Obi Wan Kenobi: Review

Streaming now on Disney+

It can be a hard task taking a beloved character and putting them in their spinoff series.

On the one hand, their established journey in canon makes it impossible to massively deviate from their laid-out characteristics or put them in mortal peril, knowing they survive for their later escapades. But on the other, it offers a chance to deepen their existence, flesh out holes that have been pointed out through the years, and for the actors involved, a chance to extend their range with the benefit of hindsight.

As The Mandalorian successfully proved, a well-grounded story and ideas can work incredibly well in the Star Wars Universe; but The Book of Boba Fett was less successful, a series that, while executed well, didn't quite feel essential and maybe robbed the character of some of its advocacy.

Obi Wan Kenobi sees Ewan McGregor return to the role that he took in during the prequel series, back in 1999.

Set 10 years after the wholesale slaughter of the Jedi under Order 66 and the rise of the Empire, the Jedi are continually hunted. Hiding out on Tatooine, Kenobi is living life as a fishmonger, laying low and trying not to get involved in anything. When Imperial Inquisitors head to Tatooine, Kenobi finds himself resistant to being drawn out of his exile -but his hand is forced when a young Princess Leia is kidnapped and he's asked to help bring her back....

Of the two episodes already released, Obi Wan Kenobi makes a good argument for McGregor's deeply rich acting skills, while not quite delivering a narrative punch early on. The limited event series is only 6 episodes long, and while the first is in no hurry to get anywhere quick in its hour-long premiere, settling for Lawrence of Arabia style scenes and Kenobi demonstrating what a funk he's in, haunted by memories, the second ups the pace a little - even if the drama is somewhat robbed because ultimately you know what Kenobi and Leia's fates are.

There's gravity, grief and trauma in McGregor's turn, and it makes his Kenobi a compelling watch. Certainly, the action's upped in the second episode, a 45 minute romp that feels beholden to Blade Runner style vistas and urban grime, quickly wrenching viewers out of the familiar sandy edges.

Yet, Obi Wan Kenobi needs to rely on its side characters to truly help a spinoff. Mando and Grogu were unknowns, who became lodged in the collective Star Wars conscience thanks to a buddy dynamic and decent storytelling. Kenobi and Leia try to recapture some of that magic to middling success, but it's left to an impetuous Inquisitor Reva (Moses Ingram) and Kumail Nanjiani's trickster / comedy element to create the wider universe. And this early on, in a third of the episodes played, it's fair to say that they help, but are still too on the sidelines to feel like they've made a major impact just yet.

Ultimately, Obi Wan Kenobi is heading to a Anakin Skywalker Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi reunion. That's no bad thing, but it remains to be seen if that will simply be fan service or something deeper for the mythology. At the moment, the jury's out on that one, but the ride is certainly solid enough to be worth getting on board with.

Obi Wan Kenobi is streaming now on Disney+, with new episodes dropping on Wednesdays.