Disney’s highly anticipated, and latest Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a mixed bag. It gets some things very right and other things horribly wrong. In this review, we will look at what works and what doesn’t.
What Works
This should go without saying but Ewan McGregor does a great job reprising his role of the titular Jedi Master in the series. It’s good to see him evolve slowly back into his “old self” as he gradually shakes off the rust hiding from the Empire. It’s especially enjoyable seeing him take the fight to their Sith leaders with a combination of blaster fire and lightsaber attacks.
Speaking of the Sith, everyone’s favorite fallen Jedi, Anakin Skywalker, more commonly known as Darth Vader is great in this series for the most part. However, even he doesn’t get out of this series unscathed (more on that later). He uses his powers in a sadistic way and it feels like the Darth Vader audiences fell in love with in 1977 and 1980.
Visually Obi-Wan Kenobi looks great. It’s a big-budget feast with great cues back to both the Prequel and Original Trilogies. The best scenes occur in the final episode. Unfortunately, so do some of the worst ones. Additionally, we get a sensational duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan as well as a long-awaited return from a Prequel character that fans have been clamoring to see again for decades.
What Doesn’t Work
Everything else. Sadly this is what audiences have come to expect from Star Wars products put out by Disney, without John Favreau and Dave Filoni’s involvement. Obi-Wan Kenobi has more holes than the contents of a Swiss cheese factory.
The biggest problem with Obi-Wan Kenobi is that the narrative in the series doesn’t make any sense in the context of the original Star Wars (1977). Kenobi has been in hiding from the Sith/Empire for a decade. Yet, when Princess Leia is kidnapped, Bail Organa calls on Obi-Wan to rescue her. Further, she’s a character as poorly acted and written as “Little Ani” in The Phantom Menace (1999).
Kenobi ends up rescuing the girl, not once but twice which you’d think would be mentioned by either of them at some point in the subsequent films. For example, maybe during Princess Leia’s “Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi, you’re our only hope,” speech. This is lazily explained away by a throwaway line in the last episode that nobody can ever know that Obi-Wan and Leia had an adventure together.
This elaborate kidnapping plot was orchestrated by fallen Padawan and now “servant” to Darth Vader, Reva. She’s also quite possibly the worst character to ever exist in the Star Wars Universe. The purpose of the plan is to flush out Kenobi from hiding. However, how she knows that he will come running to save this kid is never really explained. It’s like she knows who Leia’s true parents are because the story, which doesn’t make any sense anyway, needs her to.
In Obi-Wan Kenobi, Reva tells Obi-Wan that Darth Vader/Anakin is still alive a full ten years after their duel, which surprises him? Didn’t he know this already? If not, why did he make the choices he made at the end of Revenge of the Sith (2005) regarding the twins. This major plot point is the whole crux of the next trilogy.
So, Reva’s motivation for all of this is revenge for killing the Jedi, especially the Younglings, at the Jedi temple during the events of Revenge of the Sith. This is accomplished by gaining Darth Vader’s trust long enough to kill him in a surprise lightsaber attack? What? So, her motivation for hunting and killing the remnants of the Jedi order is to gain Darth Vader’s trust so she can kill him for killing the Jedi when she was a kid. Does this make any sense?
Darth Vader knows all of this and goes along with it so he can kill her when she tries to kill him. He delivers what should be a killing blow in the same manner that Darth Maul did to Qui-Gon Jinn. Yet, Reva basically just shrugs it off like she just spent the day at the beach.
Another idiotic plot point is Bail Organa’s actions throughout this whole thing. He blabs about Luke and Leia constantly in holographic messages to Obi-Wan. However, he has zero regards for the possibility that this information could be intercepted or fall into the wrong hands. This leads Reva back to Tatooine to try to kill Uncle Owen, Aunt Beru, and Luke, which she laughably fails at before deciding to be a good again and bursting into tears.
Conclusion
Obi-Wan Kenobi could have been a fun series that expands the lore of the Star Wars universe. It could have continued the adventures of one of the most beloved characters in the series. Instead, it is bogged down by poor writing. There are plot points that don’t make any sense in the context of the original 1977 movie. Further, the characterizations are terrible. For every great thing about it, there are two things that are awful. A disappointment across the board.
