One of the very first scenes of the brand new Disney+ collection Obi-Wan Kenobi exhibits characters slaving away within the desert, incomes a pittance by scraping scraps of meat from a large, long-dead carcass. That is both a whole coincidence, or somebody at Disney+ is a bit more self-aware than they need to be.
As a result of, to proceed the meat metaphor for a second, Obi-Wan Kenobi is connective tissue. His two good tales – how he got here to coach the boy who could be Darth Vader and, later, how Vader killed him – had been advised many years in the past. Chronologically, this new collection sits someplace within the center. Kenobi left Anakin Skywalker for lifeless a decade in the past and, realistically, it’s one other decade earlier than the occasions of Star Wars: A New Hope.
As such, the Obi-Wan we meet right here doesn’t have an terrible lot to do. He hacks up meat by day, squabbles with Jawa within the night, and at evening he desires completely in flashbacks from Episodes I-III. It's totally attainable that we may have all received via our days completely decently with out seeing this chapter of his life.
However such is the best way of super-franchises. Put up-Lucas Star Wars exists virtually completely to bulk out skinny gruel, becoming a member of numerous dots that didn’t have to be joined, for the delight of a rapidly ageing fanbase. And so it's right here. Think about this Obi-Wan Kenobi: The Startlingly Pointless Years.
The story goes that this collection began life as a movie. However as soon as The Mandalorian surged out of nowhere, reversing what seemed like terminal theatrical decline, the challenge jumped rails and ended up on TV as an alternative. And, at instances, it exhibits. Particularly within the opening episode, scenes drag on for for much longer than they should, bogging themselves down in exposition that might have been chewed via much more elegantly.
Nevertheless, as soon as Obi-Wan Kenobi begins to construct up a little bit of momentum, a miraculous factor occurs. The collection truly begins to justify its personal existence. Two episodes of six had been launched right now, so we’re already a 3rd of the best way via your complete collection, and to date the collection appears to be a sort of intergalactic John Wick. Kenobi is on the lam, hunted by a mixture of employed mercenaries and Vader’s forces, whereas attempting to guard a younger Princess Leia within the course of.
And when the present leans most closely into this premise, it really works marvellously. Obi-Wan has spent 10 years ignoring his Jedi powers, and in consequence all his battle scenes have a smash-mouth tangibility to them. Ewan McGregor spends numerous these first two episodes punching aliens, and elbowing them within the face, and performing WWE-style clotheslines on their necks. Inevitably the mysticism will return later however, for now, it’s genuinely thrilling to see this bizarre hybrid part-Jedi, part-Jack Bauer in motion.
Within the virtually 20 years since he final performed Obi-Wan, McGregor has additionally discovered a approach to navigate his greatest flaw; attempting to behave naturally whereas carrying the total weight of all Alec Guinness’s mannerisms. Within the prequel collection they typically overwhelmed McGregor’s efficiency, however right here, he wears them calmly, letting a few of his pure charisma seep via.
It helps that he has a worthy foe too. Reva, performed by Moses Ingram, is an Imperial Inquisitor (translation: Jedi hunter) who has hilariously little time for the petty paperwork of the Galactic Empire. Whereas her superiors fret and fear about obeying the letter of the regulation, she’s on the market flinging knives on the heads of harmless strangers and threatening to kill whole households. She’s hot-headed and impetuous and carving a straight line in the direction of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Additionally of be aware is Kumail Nanjiani, who performs a type of charming fraudster with a glint that helps to mood the present’s typically ponderous tone. It’s the type of character and efficiency that might normally deserve its personal spin-off, even when it didn’t exist on the earth of contemporary Star Wars, the place each single character who ever seems onscreen is all however assured a full collection about their origin story.
And that additionally goes for Obi-Wan Kenobi. Did it have to be made? No. Is its existence an indication of artistic exhaustion? Most likely. However does it make the perfect of its thankless job? Fortunately, sure it does.
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