LiteKoi

This is definitely my favourite Star Wars content period.

I haven't seen everything, just all live-action movies except for Solo and I've also seen the Mandalorian and part of Obi-Wan but I didn't see it entirely because I just didn't like it.

Given what we've been given in the live-action realm since The Force Awakens, my expectations for this were pretty darn low. Mandalorian had some really good things but it wasn't enough to make me forget the last Star Wars trilogy and it was also followed by two very unconvincing titles: The Book of Bobba Fett which I didn't even bother to watch and Obi-Wan, which I tried. I did really love Rogue One, definitely my favourite film since the original trilogy, but still, when Andor came out, my hopes were pretty low and I wasn't excited to watch it at all.

Then I watched the first 3 episodes and I immediately went like "Oh, so this is actually good, very solid start!". Then came episode 4, then 5 and that's when I got hooked. The Aldani arc totally captivated me with its impeccable cinematography, the acting, writing, dialogue, and that incredible tension that the show keeps building up as the story unfolds. It's the first time EVER, that I actually take the Empire seriously. It's the first time it truly feels like a proper empire of tyranny, oppression, facism and it does feel scary. I'm genuinely scared for the characters, many of them being minor characters. I've never been this involved and emotionally attached in the characters and story in a Star Wars film or series.

If you loved Rogue One, if you are into more grounded, mature and uncompromising storytelling, if you don't blindly believe that a Star Wars show needs to have Jedis, Siths, force wielders, flying bounty hunters, or a myriad of cameos from the Original Saga, if you think that it's ok for a Star Wars series to have its own identity, embracing a more brutal and deeper tone to finally show how real the stakes are and what it means to Rebel against the empire, then I think you should absolutely love this gem of a series.

It's not perfect but for a Star Wars show to do something so good and under the Disney umbrella...That's a 10/10 for me, give me more of the same stuff please!

I know it's purely subjective, my rating is just the manifestation of my appreciation of the show, the story it tells, its characters, its universe and I'm trying to give a fair rating as opposed to reacting to other ratings I don't align with. Sadly, my experience is that in all these aspects, Obi-Wan Kenobi was painfully lacking. I liked some effects and visual but action scenes, chases and choreography are downright awful. The acting is solid with some actors like Ewan but the script and characters are so badly written that it doesn't do much and make some of them really hard to take seriously. The plot and character's decision are full of inconsistencies that are hard to overlook, which is something I'm usually able to do, as long as what I'm watching is giving me compelling characters and story telling. Overall, the words that come to mind are "poor", "incoherent", "boring", "annoying" and "dumbed down". It's one of the many shows/movies that when I watch it, I really feel like the creators do not respect the audience intelligence.

My last experience with Star Wars was "The Mandalorian". I thouroughly enjoyed it even though I had no expectations or particular interest in it initially. Some episodes felt a bit uneven and I'm sure there also are a lot of inconsistencies in there, some I noticed but what really struck me in the Mandalorian is that I could tell, I could feel how much love, passion and care was put into this show. A love and respect for Star Wars in general but more importantly, for their own story and characters. This, and given how masterfully they executed some scenes/episodes, allowed me to overlook the many flaws of the show.

This show is utterly unable to do the same for me. Here, it seems that the decision makers at Disney wanted to take advantage of the popularity of Obi-Wan Kenobi to push hidden agendas and nefarious goals, sacrificing the hearts and souls of this show in the process, as well as making some money. I guess entertainment has always done that to a certain extent but gosh, that aspect has become disturbingly strong over the last few years. Honestly, you get a MUCH more compelling story, characters, action, interactions etc, in cutscenes from "Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order"'s (yeah, a video game...). These companies know how to create proper content, or rather, to employ people who do, they just choose not to and this has to come to an end, the sooner the better.

I'm also certain that the overall rating for Obi-Wan Kenobi is a joke. Just take a look at the reviews and ratings and it will become painfully obivious. The actual rating is probably closer to 5/6 (and I'm being generous). At least it gave me a good laugh, which is more than this show did so far.

The film tells quite a unique story of cops joining forces with gangsters to go after a serial killer.

If you single out all these elements (cops, gangsters, a serial killer, a cop teaming up with a gangster), then I've seen and enjoyed them many times before and yet, I don't think I've ever seen them all come together like this.

So, a unique story that relies on well known archetypes. I thought it handled them well enough.

However, if you're looking for a very plausible story line and a masterful intricate plot, well that's just not what this is about. It's more of a fun, entertaining and somewhat gritty movie that mostly revolves around the dynamic between the cop and the gangster. As such, it was also my main source of enjoyment while watching it.

I also liked the cinematography, the acting (cop, gangster and serial killer), action sequences and fight choreographies. It also has a comedic aspect to it, which surprised me but was very welcome and appreciated. Ma Dong-seok's character was the one that stood out the most to me, then the cop. Like I said, the main strength of the film is the dynamic between them. At least that's how I experienced it.

One thing that frustrated me during this film is the dynamic between the cop and his superior. The dialogues were overly repetitive and I think that this is a good example of where the film is lacking. There isn't a lot of depth in this movie and it suffers from it. Especially when you start to stray away from the dynamic duo (cop and gangster).

That's about it. I had a good time watching it and I'd recommend it to those who enjoy these kinds of detective stories and want to have some fun but don't expect exceptional writting and depth.

I give it a 7.5