The Obi-Wan Kenobi series featuring Darth Vader was probably one of the most anticipated Star Wars projects announced by many. Even at the time of the announcement, he kept in anticipation of a new untold story about two iconic characters.
But when it came out, already after the first couple of episodes, there was a feeling that this story arc would have been better left somewhere behind the scenes or as part of a small comic book series – at least it could have avoided torn editing and constant conventions that simultaneously cause laughter and bewilderment.
The show has a bad script. It parasitizes on its heritage – you will probably predict the whole course of events in the first episode, and you will forget the new “wanliner” characters even before the final credits.
I can only single out the hero Kumail Nanjiani. The actor played a rogue posing as a Jedi – which sounds rather unusual for a franchise, but the character was not given enough screen time to reveal it, and his decision to change sides of the conflict, devoid of logic, is stupefied. Maybe the director did not have time to shoot an additional scene? Or did the editors forget to insert it? One way or another, if you haven’t watched “Silicon Valley”, most likely, after a while you won’t remember this hero either.
But what will definitely remain in your memory is the already mentioned conventions and “cringe” scenes. Why didn’t the mercenaries and the legendary Jedi catch the child right away? Why was Riva’s “parkour” necessary? Why did Vader, a talented strategist, start making irrational decisions? Why are there other Inquisitors in the series? Why was the spy able to pass control at the guarded base of the Inquisitors, squeezing out a horribly clichéd and unconvincing phrase? Why do the characters forget to use the Force? There will be no answers. And are they really needed?
Or questions to the creators – where is the budget? Why does the show look so lame and plastic after The Mandalorian and The Boba Fett Book? Where is the fight choreography? Why do lightsabers feel like National Guard clubs?
Another disappointment was one of my most anticipated scenes – Anakin’s first full public appearance as Vader. From such a crucial moment, I expected at least goosebumps, but it turned out as it turned out – very weakly.
Compare the series, which is partly dedicated to Vader, and the cameo in Rogue One. The latter, using the elementary language of directing and musical accompaniment, explains that in front of the viewer there is an inevitable evil that brings fear, destruction and death. In Kenobi, on the contrary, there is a feeling of hack-work and feigned pathos, which only intensifies after the next comical duel.
“Rogue One”
“Kenobi”
With each new episode, I wondered what the writers would come up with this time, and each time I was convinced that “Kenobi” was not even going to bet. The decisions of the heroes in most cases have no significant consequences, and “death” means the same as in CW superheroics – nothing.
Part of the argument can be leveled by the story armor of key characters, but we have the animated series The Clone Wars and Rebels that do a great job of prequels – they expand the ideas about the characters, events and world order of the universe.
The Mandalorian managed to tell an exciting story of the formation of a faceless mercenary, through whose Beskar shell the character of the hero gradually emerges, and the entourage of the western adds a little exoticism to Star Wars. Kenobi also introduced a new character – a pissed upstart Inquisitor with an obvious cliffhanger in her story, and at the end it seems like one more scene is missing to complete her storyline in the show.
You want to discuss “The Mandalorian” and the animated series, disassemble it into gifs and even memes. “Kenobi”, unfortunately, forces only to point a finger at failures and falseness. As soon as the series begins to play fan service on the hearts of fans, as in the next scene it ruthlessly pierces them with a lightsaber.
And yet I can’t call “Kenobi” frankly bad (there is a ninth episode for this). He is no. After itself, the series left only a couple of good fight scenes, a share of pleasant nostalgia from Ewan McGregor and a doubtfully rejuvenated Hayden Christensen, Riva as an excuse for a new series, and the phrase “Hello there” that went viral on the net at the very end.
All six episodes are available now on Disney+. The creators do not rule out that they will renew Kenobi for a second season if the fans want it.
