Obi-Wan Kenobi has been a show/movie rumored for years. Now, we have the first part of the journey.
Oh my goodness gracious what a doozy. First of all, to start off, Deborah Chow killed the directing. Cinematography looks great, and transitions effortlessly from the sunny deserts of Tatooine to the backlit streets of Daiyu. Pacing feels the same throughout, and I wish that would have changed relative to the setting, just to make it feel more like the city, but if it had to be this way, it works. We are moving very very quickly, with the first episode feeling like a 30 minute episode despite the fact that it’s 55 minutes long.
Natalie Holt has done an amazing job with the score. It helps immensely, enveloping you into the setting you’re in. AND THE OBI-WAN KENOBI THEME. John Williams is the king of it all, I’m so glad he wanted to develop that theme. Not to say Holt couldn’t have done as well, but man, it’s going to suck when Williams leaves us. The scripts feel great with what we have so far, I’m really glad we didn’t get sucked into Vader v. Kenobi right off the bat, this feels like the perfect point to leap off of that. It’s interesting ten years after Revenge of the Sith he’s in a bacta tank. I wonder what Reva and Vader get up to since she’s so focused on bringing Kenobi to Vader.
SPEAKING OF REVA. Moses Ingram, welcome to Star Wars. This powerful woman brings all the mojo and more to a galaxy far far away. Reva is effortlessly powerful, with a chip on her shoulder that I am excited to see explored in further episodes. There’s an air of mystery to her, without a lack of development present (so far). I do wonder what repercussions will follow Reva through this series after her choice at the end of episode 2.
I would be remiss to leave off without mentioning the titular character, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Ewan McGregor is playing old man Kenobi phenomenally. There’s a touch of horror in him when Anakin is mentioned, and a hesitancy to return to form as a Jedi Knight. And he is playing well with Leia actress (I’m sorry, she was a surprise and I don’t know the actress’ name, I will look up in the morning promise). Her spitfire, and his shock and surprise, as well as age make a good match. I look forward to the future episodes.
Overall, I’m super happy with the debut of Obi-Wan Kenobi. I think it’s got strength that it needed being a story told in the middle of a character’s life we know the beginning and the end to already. It show’s he’s struggling, and ultimately not yet ready to tell the tales he does to Luke in A New Hope. This should turn the tide on that, and I am interested in seeing where this goes, when ultimately, my main points of excitement before this were the cast, and Deborah Chow. –Katie Rentschler
Rating: 4.2/5
Obi-Wan Kenobi episodes 1 and 2 are now streaming on Disney+. New episodes air on Disney+ every Wednesday.