Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi is streaming on Disney Plus at the time of writing.
Television programs are typically reviewed after the first two or three episodes. This report card does not cover the entire season. It may contain MINOR spoilers for the first few episodes.
SCREENPLAY: A
A prequels highlight reel kicks off the series, summarizing the saga of Obi-Wan and Anakin. Ten years on from that saga, Luke is growing up. Obi-Wan is growing old. He’s not the Jedi he used to be.
Any fears we would be marooned on Tatooine are quickly dashed. As Yoda said, “There is another.” A bit queasily, Obi-Wan flies away to rescue the young, kidnapped princess. The plot line’s a zig instead of a zag, and definitely the right call. It conjures a pleasant vibe of uncertainty of where the story will go.
ACTING A-
Ewan MacGregor plays the reluctant hero to perfection. He’s a vivacious actor. Dialing down the intensity is a sign of his titanic acting chops. His face in the moment he learns Anakin survived the duel on Mustafar is simultaneously heartbreaking and electric.
We meet Princess Leia, age ten. She possesses the sass of a teen and the confidence of galactic royalty. These things exist no doubt due to the fantastic writing, but you need a spot on performance to deliver the goods. Vivien Lyra Blair delivers the goods. She is precisely the person who grows up to be the Princess Leia we all know and love.
Everyone is good. The Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) is completely menacing. Uncle Owen’s (Josh Edgerton) performance gently plants the seeds of the crotchety old man we meet in A New Hope. Moses Ingram gets better as the series goes on as Third Sister/Reva. Her blustering rage comes off a bit one-note at first. The reasons for her rage emerge as the series unfurls, and with them her choices begin to make more sense.
CRAFT A-
We’ve seen a lot of Tatooine over the years, but it's rarely looked better. Both the CGI and the practical designs feel fresh. Alderaan looks amazing. I’m searching for an Airbnb there in my other tabs as I type this. Daiyu is a new world (at least to me) that owes much to Blade Runner. Ultimately, every place feels real and genuine. Even Star Wars shows flounder when this isn’t the case.
VILLAINS (Elective Class) B-
Slight spoiler for episode two …
I’ve always believed Darth Vader is the unrivaled greatest villain of all time. The suit. The breathing. The menace. The voice. The tragic backstory. He’s got it all. But I’m starting to wonder if he’s the unrivaled greatest villain of all time because Star Wars always kills off his rivals. Quickly.
We meet Boba Fett in Empire (I claim the holiday special doesn’t count). You had to be alive in 1980 to truly appreciate and comprehend Boba mania. He was in such demand that he was the only action figure you couldn’t buy in stores. You had to send in four proof of purchases from other figures, send away for him in the mail, and wait months for him to arrive. He was the baddest, but he goes out like a chump in the first act of Return of the Jedi.
Darth Maul could have been the greatest villain in franchise history, given the right attention. That guy doesn’t even last a whole movie.
Is the Star Wars Corporation coddling Vader? Knocking off all the competition? Because the Grand Inquisitor is incredible and doesn’t last as long as either of them. He gets taken out like a sucker right quick. Star Wars is filled with heroes who’ve stuck around for decades. Can’t the bad guys hang out for a while? Can’t Vader take a little heat?
FINAL COMMENTS:
This is a fantastic show that proves - yes - there is a way to recast Star Wars characters. I think Solo’s problem was that they tried to cast an iconic character too close to the original’s age. You couldn’t recast Leia unless she’s ten years old. MacGregor was perfect as Obi Wan in 1999 because he was so much younger than Alec Guinness in 1977. What makes this performance so intriguing and penetrating is the fact that MacGregor’s 23 years older than when The Phantom Menace premiered. He’s the character who we feel we’ve known forever.
The prequel era finally gets its due. Deserved or not, it’s certainly a delight.