“Obi-Wan Kenobi” was going to be a movie and ended up being a series within Disney’s streaming service, Disney+. The House of Mickey’s domination plan was to replicate the successful Marvel production model with Star Wars. Regular saga films would alternate with peripheral stories under the A Star Wars Story brand. With the end of the Skywalker saga, these stand alone would be interpolated with other trilogies unconnected with Luke, Vader and co. But all those plans were shelved.
The spin-off project started well, with “Rogue One”, which had good reviews and excellent acceptance among the fandom, but failed with “Han Solo”, a film that suffered negative reviews and left fans (who were already not very excited) quite annoyed. Adding to this the divisive reception of the last two films of the final trilogy of the Skywalker Saga, the Star Wars franchise was discontinued in cinema, having the direction turned to Disney+, following the logic of the success of The Mandalorian, which brought with it the phenomenon. of merchandising called Baby Yoda.
Obi-Wan Kenobi arrives preceded by two great seasons of The Mandalorian and the reasonable The Book of Boba Fett. The expectation was great, after all, in addition to bringing Ewan McGregor back to the role of the Jedi, we would still have another encounter with the villain Darth Vader. The bonus is the presence of Hayden Christensen back in the role of Anakin Skywalker and wearing Darth Vader’s armor for the first time (in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith he was a stunt double).
Nostalgia is the order of the day. Which is nothing new when it comes to Star Wars. But here the focus is on the Prequel Trilogy (Episodes I, II and III), especially Revenge of the Sith, considered by the younger generation of fans as the best movie of the entire saga. But, of course, there are nods to the classic trilogy.
The first two episodes of the series are introductory and feature the pieces on the board. They were released together on the 27th of May and can be seen as a 1h38 movie that was followed by a miniseries. The curious thing is that George Lucas’ plan for the continuation of the original 1977 film, if it didn’t do well at the box office, was to continue the story on TV. The episodes that follow one another develop the action and there the problems begin.
The series features good action scenes, brings us the joy of seeing Obi-Wan in action once again. However, the production ends up falling into the trap (or it would be an intentional and lazy conception) of creating a thread for fan service as if only the caressing of affective memory was enough to build something satisfying for fans.
The lack of concern for excellence ranges from the careless direction by Deborah Chow, who even does a good job in the first two episodes, but in the following ones randomly commands the story, to the special effects executed with an offensive disregard for the story. from Star Wars that started with a movie that revolutionized special effects.
Not to mention the script that, despite presenting a correct structure, is riddled with conveniences and lazy resolutions, which resort to situations already seen in the franchise, and often generating an uncomfortable friction with what had been established in the canon of George Lucas.
Ewan McGregor continues to play the younger version of Obi-Wan Kenobi with talent by reproducing some of Alec Guinness’s mannerisms, not forgetting the mannerisms of his own performance in the prequel trilogy, this added to the dejection caused by the recent traumas.
Little Vivien Lyra Blair is graceful and her performance as “Little Leia” (as she is now commonly called by fans) is quite convincing. It appears to be less than the ten years the character should have been in the plot, just as her introduction into the plot feels a bit forced and to some extent incongruous with canon.
Among the villains, the highlight goes to Moses Ingram, the interpreter of Inquisitor Reva, the Third Sister. She properly passes the obstinacy of the Inquisitors and her turnaround is shown in the right tone. Hayden Christensen takes David Prowse’s place as Darth Vader’s body (while James Earl Jones lends the voice, as he has for 45 years), but votes to play young Anakin, suitably rejuvenated by CGI, and his adorable canastrice is still there. .
“Obi-Wan Kenobi” isn’t the best series on Disney+. The title still belongs to our dear Mando. The potential of the series is wasted by a bureaucratic direction and a script much more concerned with the appeal to the fans than in developing the drama of an exiled Jedi having to deal with his uncertainties about the future of the galaxy in the hands of the Empire. Between mistakes and successes, the balance was positive. Who knows in the second season, if it is indeed confirmed, the small errors are fixed?
