Obi-Wan Kenobi Review!

Alright! Today I'm reviewing the long-awaited limited series Obi-Wan Kenobi, which is the third live-action Star Wars television show made for Disney+. Originally developed as "A Star Wars Story" but changed to miniseries form following Solo's dismal box office returns, Obi-Wan Kenobi is about, you guessed it, Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi and a little skirmish he has with Inquisitors 10 years after Revenge of the Sith. 

Simply put, this could and should be the greatest Disney+ show yet. Obi-Wan is a fan favorite character, the Prequels have gained renewed appreciation in the past few years, and The Clone Wars have really increased the fanbase and given much-needed complexity to Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship. Obi-Wan Kenobi was a slam dunk prime for the taking. But then it... wasn't? 

To start off, I enjoyed things about this show. It's always a delight to see Ewan McGregor in any capacity, especially in his most well-known role. Even though his appearance in the series was minimal at best, Hayden Christensen's return to Star Wars was glorious, and Darth Vader continued to be an unstoppable monster. Joel Edgerton as Owen Lars was fantastic, wonderfully sassy, and quietly captivating. Vivien Lyra Blair was an absolute scene stealer and MVP of the series as Leia, who had a wonderful onscreen relationship with McGregor. I also greatly enjoyed the recap of the entire Prequel Trilogy that played before the first episode. 

However, after that short list of praise, I really don't a lot of nice things to say about the series. Like all Disney+ shows, one of the biggest problems I had with it was that six episodes was not enough/stretched it out. Obi-Wan Kenobi very easily could have been tweaked into a third anthology film. But hey, Disney+ needs content, can mine the MCU and Star Wars for it, and need enough weekly releases to have constant content but also short enough to have multiple buzzy series throughout the year. This series also marked the first time two buzzy Disney+ shows have been released simultaneously, namely (The infinitely better) Ms. Marvel.

Now, first and foremost, this series had some really wonky writing. I get that every character the series tries to put in danger of death - Vader, Obi-Wan, Luke, and Leia - has to be alive for A New Hope to happen, but the amount of fallacies that occur are baffling. Instead of concrete “yep, there was no way he could have killed him,” we have Darth Vader standing solemnly and watching Obi-Wan slowly get away after clearly demonstrating capturing him would be no big deal (Twice), Obi-Wan letting Vader get away, and a number of instances where characters are randomly able to relieve themselves of stakes in favor of the storyline continuing (Including multiple stab wounds). 

It also made no sense that Obi-Wan would be out of touch with the force. I get you need a big triumphant finale, but majorly depowering the main character isn’t the way to do it. Instead of seeing Obi-Wan at his highest peak, the show spends the entire runtime getting Kenobi back to where we expected him to be… in touch with the force and communicating with Qui-Gon. Like, that was his only purpose on Tatooine - watch Luke and grow strong in the force. Apparently he forgot about that.

The series comes and goes as easily and as tamely as a mediocre arc of The Clone Wars (Yet with only one reference to that show), squandering four episodes with two superfluous plot extensions that makes the series feel like it would work better as a film. However, it eventually builds to a finale that, like the series, does a lot of things right and a lot of things wrong. For starters, most of the stuff on Tatooine was unnecessary, if nicely done. I disliked how “the rematch of the century” ended up feeling less like Maul vs. Ashoka and more like Godzilla vs. Kong  (“This was some funky set up and the supporting cast of characters is even worse, but if they can deliver on these two titans fighting it will be worth it”). 

The finale was also disappointing in the regard that this “rematch of the century” ends with Obi-Wan calmly walking away after having Vader in a position to be killed, maybe. The series isn’t really clear about if Vader is dying, his mask just gets torn and his buttons smashed (And for a man who could replicate the Black Knight Monty Python bit, that damage doesn’t seem like a lot). Additionally, the “Hello there” and Qui-Gon cameos just felt like forced “for the fans” moments that only existed because they knew people would become dangerously violent if they didn’t happen. I also disliked how the series spent six episodes building up towards Obi-Wan being strong in the force, ready to train with Qui-Gon on Tatooine… eg the ending of Revenge of the Sith, and the content that the series should have been about.  

However, we really need to talk about Reva, the Third Sister Inquisitor who's the big bad for the majority of the series. I absolutely hated this character with every fiber of my being. Words cannot express how much I wanted established and powerful characters like Vader, the Grand Inquisitor, or Kenobi to K.O. her by episode two. I was done. But no, her story kept going - and I say her story because eventually this series does feel like her story. It might be called Obi-Wan Kenobi, but the plots, action scenes, and resolutions of nearly every single episode are kicked off by Reva, causing Obi-Wan to be almost entirely passive for his own show. It's the same complaint I had about Multiverse of Madness - the exact same story would have happened to anyone who happened to help America Chavez.

Reva’s entire plan - kidnap Leia to get to Kenobi - makes no sense. While it first sets her up to have a grudge against Kenobi, the twist that she’s tracking Anakin is fine, but that does make her plan kidnap Leia to use as bait for Kenobi, use Kenobi as bait for Vader, and then kill Vader. Now, an Inquisitor trying to kill Vader sounds dope, but seeing the series trip over itself to extend the plot for six episodes was not dope. Time and time again Obi-Wan and Leia are kidnapped, rescued, and then kidnapped again, causing redundancy and irrelevancy for episode four. Her final goal for the end of the series - trying to kill Luke - made even less sense, as her way to get back at the guy who killed all of her friends as a kid was to… kill another kid? Like she doesn’t go through with it, but it never made sense to begin with. Even more baffling is that the frequent catch and release nature was tolerated by unforgiving monsters like Vader, who have previously been established to kill people for talking back to them, being too power hungry, or knowing his identity as Anakin Skywalker.

The show using established characters to build her up was also done poorly. Vader’s frequent “You have done well, Third Sister” made no sense given that she had, for all accounts and purposes, failed miserably but with enough grace to justify another prolonged chase episode. Her stabbing of the Grand Inquisitor also took me out of a large portion of the show, as the disbelief they would actually do that and the belief that it may actually be left unresolved stuck with me for a while. It would be like Grand Moff Tarkin dying a fiery death in Rogue One only to appear at the end of the movie, or Chewbacca dying and then showing up on a different ship completely unscathed. And again with the stab wounds being non lethal. While the GI gets a pass for having a later in-universe death, Reva (Who was stabbed twice through the chest) merely survives to take time away from the Kenobi v Vader fight the series, marketing, and fan hype had been building towards.

I also found her actress to not be bad, but also not good either. The finale proves through and through she’s talented and worthy of a main role, but the actress is simply not intimidating at all. Her frequent screams are in no way, shape, or form scary, a notion the show itself backs up when even a ten-year-old isn’t scared of her. Worst yet is that due to racist bigots online, any and all criticism of the character can be brushed off as racism. But hey, Star Wars fans got to be Star Wars fans and harass actors for doing their jobs. 

Now, this complaint physically hurts me to say, but the music in this series is not good. It's bland, repetitive, and wholly unremarkable. Maestro John Williams' last attempt at a new iconic Star Wars theme is largely uninspired, and Natalie Holt's score for the rest of the show goes likewise. It's a shame too, considering Star Wars' unparalleled musical consistency, Holt and William's previous works, and even the other Star Wars Disney+ shows. Like, I had my problems with The Book of Boba Fett, but hot dog did that theme set the tone. Obi-Wan Kenobi has nothing. 

It’s not only on the musical side of production that fails - the visual effects and cinematography team failed here as well. While it’s a granted that’s it is Star Wars, and consequently Imperial Star ships look great and lightsabers look cool, there are several moments throughout the series where bland and flat looking cinematography makes the VFX look worse than it actually was. The editing failed remarkably as well, turning chase scenes into weirdly slow shuffles through forests, crowded cities, or rooftops. 

The direction also fails, giving us numerous bland slabs of tan and grey to look at, choppy fight scenes, and no traces of style, flair, or fun. Like, even a guided but incompletely made product can be entertaining (Like the Prequels), and a completely made but misguided product can be entertaining, but Kenobi settled for a misguided and incompetently made mixture of both, completely lacking any sense of fun.

The series was also weirdly derivative of previous Star Wars material, using A New Hope’s starter fluid (Leia is kidnapped), Fallen Order’s plot (Invade the Inquisitor base), Rebels’ best moments (A much better finale where Vader’s mask is ripped in half, allowing the character to see their once-friend and get all teary-eyed), and Revenge of the Sith’s dialogue (“I will do what I must”). And the kicker is that every single one of those things it does worse. Everything is a pale imitation of what made those things so darn awesome. 

Perhaps the biggest mistake of all is that it did not live up to expectations. Now, given that it's Star Wars and the fact I just brought up fan expectations, it would be easy to write off any and all legitimate critiques I have of the series. However, I saw an online comment suggesting this plot element and I couldn't help but be impressed: 

Instead of the first two episodes serving as a prelude to Obi-Wan finding out Vader is alive (Which should have been the driving force of the series), Obi-Wan finds out Vader is alive on Tatooine and, because the Sith can sense fear, Obi-Wan (Who had presumed Anakin dead and was thus no longer afraid) realizes he needs to distance himself from Luke and goes to stop Vader. This completely cuts out the need for Reva and Leia and speeds up the series by an episode. Then the series could end with Obi-Wan absolutely demolishing, but not killing, Anakin, citing that it is not his destiny to do so (Perhaps being told that mid-killing blow by Qui-Gon), and that he is no longer afraid as he knows Anakin will be defeated at some point.  

And while there are personal nitpicks, even more nitpicky than the things previously stated (No references to Ahsoka, Satine, high ground, or the grand reappearance of the helicopter lightsabers), there is an overall lack of heart to this series that makes it… subpar. It should be more, be it Obi-Wan’s buddy-cop relationship with Leia, heartfelt conversations/trauma about the events of the Prequels, dialogue between Obi-Wan and Vader, or the focus on what should be the core conflict of the series - the relationship between Vader and Obi-Wan. It should have been more in every regard, but settles for frustrating mediocrity, a mediocrity of which is even more so disappointing. 

It’s cool, but not special.

This is, without a doubt, the most disappointing thing I have seen in a hot minute. There was so much potential, from the beloved lead, ripe source material, plethora of good emotional beats readily available, and the iconic characters everyone knows. Instead, it’s the most generic, base level, unremarkable thing Star Wars has seen since Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. This should be the best thing Star Wars has ever made - instead it feels wholly on autopilot, from the writing, technical, directing, VFX, and even acting standards, ending up (Like Solo before it) as yet another glorified prequel whose only purpose is to explain the lore of a background prop from A New Hope. In the same way that the Sequels made the Prequels seem better in retrospect, Obi-Wan makes the Sequels look better in retrospect. At least they were fun to watch. 

These past few Star Wars projects have honestly needed to be vetted by Star Wars fans. Nearly every single episode's conflict could have been solved by Jedi mind tricks, and most of the series was too derivative of A New Hope, Rebels, and Fallen Order. Maybe the fans would've come up with a better name for an Obi-Wan show than Obi-Wan Kenobi. And who knows - maybe they would've made the Obi-Wan show about Obi-Wan. 

I always feel bad writing these super critical reviews of Star Wars. I want to like Star Wars, I really do. But not like this (And no “Just getting to see these characters again” is not enough. The characters are to be expected when it’s called Obi-Wan Kenobi). This show went down a path I can’t follow - not creating the best content because they want to, but rather creating a product that, regardless of quality, people will watch. And that mindset is evident in the show’s lack of depth and heart. 

“The most disappointing Star Wars story since the last one.”

Overall, I give Obi-Wan Kenobi a 3/10. "While it's nice to see Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen back in their defining roles, Obi-Wan Kenobi is dragged down by everything that isn't Obi-Wan Kenobi." 

To quote another Disney+ series:
“You gotta do better.”