Stars: Ewan McGregor, Rupert Friend, Sung Kang, Moses Ingram, Benny Safdie, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Simone Kessell, Vivien Lyra Blair, Flea, Jimmy Smits, Kumail Nanjiani, Marisé Álvarez, Rya Kihlstedt, Hayden Christensen
*Please note that this review is only for the first two episodes which premiered this morning at 12:01 EST*
I think it only appropriate to start this review off by giving you all a greeting that should sound fairly familiar to the Star Wars fans amongst you. That of course being *ahem* hello there. With that iconic pleasantry being said, is it just me dear reader or has the Star Wars franchise often really taken the time to explore the toil that emotions can bring to the world around them to say nothing of their quite complex bond that they can have with the iconic lightsaber wielders and Force utilizers that we know as the Jedi? Indeed for the man who was once known as Anakin Skywalker it saw him turn into the most fearsome Sith Lord of all time and for his son Luke it saw him walk away from a charge bestowed on him by one of the most iconic Jedi of all time. Yet while emotions have been a significant player in the Skywalker lineage throughout the franchise, we haven’t really gotten a chance to see just what impact emotions could potentially have on other Jedi/Sith….that is until now. I say that because with the release of the new Obi-Wan Kenobi mini-series that will be exclusively released to Disney+ with the first two episodes being released today, we get to witness none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi deal with his own emotional struggle in the interim between Episodes 3 and 4 of the iconic saga. Yes there are a few issues to be had with this particular series premiere especially that it doesn’t really move at an efficient enough speed at times and some characters may be a wee bit annoying, but there is no denying that what we are also getting is a series that, so far, seems to be a lot more adult to say nothing of astonishingly more intricate than audiences might have been expecting. Sure this show does have moments in it that you have come to expect from this franchise, right down to the appearance of a lightsaber or two, but it is also manages to mix those elements together with a narrative that gives off the vibe of being one of the most wonderfully even-keeled the franchise has had in a while thus resulting in a show that definitely seems to be on the right track.
Now there is no denying that the entire creative team behind the camera on this series manage to swiftly and crystal clearly establish their distinct vision for this series obvious from the word go. By that I mean this mini-series, which opens with the activation of Order 66, is one that revolves around trying to survive as one age passes away and its place a significantly bleaker one emerges. Nowhere is this truer in how this series views the Empire. By that I mean I know franchise creator George Lucas may have seen the Empire as a nearly universal interpretation of tyranny, but this series distinguishes itself by really pushing the comparisons between the Empire and the Nazis. Indeed there is a sequence in the first episode where one of the villains is looking for any remaining Jedi in a way that really feels like how Ray Fiennes’ villain looked for Jewish people in Schindler’s List. Heck you can even see a fair smidgeon of the character of Hans Landa to be found in the work done in this by Rupert Friend as the Grand Inquisitor in that, like the former, this character may be an iron-fisted tyrant, but he is also fairly brilliant and eloquent as well. It’s just a shame that his colleagues don’t carry anything close to the same level of menace. At the same time we see that, although it is important to our titular character’s odyssey, the Empire’s pursuit for the last dredges of the Jedi Order is only the proverbial bigger framework in this. Indeed the meat and potatoes of this particular narrative is the ever-swirling maelstrom of inner anguish and turmoil being felt by Obi-Wan. Yet it isn’t the peril being faced by the galaxy that troubles the former, but the fact that he can’t get over his guilt for not being able to save Anakin from the Dark Side. The same can also be said for his base of operations on Tatooine where he can keep an eye on Luke because you might think Obi-Wan views Luke as a possible hope for the galaxy, but because he wants to keep as firm a grip on possibly one of the last ties to a man he considered a brother as he possibly can.
Suffice it to say that he may not be the last Jedi in the galaxy (Yoda on Dagobah anyone?), but there is a distinct comparison that can be drawn between the odyssey being faced by Obi-Wan in this series and the one faced by Luke in the 8th Star Wars film appropriately called The Last Jedi. By that I mean there is a fairly indistinguishable deconstruction of a character who used to be optimistic and their subsequent reclamation of their reason for being who they were again. Suffice it to say that although this show has just begun, we see that even in these first two episodes he may have pushed the Jedi ways aside, but through events which occur that particular fire does begin to blaze again a little bit. The first spark occurs when a fellow Jedi he denies aid to on Tatooine meets a fairly gruesome fate. The second, and fairly more significant, spark, is when our hero agrees to rescue a child who has been taken as part of a sinister plot by one of the Inquisitors known as Reva who is desperate to find and snatch our hero for….reasons. A narrative hook that operates in several significant ways. The first of these is that the show already has managed to go to different locales as well as fulfilled the primary main objective present in the narrative. As a result, we see that this is a concentrated and lively (when it finally kicks into gear) series so far even though it does utilize frequent lulls to permit any emotions present to manifest themselves in some way. The second of these is that in many respects, this series is proving to be a fairly riveting to say nothing of just plain fun cat and mouse scenario. Indeed nowhere is this more seen than the John Wick-style moment where Reva puts out a bounty for our hero and it’s quickly shown to us that literally every other organism on the planet they are both on is a bounty hunter wanting to cash in.
Yet perhaps the most crucial component is the fact that Obi-Wan’s quest to save the character he is attempting to rescue not only conjures up character growth, but also places him on a course that will see him come face to face with his demons. A fact that the top-notch and spine-tingling final cut at the end of the two-part premiere seemingly manages to promise and I’m seriously hoping that it’s one promise this series manages to pay off spectacularly well. Yet whilst the fact that this series has been wonderfully undeterred in fully concentrating on its titular character’s pathos-driven journey is a fantastic accomplishment, there are some other items worth praising. This includes the fact that Vivien Lyra Blair makes for a wonderful young heroine in this, even with her sometimes astonishing gift for being able to know everything about a person just by looking at them to say nothing of the fact that, if we’re being honest, she can be a wee bit of a brat at times. Yet if she is to be this series’ equivalent to Baby Yoda (or Grogu for you Star Wars purists out there) then that’s not too terrible since she, alongside the delightful Kumail Nanjiani in the role of conman Haja Estree, help gift this fairly grim and bleak entry in the franchise with just a teeny tiny yet vital all the same degree of positivity. Speaking of the character of Estree though, I think it should be said that this guy proves to be a wonderful example for just how these episodes manage to intriguingly tie things together. By that I mean yes this character could have been an amusing albeit simple side character and no more, no less. At the same time though, I appreciate how his surprising attempt to do the right thing is balanced out by the more conniving aspects of his personality to say nothing of being able to push the narrative along in a distinct way. Suffice it to say both of these episodes showcase this connectivity quite well as we see the various ties between Obi-Wan, the child he is trying to rescue, the people who kidnapped her, and Reva (among others) all manage to result in this show giving off the vibe of actually being fairly well thought-out. A feat that, for all of its positives, this franchise has had difficulty in nailing down at times and that I hope this series continues to maintain. Now even though this series so far has been fairly satisfying in terms of narrative, there is one area where I still need a bit of persuading which is regards to its action beats. Now to be fair the first two episodes aren’t that action-centric to the point that lightsabers are merely utilized as interrogation methods instead of as actual weapons. There are several chases and blasters are used however and sadly these don’t really work as well especially when comparing the action in this to the action in say The Mandalorian. Yes I know that as the narrative moves along the action should also pick up so here’s hoping that what is seen on screen manages to get better as the series goes forward.
All in all there is no denying that the two-handed premiere of the new Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries is a wonderfully pathos-driven entry in the bigger Star Wars franchise that is given enough in the way of both layers and gravitas that I strongly hope we are about to get a fairly fulfilling odyssey for one of the most legendary Jedi in the entire lore of the franchise. No it’s not as skilled as some of its peers in the action beats and it might be making a few questionable choices in the character department a bit too quickly for my liking. Yet even with that in mind, there is no denying that this series is on the right track to be on this franchise’s more even-keeled narratives. Suffice it to say that when it comes to series beginnings, this is a well-done effort and with the seeds that have been planted here, I am now more optimistic than ever that this show will be a very bright star in this time-honored galaxy far far away. Make of that what you will. On a scale of 1-5 I give the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi “2022” a solid 3.5 out of 5.
