So, it finally dropped yesterday. My kids and I were very excited about this but we were all pretty disappointed. The series still has a chance to be very good, but it also has a good chance of being a real mess and a complete misfire.
The good:
-McGregor is great and he dominates every scene he is in.
-The lived in aesthetic remains for everything on Tattooine
-The series spends time to develop Kenobi and Leia as characters in interesting ways
They bad:
-The Leia chase scenes are embarrassingly bad (the girl playing the 10-year old acts well enough, but looks and runs like a 6-year old, and it destroys any action scene she is in).
-The new planet is like a Phantom Menace Blade Runner. The world is supposed to be a disgusting and dirty sewer, but everything looks new and shiny and not lived in…the rooftop scenes are particularly bad
-The direction and camera work are jarring and badly done: look at me, I’m directing now…see this weird camera angle?!?
-The main villain is hatable, but not in a good way. This isn’t her fault…the writing is one dimensional and cringeworthy. Fortunately, she’s set up for a better showing in the rest of the series, so there’s a chance this can be salvaged.
The series still has a chance to be good: if this was just an intro and we get into some better decisions, story-telling, and scene-setting, it could be very good. If the first two episodes are really what the show wants to showcase, we’re in for a brutal misfire.
Yeah, that chase scene in the forest was, um, special. The direction was confusing in that forest chase scene, and also the rooftop scene, when I guess the Inquisitor was seconds but also several minutes away?
I also wasn’t too sure about the revelation to Obi-Wan that Anakin was alive - I like that they played it that way, but I think it should have been made clear earlier that Obi-Wan still thought Anakin had died.
I’m concerned that we’re a third of the way into the series and I’m not really sure what it’s about. OK, yes, Obi-Wan. And I suppose it’s Obi-Wan regaining his faith. But … what’s the story?
Yeah, fair question. The appearance of one character in particular would have counted as a spoiler for me a few days ago, although maybe it was all over the internet.
I’ll adjust my post accordingly. (Ha … wow, posts not written with the intent to separate spoilers sure get funny-looking when later spoiler-proofed! But I’m oddly proud of “Obi-Wan ____ing his ____”)
Oh well. I’ll still watch it. So far it’s ok; I wasn’t expecting much so I’m unlikely to be disappointed.
Does anyone find the sequel trilogy undercuts all this? “All this work to overthrow the Emperor… he’s just going to return. Somehow. What’s the point?”
Absolutely. And it undercuts my love of Luke and Han, as well (and to a much lesser degree, why did that bitch Leia have to snub Chewie AGAIN?). The prequels did as well: so many things don’t make sense in the originals when you see what happened in the prequels. I really don’t understand why Disney is focusing all their efforts on this one time period in this Galaxy. There are so many other stories that can be told which don’t have to tread this well-trodden period or mangle beloved characters and scenes.
I tell my kids think of the prequel and sequels happening in different universes where much is the same, but they’re a bit different.
I liked the first 2 episodes so far, even Lily liked it and she doesn’t really like Star Wars.
But in my honest opinion, I find Obi Wan kind of boring. He is one of the best defensive duelists in the council, which is why he was sent to kill general grievous, but I don’t find him all that interesting compared to other characters.
I will continue to hope Disney realizes they are missing out on Characters like qui gon jinn who is much more interesting and a lot more like Anikan. His story before Anikan is really interesting and has a lot of content with Dooku as his master and characters like sifo dyas. I would love to see the story before the chosen one.
Exactly! I bet it would make it easier for new comers to Star Wars. You really had to know the 2 Trilogies to get the most out of the current series. The Jedi order existed for thousands of years with so many interesting things like civil war and different periods of the emergence of the sith. Why keep focusing on the Anikan story line?
The guy who ran into a tree branch for no reason when chasing lol
I wonder if this is canon? I would think Obi Wan would have sensed it? But Anikan could be hiding from him on purpose, but that would be strange and Vadar was hunting Obi Wan for 10 years from that point.
This is my concern. I’m not sure if Disney has said this series is canon? The story arch is done, I’m not sure how much more content they can get out of this period before episode 4.
I hated the character as well, but of course that doesn’t excuse racist or hurtful comments. But seeing as how many things that are objectively not racist are deemed racist, I’m skeptical that most of the hurtful comments were actually racist.
For me, I am digging Obi Wan’s unwillingness to go on with daily life and admit defeat. Imagine being the first Jedi to kill a sith for the first in…a long time and 10 years later, just chillin’ in a cave.
Leia[/spoiler] chase scenes in the forest are seriously wtf. I can understand if she’s crawling through tunnels or brush, but right out there in the open is just…dumb. I think the actor does a good job portraying [spoiler]Leia’s personality though, quick and easy way to tell her origin story.
The villain is kind of one dimensional. I wish she was developed a bit before she killed the Inquisitor in ep2.
Btw, Sun Kang as the samurai looking Jedi hunter is BAMF. I knew he looked and sounded familiar.
This series will be an epic fail if we see absolutely no lightsaber battle. However, according to the trailers, I know it’s going to happen. Looking forward to tonight’s ep.
Spoiler for something from other shows in the timeline: Apparently that Inquisitor is a main villain in one of the other shows (Rebels?) that comes later in the timeline, so … he’s not dead? Lightsabers continue to be startlingly ineffective in actually killing people? Looking at you, Darth Maul.
I assume it’s canon. Anything on Disney is canon, and pretty much everything else has been relegated to legends status.
With Kenobi, I think they’re doing a good job of creating an extra arc. Mind you, it wasn’t necessary - there was a clear line between End-of-Sith-Kenobi and New-Hope-Kenobi, waiting in the desert for the time to reemerge. But now they’ve added a step with a beaten Kenobi who needs to regain his faith, and when you’ve got an actor like McGregor in the role, that can totally work.
The remaining four episodes are being released on Wednesdays. I’m not sure what time that’d mean here.
EDIT: This mini-series does make it even weirder in Empire when Obi-Wan says Luke is “our last hope”, and Yoda replies “No … there is another …”. Unless Obi-Wan gets really disenchanted with all of Leia’s running off and despairs of the kid.
