TV Series Review: Star Wars Andor (2022, Disney+) *No Spoilers*

TV Series Review: Star Wars Andor (2022, Disney+) No Spoilers

I'm a huge fan of most of the live action Star Wars, Disney+ TV series. Though I do think The Book of Boba Fett and Obi Wan both dropped the ball a little with fan expectations.

Star Wars Andor, on the other hand, is a series no one was really asking for but quite a lot of us who tuned in are hugely thankful that it was made. Many have commented that this is the best Star Wars we've seen in quite a while.

Personally I think it's the best Star Wars since The Empire Strikes Back.

Having said that, I will concede, for fans that feel this series is slow and boring (of which there clearly are a lot of you), I did feel the episodes leading up to the heist really started to drag a bit.

Which is not to say the earlier episodes weren't good, they just seemed to keep promising the heist episode sooner than it actually happened.

Andor covers the start of the Rebellion in the Star Wars universe. It's basically the other side of the story to the prequel trilogy which show the rise of the Empire and Darth Vader.

The show begins with Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), one of the key heroes from Rogue One, several years prior to the events of that film. He is pretty much a thief/mercenary for hire, who is also looking for his sister. His skills become highly sought after for an upcoming heist being planned to help fund the resistance.

As the episodes progress the show expands into an ensemble piece documenting the early days, and key players of the Rebellion.

What makes this show for me is the mundaneness of it all, in the sense that the show really gives you time to live in the day to day of the Star Wars universe. There's no real big defining thing that that the story is leading us toward, other than the formation of the Rebellion and the events of Rogue One (which the creators of this series have said this is the time period of the show).

We get to see the inner workings of the Empire as a bloated, over reaching organization, suffering from internal politics at management level, as well as how their oppression of worlds is growing.

More interestingly we get to see a side of the Rebellion that hasn't really been explored in live action Star Wars. That is the darker side of what it takes to push everyday people into action against their oppressors. Not every decision made is heroic, and some are borderline as bad as the Empire themselves.

If this was a movie it would be placed somewhere not long after the third prequel (or perhaps some of it is concurrent with the prequels since we do get to see the Imperial Senate but it's not clear if Senator Palpatine has yet become a defining voice).

Andor kind of tells the other side of the story to the prequels, which are about how the Empire formed and Anakin's path to Vader. In many ways I feel the show does what George Lucas was trying to do if he hadn't gotten quite so focused on all the top tier characters - basically the leadership of both sides.

The prequels could of used a bit more of the every day people like Luke and Han from the original movie (before they found their feet in the Rebellion). Same goes for the sequel trilogy, which started out well but then narrowed onto all the leadership in the two later films.

Anyway, before this review becomes everything I think was wrong with the prequels (too many Jedi's for one... "you get a lightsaber, and you get a lightsaber...") Andor does have its action moments. They are a bit few and far between but they do have stakes. People on both sides die, some who you may not expect.

If you're not into a lot of dialogue and prefer your Star Wars to be more action based, I can see how this show may come across as slow and boring. However, if you're into character development and well written exchanges that actually mean something (no emo Anakin "I hate sand" intellectual observations here) Andor is a real treat.

The first three episodes are a little bit of a push through, waiting for something to happen, but it does pay off, and the pace picks up with some of the best Star Wars you'll see anywhere.

I'm really looking forward to season two.

Skateboard Trick Tips: Two Ways to Ollie North (Ollie One foot)

You have to be quick to see my Ollie Norths! Ollie One Foots, otherwise known as the Ollie North, is one of those skateboard tricks you learn and then tend not to do very much as more interesting trick challenges grab your attention. However it does look really cool if you learn how to kick your front foot well past the nose of your skateboard. Still shot from Braille Skateboarding's Ollie North tutorial. I was inspired to make my video below, showing two different techniques to achieve a successful Ollie One Foot, when I not only saw that Braille Skateboarding's Tutorial used a different method to the one I had learned but also, when I looked at various other video tutorials, I discovered yet another technique, with no one using the method I had originally learned. Braille's method is to simply Ollie and drag your front foot past the front of your board. The second method I came across in several video tutorials is to Ollie, drag your front foot and tap your

How to Transfer Any Line Art to Your Griptape - Easy Skateboard Griptape Art Tutorial

Dog Star Griptape Art by TET Griptape art is once again gaining popularity amongst modern skateboarders. For those of us who have tried to create our own griptape art, using paint pens, you'll know reproducing your design onto the grip, without making any mistakes is incredibly challenging. Mostly because you just have to go for it and draw the design freehand, with paint pens, directly onto the griptape. You can make the odd mistake here or there but if you get the proportions of the design completely wrong, it can be very difficult to fix. Often you just have to live with the mistake. To address the problem I've come up with an easy way anyone can transfer a line art design to their griptape, removing almost all the anxiety of getting the proportions wrong. In fact, you could do this with any line art design, even if you have no drawing skill at all. Watch the video below to see my technique in action and/or skip past the video where I highlight the basic steps to get your de

Review: FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes

FP Footwear FINO Skate Shoes I first saw FP's FINO skate shoes in a video by YouTube channel, Braille Skateboarding, titled, THE FIRST EVER NON NEWTONIAN FLUID SKATE SHOES!? As someone whose feet hurt and bruise relatively easily just from the basic tricks of skateboarding (Ollies, Pop Shuv-its etc.) the 90% absorption of impact energy selling point seemed like an ideal solution for minimizing my injuries. A day later I placed an order through FP's website . Ordinarily I wouldn't mention Customer Service but I can't let the lack of communication on my order slide. FP's website says to expect delivery within 7-14 days of your order. After close to two weeks, my order was still marked as being processed. I sent an email asking for any kind of update, to no response. A day or two later my order was marked as completed but still no signs of shoes in my mail? About two weeks later (just over a full month of placing my order) the shoes arrived. I'm sur

Why Your Backside 180 Ollies Suck (Probably, if they're like mine)

Backside 180 Ollie by TET I've been doing backside 180 ollies on my skateboard for almost as long as I've been skateboarding. It's not really that hard a trick to learn, except it is, if you want to do them well. Usually, when I'm practicing my backside 180 ollies on flat, my first attempt will be my best, and then my technique will kind of deteriorate from there. Except for that one jaggy attempt where I successfully land the backside 180 ollie then continue to pivot on my back truck another 180 degrees. Which is only a cool trick if you actually meant to do it. Recently I spent an entire driveway skate session working on my backside 180 ollies. My goal was to get them higher, rotate my body more effectively, and to bend my back leg more (a common problem for most people is not really bending the back leg as you ollie). You can watch my session and decide if I made any progress in the video below. The thing is, I know everything I'm doing wrong with my backside 180

Can You Learn Skateboarding Basics on a Cheap Skateboard?

$20, Mambo 31" x 8", Department Store Skateboard. Over the years I've watched many high profile YouTube skateboarders repeatedly create videos where they purchase a cheap, department store skateboard, ride it like they would their regular professional skateboard, until it breaks (usually within an hour or so), and claim that as a reason for steering clear of these products. Inadvertently what they're doing is creating less demand for cheap skateboards, meaning it's less likely department stores will stock them, resulting in no easy way for first time skaters to 'test the waters' to see if skating is really for them. Even worse, parents looking to get their children into a new sport, may not even see skateboarding as an option as they browse through the department store sports section. At the time of writing, Australian department stores have shelves filled with many different brands of scooters, alongside a small shelf or two of skateboards (and

Movie Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 (2023) No Spoilers

If you've enjoyed Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 1 and Volume 2 then Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 will not disappoint. I would almost go so far as to call it the best in the series... except seeing the first movie for the first time is still one of my best memories of the MCU. While it's not essential to the story if you didn't see the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special on Disney+ it does kind of lead into and set up where the Guardians are at in Volume 3 quite nicely. In this installment Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) is still not coping with the loss of his timeline's Gamora (Zoe Saldada) when suddenly the team is attacked leaving Rocket (Bradley Cooper) in a very bad way. From then on it's a race to save Rocket as we learn quite a bit about his origin in the process. This movie is slightly darker than the first two and, if you're concerned about the animal cruelty that is causing some people to not want to see the film again, keep in mind, it's j

Movie Review: Bullet Train (2022) No Spoilers

I honestly don't understand why Bullet Train didn't do well in theaters? It's basically a live action, bonkers, cartoon but it's fun, has witty dialogue, quirky characters, and plenty of action. It's definitely underrated as something that very much reminds me of a cross between a Guy Ritchie and Edgar Wright film in terms of how it's written, filmed, and edited. The plot centers around unlucky assassin, Ladybug (Brad Pitt) who is hired to retrieve a briefcase containing a ransom from on board a Japanese Bullet Train. Unfortunately he's not the only one after the case. Confusion and mayhem ensues. The only thing that really bothered me is that the movie seems almost devoid of regular people on the train and at any of the stations. Those that are present, including the staff of the train, seem to be blissfully unaware of what is happening around them despite the interior of the train becoming increasingly more damaged and the body count climbing. The further

TET.Life (The Extraordinary Tourist Life)

Search This Blog