Obi-Wan Kenobi
Year: 2022
Created by: Deborah Chow
Starring: Hayden Christiansen, Moses Ingram, Vivian Lyra Blair & Ewan McGregor
Episodes: 6
BBFC: 12
Published: 23/06/22
Created by: Deborah Chow
Starring: Hayden Christiansen, Moses Ingram, Vivian Lyra Blair & Ewan McGregor
Episodes: 6
BBFC: 12
Published: 23/06/22
The Star Wars prequel trilogy was my childhood. Despite having been introduced to the original trilogy at a very young age, the prequels were what was being talked about at school and they were in the cinemas when I was growing up. They were to me what the original trilogy was to my father, and I’m sure anyone who was young and into Star Wars during the 00’s will agree with that sentiment regardless of the quality of the films themselves. One of the few things that people really latched onto from the prequels was Ewan McGregor’s portrayal of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and for years fans have been begging for him to return to the role in some capacity. Disney heard the cries and McGregor was more than ready to jump back onboard the Star Wars express, so does the new miniseries ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ meet expectations?
Ten years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is hiding out on Tatooine and keeping a watchful eye on the young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely).
Meanwhile on Alderaan, Princess Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair) is abducted by Empire Inquisitor, Third Sister (Moses Ingram), in an attempt to draw out Kenobi and present him to Darth Vader (Hayden Christiansen) in the hopes of being promoted to Grand Inquisitor.
Ten years after the events of Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) is hiding out on Tatooine and keeping a watchful eye on the young Luke Skywalker (Grant Feely).
Meanwhile on Alderaan, Princess Leia Organa (Vivien Lyra Blair) is abducted by Empire Inquisitor, Third Sister (Moses Ingram), in an attempt to draw out Kenobi and present him to Darth Vader (Hayden Christiansen) in the hopes of being promoted to Grand Inquisitor.
Let’s get this problem out of the way as quickly as possible. Obi-Wan Kenobi’s story kind of sucks. It’s not exactly bad, but it lacks ideas and can be boiled down to a series of prison breaks, or having Kenobi & co. hide out in a supposedly safe place then immediately get found by the Empire somehow and need to escape to the next safe place. It gets repetitive very quickly, and you can see that this would have been an ideal scenario for a film, but for a six-episode miniseries it’s stretched far too thin. It also raises more questions than it answers by throwing the established continuity between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope into disarray. For example, Obi-Wan and Vader have supposedly not seen each other since their confrontation on Mustafar once they meet again in A New Hope, yet this series changes that.
Thankfully, that’s about all in Kenobi that isn’t great, because almost everything else is top tier Star Wars.
I loved almost all of the characters. It was incredible seeing McGregor return to the role after almost twenty years as an older and wearier Kenobi that’s lost touch with the Force. His journey throughout the series of reconnecting with the Force and coming to terms with the news that Anakin/Vader is still alive, as well as facing his own demons was captivating to watch. Speaking of Vader, I loved seeing Christiansen back in the role. He got an unfair go of things in the prequel trilogy with its stilted script and poor direction from George Lucas, leading to the misconception that he was a bad actor. He proves that he’s anything but here in Kenobi though as he is a commanding presence.
Ingram was a fantastic villain as Third Sister and the layers that were slowly peeled away to her character were unexpected and made me love her even more. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the way her story ended, but Ingram was arguably my favourite actress on the show.
The series also looks great. Disney really have been nailing the original trilogy aesthetic of Star Wars ever since the release of The Force Awakens, and I had hoped that Kenobi would return to the prequel era aesthetic. Whilst that isn’t the case, it does feel like it strikes a welcome balance between the prequels and the more modern Star Wars content. Lightsaber duels for example lack the same highly choreographed flourish that the prequels were known for, but because the camera is given so much momentum during these scenes the fights feel far more acrobatic than anything in the original or sequel trilogy.
If you’re a Star Wars fan, then Obi-Wan Kenobi is another hit for the Disney+ platform. I feel like this is the first content Disney has produced to appeal to the prequel crowd and it works well, so much so that I’d love to see them fully embrace the prequel era and produce content set during the era of the Republic (or even earlier if we want to go back to Old Republic era). Whilst it’s not the show I had hoped it would be, I still had a good time with Obi-Wan Kenobi and would very happily take a second season if McGregor & Christiansen wanted to return for more.
Thankfully, that’s about all in Kenobi that isn’t great, because almost everything else is top tier Star Wars.
I loved almost all of the characters. It was incredible seeing McGregor return to the role after almost twenty years as an older and wearier Kenobi that’s lost touch with the Force. His journey throughout the series of reconnecting with the Force and coming to terms with the news that Anakin/Vader is still alive, as well as facing his own demons was captivating to watch. Speaking of Vader, I loved seeing Christiansen back in the role. He got an unfair go of things in the prequel trilogy with its stilted script and poor direction from George Lucas, leading to the misconception that he was a bad actor. He proves that he’s anything but here in Kenobi though as he is a commanding presence.
Ingram was a fantastic villain as Third Sister and the layers that were slowly peeled away to her character were unexpected and made me love her even more. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the way her story ended, but Ingram was arguably my favourite actress on the show.
The series also looks great. Disney really have been nailing the original trilogy aesthetic of Star Wars ever since the release of The Force Awakens, and I had hoped that Kenobi would return to the prequel era aesthetic. Whilst that isn’t the case, it does feel like it strikes a welcome balance between the prequels and the more modern Star Wars content. Lightsaber duels for example lack the same highly choreographed flourish that the prequels were known for, but because the camera is given so much momentum during these scenes the fights feel far more acrobatic than anything in the original or sequel trilogy.
If you’re a Star Wars fan, then Obi-Wan Kenobi is another hit for the Disney+ platform. I feel like this is the first content Disney has produced to appeal to the prequel crowd and it works well, so much so that I’d love to see them fully embrace the prequel era and produce content set during the era of the Republic (or even earlier if we want to go back to Old Republic era). Whilst it’s not the show I had hoped it would be, I still had a good time with Obi-Wan Kenobi and would very happily take a second season if McGregor & Christiansen wanted to return for more.