Obi-Wan Kenobi

I understand why people don't like this. After watching the main series in 2024, I wanted to explore the side stories, so I started with "Obi-Wan Kenobi."

I was excited to watch this because I really liked Ewan McGregor as the younger Obi-Wan in the prequel films-he's a talented actor. His performance in this mini-series was outstanding, even surpassing his work in the prequels.

However, my main issue is with the story. Bringing Skywalker and Leia into the plot felt like beating a dead horse. If the story had focused more on Obi-Wan's personal struggles and less on rehashing old characters, I would have enjoyed it more.

The setting is more mature than the films, which I didn't mind-I appreciate a more mature Star Wars story. The cast was good, but the story was a letdown and didn't match the quality of the main film series.

Top of the line actors, sets, and special effects. But, that's pretty much where the good of the series ends. The writing appears to have been completed in a middle school lunch room.

I just don't understand what is happening with this programming. There seem to be basic concepts of writing that are violated in a number of recent high-end productions. For instance (and probably the greatest consistent sin) is that you CAN'T put a character's life in jeopardy if the audience knows that the character survives. It deflates the scenes of any tension at all.

Top that off with a director who clearly does not direct action in any way, and you have loud noises, flashy lights and a lot of yawns from the audience. Wide shots of a child running from adults who just "run into" clearly visible objects and then fall over? That's why God created quick-cuts, my friend. Hide those horrible shots if you have to. So whether the fault is the directors or the editors, it is terribly executed.

And yes, we all "get it." Young females can be "tough." I think that you beat that dead horse about every six minutes. Seriously. It's such a heavy handed message that you find yourself rooting for the empire.

I'm a big fan of Clone Wars/Rebels, so I love the Third Sister, although that writing was so "on the nose" that she might as well have been a cartoon character. There is no subtlety for the actor to work with.

Congrats to Disney, I guess, who've now managed to screw up both Solo and Kenobi. Just sad that they can't do better than this. And it goes to show that money can't buy everything.

I waited until all of the episodes were released before passing a final judgement on this. I can say I'm glad I did, as the first couple episodes were 3/10 stars for a tv show with the latter being more toward a 7/10.

With that said, I'm trying rate this show as a whole. Would I recommend it to anyone? Would I watch it again?

It's hard to slap a number on this. I did like it more than the recent film trilogy despite it being very campy at times (tbh I'm not entirely sure if that was at all intended, which make some moments even more hilarious) with a weak and noticeable production value that did take a lot of the enjoyment out of it for me.

Reva's arc was a classic Star Wars story that actually justifies its existence in the end, even if it does it poorly. Why it was such a centerpiece in a show titled Kenobi... I dunno. Honestly I think this show would have received much less backlash if it was simply titled something else.

Taking everything into consideration, would I recommend it to anyone? I would recommend it to anyone that loved the prequels. I do think it falls out of purview for mostly anyone else though.

Would I watch it again?

Yes, I will rewatch a few of the episodes just for some of Vader's sequences, as much as I don't want to admit it. The last few episodes focus more on the relationship between 'Ben' Kenobi and Anakin, which in turn give us a better transition of Anakin to Vader than the films did alone.

This show is dumb, light hearted and sometimes heavy. It's a very true to form Star Wars story with the exception of having poorer production and slightly lesser quality in writing, and if you can laugh at the scenes where the child outruns bounty hunters by walking, you'll get some enjoyment out of this.

If you wanted a purely serious tv series based on Kenobi like I did, you won't get that. But maybe you'll find something passable in the meantime.

6/10.

Obi-Wan Kenobi gives us a look at what the Jedi Master has been up to, and fills in some of the gaps between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. It feels like it has all the ingredients that a Star Wars project requires, but comes up short of fan expectations.

Ewan McGregor returns as the titular character, and gives us an exceptional performance, much like he did in the prequels. It is awesome to see Hayden Christensen back as well.

Some hate has been directed at Reva and young Leia, but I thought both actresses played their respective roles well. Moses Ingram showed us a conflicted individual, who has little control over her impulses, much like a younger Anakin, that causes tension between her and her fellow inquisitors. I thought that Vivian Lyra Blair was a good choice for young Leia.

The CGI is a bit weak, especially when compared to the recent movies or The Mandalorian, but not so bad that it's distracting.

The biggest thing that drags this series down are the plot holes and inconsistencies. I lost count of how many plot holes I spotted, and some of the decisions characters make can be very silly and take you out of the whole experience. The dialogue sometimes isn't very well written and can come off as cheesy.

The last 2 episodes had some standout moments, despite some obvious flaws. There are a few cameos in the finale, that should satisfy Star Wars fans. And while the duel between Obi-Wan and Vader was epic and emotional, it felt like it was too short and not as well choreographed as the duels from the prequels, plus the shaky cam can really get irritating!

Overall Obi-Wan Kenobi is an entertaining Star Wars series, but can feel frustrating at times due to the lack of consistency, and might end up disappointing fans who were hoping for more.

7/10 - Good.

Oh how the mighty have fallen. And I'm not talking about Obi-Wan, I'm talking about Disney. For a studio who usually has top-notch stories and writing in their movies, the Star Wars franchise has been a huge step down for them, and Obi-Wan, unfortunately, is no exception. The show had some truly great moments, but they were few and far between, buried under ridiculous, contrived, nonsensical story and plot elements. And the 3rd Sister inquisiter has WAY too much screen time, aside from being over the top, cheesy, and just outright annoying. This is worth a watch, but just don't expect too much.