Obi-Wan Kenobi Part I & II Review: 7 Ups & 2 Downs
Ewan McGregor returns to a Galaxy Far, Far Away with heavy baggage and scores to settle.
Seventeen years after the harrowing events of Revenge of the Sith, and exactly forty-five years after the release of A New Hope, Obi-Wan Kenobi has finally returned to live-action form with his own TV miniseries. And though we're only two episodes in, the results of his return have already been very impressive.
Starring Ewan McGregor, the series takes place between the fall of the Republic and the events of A New Hope, and finds Kenobi cut off from the Force and living in exile on Tatooine, before being suddenly thrust into a mission of grave importance.
Nostalgic, surprising and chilling, Obi-Wan Kenobi's first two episodes have been a welcome return to classic Star Wars, adding effective depth to the drama of the Skywalker Saga whilst exploring the trauma and confliction of its title character, who's far from the man he once was.
With that in mind, from the impressive new characters to the slight flaws holding it back from greatness, here are 7 Ups and 2 Downs from the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Be warned, though: This review contains major spoilers.
DOWNS...
9. The Grand Inquisitor Is Thoroughly Wasted
One of the biggest talking points of the Obi-Wan Kenobi trailer came from its inclusion of the Grand Inquisitor, the powerful Jedi hunter first encountered in Star Wars Rebels. His appearance hinted at a major role throughout the show.
Unfortunately, this hasn't yet come to pass. Though Rupert Friend is adequately chilling in the role, the Grand Inquisitor acts as nothing more than an expository red herring, in place to signal the arrival of the show's real villain, the Third Sister.
Based on the trailers, it's possible to say we've not seen the last of him, despite his apparent death, but even so his role so far has been painfully underwhelming, and highlights just how many key characters have been reduced to walking plot points.
Along with Friend, Jimmy Smit's return as Bail Organa seems only to exist to set Kenobi's latest mission in motion, and Joel Egerton's fleeting appearance as Owen Lars was basically what we saw in the trailer.
It's early doors, of course, so there's a chance these characters come back in a big way that actually allows them to be a three dimensional person, but so far there's a lot of promise left unrealised.