Kenobi: A Star Wars Fan Film

I wasn't expecting much when I first stumbled across this as most of my fan film encounters have been underwhelming. If you don't overanalyze it or pick apart the effects you should enjoy this fun add-on to the Star Wars story line. It's a decently written & acted piece that I give strong kudos to for sets, costumes, & props.

The plot is engaging and managed to raise the stakes in a short time, the act is brilliant, fighting very realistic, cinematography and Tatooine scenery absolutely beautiful, costumes and props entirely believable, and the soundtrack (recorded by Budapest Scoring Orchestra) astonishing! Also, captain Leegus has a nice Krennic edge to him (played by James A. Taylor - the voice of Obi-Wan in TCW!). My only objection is the sound of an approaching Imperial vehicle seen through macrobinoculars, which should have been much quieter and distant-sounding. Otherwise, everything was executed nearly perfectly.

Satterlund's Kenobi has set a seriously high bar for any future fan film, as this looks, sounds and feels like far more. Most importantly, this is how Star Wars is done. Hopefully, we'll see more of it.

Conflict between Kenobi and the empire, personal struggles, interesting predicaments and strong character development all in 18 minutes.

Disney had 3 feature length movies to do that and all they managed was a video game like plot with an endless cast of characters that offered nothing. Was seriously impressed by the production value in this film and Kenobi is actually really well cast. It's lacking the flair of modern Star Wars, but that allows it to do more for the story. Still manages to deliver cool fights scenes. Let down by acting in places but this is the only indication that it's a fan film.

If you're into Star Wars then this little gem is a must-watch. I don't want to make this review too long because the gist of it is this: it's with Obi-Wan and it is produced incredibly well, for a fan film at least. It's fan fiction like this that gives me and others new hopes that perhaps Star Wars can get back on track. So if Disney is reading this, head my advice: your new Kenobi series should get take notes from this and The Mandalorian. Or, in short, let passionate people, like the ones behind this fan film, bring true Star Wars to life.

It's only 18 minutes runtime by the way but that's 18 minutes more than the Rise of Skywalker...

This was a fun short little film. I was surprised by the quality of the acting and cinematography. This is one of the best fan films that I have ever seen. There is clearly a passion for the characters and the story behind this labor of love. Kenobi's character felt consistent with the films and you could see the inspiration from the comic books as well.

Now after having watched the official "Obi-Wan Kenobi" show on Disney Plus, I cannot help but compare the two projects. This fan film is better than the version Disney gave us. I wish we got this attention to detail in the Disney plus show, instead of some incoherent plot, inconstant character motivations, and events that feel completely disconnected from the source material.