Why I Didn't Like Kenobi

Before we go into a review of the Kenobi series you should know my feelings towards Star Wars. Growing up I watched the original trilogy so much that my parents had to hide our VHS tapes (yes, I am that old). The first movie I remember watching in theaters was The Phantom Menace. As a kid I loved the prequel movies and was sad that George Lucas wasn’t planning on doing a sequel series. I never explored the lore but I have played a decent amount of Star Wars video games. When George Lucas sold Star Wars to Disney the kid in me became excited and thought The Force Awakens was Disney’s way to tell the audience that they can make Star Wars films. I liked Rogue One (the best Star Wars movie Disney has made) and became disappointed with The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. I have seen The Clone Wars (both versions), Rebels, Bad Batch, Solo, Mandalorian, Boba Fett, and just finished Obi-Wan Kenobi. If I had to grade the Kenobi series, I would give it 7.5/10. Not the worst Star Wars I have seen, but I wouldn’t eagerly recommend people to watch the series. I would be happy to talk about it with my friends, but I wouldn’t force them to watch it.

Overview of the Story

The show takes place between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope. Obi-Wan Kenobi is hiding from the empire on Tatooine while watching Luke from a distance. Obi-Wan is emotionally defeated by his last battle and doesn’t consider himself as a Jedi. However, he rises to the call to rescue Leia because of his friendship with her adopted father. This is a trap constructed by Jedi-hunting inquisitors to lure him out because they know he is friends with Leia’s father. This eventually leads him to discover that his former apprentice Anakin is still alive.

Pros:

Having Ewan McGregor reprise his role was a delight. Obi-Wan is one of my favorite Star Wars characters because of Ewan and having him back playing Kenobi got me excited for the show even though I don't have faith in Disney making a good star wars media. In the series it felt like he was put on his old gloves and they fit well. He is Obi-Wan, and he executes it perfectly. His character starts off as a defeated Kenobi but ends with the Kenobi we grew up with and loved. Also, I should note Hayden Christensen performance as Darth Vader was great.

One thing I was nervous about was having Obi-Wan use the dark side of the force to escape from Darth Vader. I was so happy when the two did face off he didn’t turn to the dark side. He kept his morals and didn’t give up.

I like dystopia plots and this show takes place where Jedi are being hunted and the empire has power over everything. Shows/Games like Star Wars Rebels, Jedi Fallen Order, and Force Unleased explore this period and I like how this show takes place during this period. There is a con I have about it, but I am happy that they attempt to have a dystopia setting.

The choreography and battle scenes were amazing. This is something that Disney has always done well with. Even though I don’t like their recent movies it doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy the fight scenes especially the lightsaber ones.

When they have flashbacks to the past, instead of de-aging Kenobi and Anakin using CGI, they looked like the ages they are right now as actors. I like it because CGI can look bad. Also, they are older in A New Hope so why not have them be older in the past instead of de-aging them? You might disagree with me, but I enjoyed that flashback.

Hello there.

Cons:

Having a few Easter eggs in a movie and show is always fun to search for, but in this show, I felt like they had to show and tell and beat you with it. A few Easter eggs are nice to find on your own, but there were too many for this show. For example, we don’t need to know why Leia puts her holster in front of her hip in Return of the Jedi, but this show not only showed a female character doing that but had her explain to Leia why it is better in front than on the side. There were more instances like this, it was tiring, and I don't want to talk about it.

I mentioned that I like dystopia settings and even though this show takes place during a dystopia setting, the franchise has done better with this setting. In Star Wars Fallen Order we follow Cal who was a Jedi apprentice that survived Order 66 and is trying to survive as he is being hunted by inquisitors and Darth Vader. Comparing these two stories, the show doesn’t come across as desolate. Instead, I felt like Obi-Wan is at a dystopia theme park with his daughter Leia and he is letting her take charge on what they should do.

I know that Obi-Wan and Leia needed to meet so A New Hope would have better context, but I would have been happier is Leia was not as present in the series as she was. The show would have been more serious if she wasn’t there. There was a scene where Obi-Wan is hiding from the inquisitors in a bunk and it would have been more suspenseful if Leia wasn’t there.

The last Con that bothered me happened in the final episode where the Grand Inquisitor telling Vader what he should do. My interpretation should have inquisitors fear Darth Vader because he is way more powerful and will Kill if he is not pleased. Yet in this scene the Grand Inquisitor was telling Darth Vader that they shouldn't pursue Obi-Wan, which ironically is the opposite of his job description. The Grand Inquisitor leads the hunt of fugitive Jedi for the Galactic Empire, yet he is telling Vader to pursue the rebels.

Opinion:

When I started watching the series each episode was getting worse with the cons mentioned above until episode 5 and 6. Episode 5 has a few plot holes that I could go into, but that episode was enjoyable to watch. Episode 6 felt like traditional Star Wars to me, fighting between good vs evil. Should Obi-Wan Kenobi take the easy way our or should he stand up for what is right and not fall into temptation? Star Wars doesn’t always have the best dialogue some of which is hard for me to watch, but the messages have always been pure and performed well. I liked the Kenobi series and I hope that Disney will continue to improve themselves with this franchise.