Obi-Wan Kenobi: Premier Review
Ewan Megregor as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
Thank the Force! Obi-Wan Kenobi has returned to our screens in Disney+’s new show, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Spanning 6 episodes, the show follows Obi-Wan Kenobi as he returns from exile on Tatooine to rescue young Leia Organa who has been kidnapped by bounty hunters. At least that is the plot of the first two episodes.
Pros: The Star Wars Disney+ series has clearly learned from their film reboots. The film reboots, Episodes VII - IX, made the mistake of changing directors in every film and not having a set game plan for the story. This was to their detriment, as every film felt like we were seeing a different story, the way characters were portrayed was always slightly different from one film to the next, and overall nothing felt cohesive. The streaming series wisely learned from that. Directed by Deborah Chow, Obi-Wan Kenobi so far feels much more cohesive now that there is one person guiding the ship. This allows the story to flourish as you don’t have a new vision coming in every episode. So far Chow is keeping a very cohesive and compelling story line, she just has to maintain that for four more episodes.
“The time of the Jedi is over. ”
In the first two episodes, Obi-Wan Kenobi has dealt with a topic that only ever gets hinted at in the larger universe, and that is failure and consequences. Star Wars has been described as a space opera. There are massive fight sequences, and the story overall follows a hero as they go on a quest to conquer evil. In the larger universe, there are some battles lost, but overall the heroes win in the end. Obi-Wan Kenobi is different in that, at this point, the heroes lost, and not only lost but had to face incredible loss in friends, allies, and kinsmen. Viewers actively see Kenobi wrestle through nightmares, flashbacks, and fear. Once a great warrior, after ten years of hiding, when the call comes to once again be a warrior, he does not want to return to that world. He has gotten used to his new life, however small it may be, and doesn’t want to risk seeing the larger galaxy again. A larger galaxy that is vastly different from the one he defended for over 20 years. Senator Organa has to physically come to Kenobi to finally convince him to leave Tatooine. This portrayal of Kenobi resonates with viewers as it humanizes him. Almost everyone either knows someone, or has gone personally gone through a form of PTSD; and to watch a character that many look up to go through the same thing, not only makes him relatable, but makes the viewer root for him more. We all know he will make it out in the end, we do have A New Hope after all, but watching the journey from fallen warrior to wise teacher is what viewers want to see.
Concerns: Seeing the casting line up, a lot of people have been concerned that the show is adding too many new characters and that the show won’t be as centered on Kenobi as hoped. Watching the first two episodes, I am not as concerned. So far the only original character added has been the Inquisitor Reva (Moses Ingram), and so far she has been fantastic. Not much is known about her yet, other than she seems to have a vendetta against Kenobi and is also using him to garner favor with Darth Vader (Hayden Christensen). So far she has not distracted from Obi-Wan’s story, and has only made for a compelling adversary.
Vivien Lyra Blair as Leia Organa in Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022)
Best Performance: While Ingram is newer to acting and this could be considered her breakout role, so far I would have to give the title of “Rising Star” to Vivien Lyra Blair who plays a young Leia Organa. Blair and Ingram have both been working in Hollywood for roughly the same amount of time, but Blair’s performance so far has stood out the most. As a young Leia, Blair is almost exactly what you would expect of Padme Amadala’s daughter. She is incredibly bright, stubborn, and much wiser than many of her peers. You can easily see that she could be on the same path as Padme, and become the youngest senator of Alderaan in history, much as Padme was the youngest queen ever on Naboo. It will be very interesting to watch Blair’s career from here. Actresses like Dakota Fanning and McKenna Grace are excellent examples of child actresses who have cultivated their craft and become household names, and based on her performance so far, Blair could easily be on that path.
Overall I am excited to see how the rest of the series shapes up. The first two episodes have laid the groundwork for a compelling story. While we know most of these characters already, we are seeing a different side than we are used to. With Leia, we get to see her before she was the General we know and love; and we get to see the foundation that made her the passionate woman we know her to be. With Kenobi, we get to see the character growth. The main film series highlighted a lot of his more positive traits, Obi-Wan Kenobi is taking the time to show the pain that he has endured, and how he deals with it to make him the man we know in A New Hope.