丨 Westpark
2022 will undoubtedly be the most productive year for the "Star Wars" IP. Relying on the massive development of the Disney+ streaming platform, three live-action series have been launched in less than ten months.
just finished broadcasting " Boba Fett's Book " at the beginning of the year, to " Obi-Wan " in May, and then to "Amdo" which just launched three episodes last week, Disney+ is very fast. , built his own "Star Wars Universe".
"Andor"
But at the same time, Star Wars fans must also face, from " The Mandalorian " out of the circle, to "The Book of Boba Fett" bland, to "European" Biwang's selling feelings eventually collapsed, and the practice of piling up the universe by relying on more and more works has been met with backlash from many comments.
"Obi-Wan"
Maybe the "Star Wars Universe" is about to become another super IP that has been "overdeveloped" after the "Marvel Universe". In the end, the pressure also came to the newly launched "Amdo".
Disney's decision to make a one-player series for a small character in the "Star Wars Universe" like Ando was a rather bold decision. Ando, played by Mexican actor Diego Luna , is a heroic Rebel spy from the 2016 film "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and is in the process of stealing drawings of the Death Star died in.
"Amdo"
This role also became Diego Luna's first impressive role after his debut. After this film, he also became the main force of Hollywood Mexican-American actors. In "Narcos: Mexico", he played the male No. 1 drug lord Phyllis.
"Rogue One" also uses two Chinese actors, Jiang Wen, and Donnie Yen, , as well as the black actor , Forest Whitaker, , to form a diverse team of Rogues, enriching Star Wars. cosmology.
"A Star Wars Story: Rogue One"
also proves that the so-called politically correct casting, as long as it is matched with a good script and actors, can still produce a chemical reaction, making "Rogue One" one of Disney's Star Wars series. One of the best-reviewed works. In this way, choosing the small role of Amdo to develop a derivative drama is also a lot of logical.
"Rogue One: A Star Wars Story"
"Andor" tells the story of the prequel to "Rogue One". In the movie, we already know the ending of the character, but in the episode, we mainly need to explain two things. A question - that is, where did Amdo, an orphan, come from; and how did Amdo go from an ordinary smuggler to the main spy of the resistance army.
In the first three episodes, the writer and director used a two-line narrative to go hand in hand. In the flashback line, he explained the story of Amdo being found and taken away from his home planet, leaving behind what happened to his home planet and the whereabouts of his sister. suspense. The resistance army line tells the story of how Amdo, who was eager to escape, was ordered by the resistance army, and how he would become a spy in the future.
"Amdo"
The first two episodes adopted the narrative trick of " Westworld ", and did not clearly explain the origin of the flashback line. It was not until the third episode that the two lines were actually not at the same time. Leaving a small orgasm. As a spin-off series of "Star Wars Derivative Movies", "Andor" was destined to take a different path from most of the previous "Star Wars" from the beginning.
In fact, the Star Wars series has always been called one of the ancestors of the space opera movies, a sci-fi work based on the legendary adventures and romantic love of cosmic heroes.
Star Wars
In the old Star Wars trilogy we actually see Skywalker as a heroThe history of adventure tells the story of how Luke rescued the princess, defeated the blackened father, blew up the death star of the empire, and finally saved the galaxy. The three prequels and three sequels that were subsequently launched expanded on how the Skywalker family, as the destiny of the galaxy , "balances the Force".
And such a narrative method was not officially broken until "Rogue One". This film was born out of a line of words in the opening subtitles of "A New Hope", focusing on the little people in the war that were not taken seriously before, breaking the legend of heroes Instead, it is devoted to telling the stories of ordinary soldiers who have disappeared into history.
"Star Wars Story: Rogue One"
When it was first released, the film featured a "Star Wars Movie" without the lightsaber , a spy war movie set in the background of "Star Wars". After the release, we also found that this is not just a borrowing of the Star Wars shell, but a more serious and detailed sublimation.
Rogue One is more like a historical film set in a virtual universe than a spinoff of the space opera film series Star Wars. Even in many moments, "Rogue No. 1" shows the teacher's inheritance obviously from some World War II-themed movies.
"Star Wars Story: Rogue One"
For example, in the opening scene, the Imperial Army raided homes to track down the hidden suspects, and obviously learned the shooting techniques of "Inglourious Basterds" (this was also confirmed by the creator himself in the behind-the-scenes documentary), and The army meeting of the empire also has the shadow of "'s victory of the will ".
are precisely these rather serious historical references, and an interesting echo of the Galactic Empire being compared to the Third Reich. Let us intuitively connect the Empire and the Nazis in reality. The villain of Star Wars is no longer the stormtrooper who can't hit the target no matter how hard he aims, but the perpetrator who has brought great suffering. It also makes the sacrifices of many heroes in "Rogue One", including Amdo, have a deeper meaning. The style of
"Star Wars Story: Rogue One"
has naturally been carried over to "Amdo". In the first three episodes of Amdo, the story takes place on a factory planet in the "three no-holds-barred zone", where various forces compete. Amdo is burdened with his own past, exploring the whereabouts of his sister, and accidentally becomes a wanted criminal, and has to find someone who escapes from this place. method. The whole story of
is quite a bit like " Casablanca " who is dealing with many parties behind the Nazi enemy. But although this setting allows us to quickly enter a relatively real Star Wars universe, it is inevitable that there will be some puzzling situations.
"Amdo"
For example, why the same Galactic Empire, some people speak English with a British accent, while others speak with a Mexican accent. We can understand the director trying to make a universe of diversity and also allow the actors to bring their own accents to the characters. But for fans who love the details of buckles, every detail actually needs more settings to be rounded.
After all, in the existing setting of Star Wars, there is no UK and Mexico, there are just different planets. This will undoubtedly make the audience fall into doubts about whether the sense of authenticity that the writers and directors have tried their best to create is real at certain moments of the show. In fantasy film and television works, too many attempts at realism may eventually lead to a backlash like a drama.
"Amdo"
When we go after a derivative drama of an IP, any fan actually needs some connection with the original IP to make the whole series more established. It is because we are familiar with the small and wise image of Yoda master in "Star Wars" that when Baby Yoda appears at the end of "The Mandalorian" episode 1, we immediately bring empathy, recognition This faceless Mandalorian is actually part of the Star Wars universe.
The Mandalorian
In the seemingly unrelated Rogue One, at least there areStormtrooper and Death Star appear, and Darth Vader , Darth Vader, appears at the end of the film, and when he shows his unstoppable combat power, it undoubtedly elevates the whole movie to a whole new level, allowing all audiences to instantly find the fun of the movie point. In the first three episodes of
"Amdo", we saw a small town behind enemy lines similar to World War II, with the resistance army and Gestapo , but what was lacking was the "Star Wars" element that really supported this IP and made fans excited. A "Star Wars" drama, which is not so "Star Wars", has its advantages, that is, it allows the main creator to add his own personal expression in the context of IP.
"Amdo"
But at the same time, it also raises the question of whether this is really necessary. Is it true that we love watching Star Wars? I think more audiences will still love the romance of Skywalker saving the galaxy and the princess. Why should we watch a war spy war drama with a Star Wars background instead of another serious spy war drama about the history of World War II? Such a question, at least the current three episodes, cannot give a satisfactory answer.
But for a 12-episode series, you only watch 3 episodes, as if you only watched the first act of a movie. Maybe by the end of the season, it will have more ties to the Star Wars universe, and even reach the high reputation of Rogue One.
"Amdo"
But one thing is certain, at least the first episode of "The Mandalorian" is exciting enough, a good drama can be full of high energy, the current "Amdo" , is still more than a little bit worse from the classic.
