Starring: Diego Luna | Stellan Skarsgård | Adria Arjona | Fiona Shaw | Varada Sethu | Faye Marsay | Kyle Soller | Denise Gough | Genevieve O'Reilly | Elizabeth Dulau
Released: 2022
Rating: ★★★☆
Late to the party on this, but a very good serious Star Wars. Thank goodness. Some stellar casting and a lot of classic Star Wars magic: Rebel grunge, Empire coldness, every-species-under-the-sun (except on Coruscant, the white human-est and place in the galaxy), and faraway galaxies. The acting is strong throughout (see Stellan Skarsgård’s monologue) and the topics weighty. It does get a bit bogged down in the second half: by the end we know how to build an Empire ‘doohickey’ in a slave gaol, every detail of the dysfunctional relationship between an Empire stooge and his mother, and the machinations of the imperial banking system. I’ve heard some defend this as the ‘banality of the Empire’ but it’s not exactly riveting. But Andor’s journey from petty hustler to full-blown Rebel is handled well, and the last episode is masterful.