I wanted to like, even love, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I had high hopes based mostly on The Mandalorian, less so, on Boba Fett.
There are inherent constraints in using these legacy characters at a midpoint in their career. We know Leia, Obi, Vader won't be killed nor irreparably injured.
Obi-Wan has a character arc here, and I don't particularly like it. Just as with the deconstruction of Luke's character in eps 7,8,9, whatever they were called, I don't like the ugly side of Obi-Wan here where he turns his back on an innocent, a former padewan, and just lets him be killed and perhaps tortured for information about other refugees offscreen. He even refuses the call from Bail Organa to rescue Leia until Senator Organa shows up in person. All of which should have led the Inquisitors right to Obi-Wan, and to Luke. But plot armor prevails.
Even Leia gets handled roughly here. She's prissy and entitled, imperious, reckless and impulsive, and a poor judge of character.
The special and practical effects seemed rather lackluster, and there were obvious in-universe things which didn't make sense, like the laser fence which didn't extend beyond the checkpoint which Obi seemed unable to figure out how to bypass in ep 3.
The use of small sets, perhaps the volume, led to grand scenes like the siege and storming of the rebel base, being rather perfunctory, not by any means up to the standards even of the original film.
There are some nice visuals, and it is cool seeing some of the consular Jedi's powers from Star Wars the Old Republic online game being canonized for Obi-Wan. But even the final confrontation between Vader and Obi-Wan seems a bit flat and by the numbers.
Overall, Obi-Wan Kenobi is professionally made and acted, but it doesn't go much beyond being the obvious fanservice vehicle it is.
Obi Wan Kenobi hit its marks but is ultimately unsatisfying
I wanted to like, even love, Obi-Wan Kenobi. I had high hopes based mostly on The Mandalorian, less so, on Boba Fett.
There are inherent constraints in using these legacy characters at a midpoint in their career. We know Leia, Obi, Vader won't be killed nor irreparably injured.
Obi-Wan has a character arc here, and I don't particularly like it. Just as with the deconstruction of Luke's character in eps 7,8,9, whatever they were called, I don't like the ugly side of Obi-Wan here where he turns his back on an innocent, a former padewan, and just lets him be killed and perhaps tortured for information about other refugees offscreen. He even refuses the call from Bail Organa to rescue Leia until Senator Organa shows up in person. All of which should have led the Inquisitors right to Obi-Wan, and to Luke. But plot armor prevails.
Even Leia gets handled roughly here. She's prissy and entitled, imperious, reckless and impulsive, and a poor judge of character.
The special and practical effects seemed rather lackluster, and there were obvious in-universe things which didn't make sense, like the laser fence which didn't extend beyond the checkpoint which Obi seemed unable to figure out how to bypass in ep 3.
The use of small sets, perhaps the volume, led to grand scenes like the siege and storming of the rebel base, being rather perfunctory, not by any means up to the standards even of the original film.
There are some nice visuals, and it is cool seeing some of the consular Jedi's powers from Star Wars the Old Republic online game being canonized for Obi-Wan. But even the final confrontation between Vader and Obi-Wan seems a bit flat and by the numbers.
Overall, Obi-Wan Kenobi is professionally made and acted, but it doesn't go much beyond being the obvious fanservice vehicle it is.
3/5 stars.