Obi-Wan Kenobi has been one of the most anticipated Star Wars show for me. While I didn’t like the prequels apart from Revenge of the Sith, I liked Ewan McGregor as Obi-Wan and Hayden Christensen as Anakin. So I was thrilled when it was revealed that both would be returning for this new series. So is the show a great return of the Jedi or dry like sand?
Ewan McGregor gives a great performance as Obi-Wan to the point it feels like he never left. I also love that the show gives him more layers by showing that his “killing” of Anakin has traumatized him. He is a very broken person at the beginning but we see him grow into the Obi-Wan we see in A New Hope. Hayden is great when he appears and I love the way he moves as Vader. It is exactly like the way Vader moved in the original trilogy. Although, it seems that Hayden and two other stuntmen helped portray Vader so it isn’t entirely Hayden. Moreover, Hayden is still being dubbed over by James Earl Jones so he isn’t in it much as Disney advertised which is a slight shame. There is also a child actress, Vivien Lyra Blair, who (minor spoilers) plays young Leia. Child actors can be very annoying but I found Vivien to be very good as a young Leia. She also has great chemistry with Ewan and the dynamic of their characters is one of the highlights of the show.
There are also some pretty fun action sequences in the show. I never thought I would see Obi-Wan in a shoot-out but it happened and it was pretty enjoyable. Every scene where Obi-Wan uses his lightsaber is stellar and his confrontation against Vader is wonderful to watch. Furthermore, Vader has some pretty awesome scenes too that show how scary he can be which was awesome. Additionally, the Obi-Wan theme by John Williams is great and the music score by Natalie Holt is good as well. There are some points in the show, especially episodes 2 and 6, where the cinematography is terrific. The show does answer some questions that I had which are how Leia knew Obi-Wan and how Obi-Wan knew Vader was Anakin. I find that it satisfyingly answers these.
Unfortunately, the show is butchered by its inconsistency. There are points where the show is great and then there are points where the show drops in quality. Sometimes we have great visuals with great sets and then we get a scene where it feels like they are running around in a construction area or bad CG. The writing and story are the same. We got great Obi-Wan character development, emotional conflict between him and Vader, and a heart-warming relationship between him and Leia. However, we also get everything awful about the show with the writing and inclusion of the character Reva. The pacing is quite bad, especially in the first half. The show ends up feeling like a 2-hour movie plot being extended to 5 hours and it’s very noticeable with how much padding is in the show.
On that note, Reva’s story takes up a lot of screen time in this show despite it being called Obi-Wan Kenobi. Her character is genuinely a nuisance since she is just always angry every time. Even the reason for why she is angry, which is revealed near the end, comes off as stupid. By the final episode, I wonder what was the point of her character and story as it didn’t add anything to Obi-Wan’s journey. I have nothing against the actress Moses Ingram as I think she is a fine actress. The problem is that she just doesn’t fit the character. Inquisitors are meant to be fearsome and scary but Moses comes off as someone trying hard to be scary. It’s a shame as there is a scary inquisitor in the grand inquisitor but he gets removed from the story very early on.
Overall, I have mixed feelings about the show. When the show just focuses on Obi-Wan and Vader then it delivers. It just squanders a lot of everything else. I honestly believe that this show would’ve been better as a movie. Nevertheless, I still think the show is still worth watching for Star Wars fans. It didn’t end up being as amazing as hoped but it’s still a good time and what fan would pass seeing Ewan and Hayden again? Those two are better than ever.
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