdering androids/robots make no sense. Same with a world with all the tech around and yet people living in tipis.
Andor I haven't seen yet (not a disney guy) but I sorta get the same vibes. Disney, for all their artistic weal and woe, makes a ton of safe and boring films these days. It doesn't really impress me that they can put together an M-rated show that doesn't suck.