Ewan McGregor returns triumphantly to the troubled galaxy

It may be surprising to remember, but about 25 years ago, people started hating Star wars. The franchise, which probably dug the deepest trenches of fan-warfare through its hate-love relationship with the audience, was obviously loved for the original films, but when George Lucas re-released ‘digitally enhanced’ versions of the film. Star wars movies, many fans were angry. It hardly compares to the apoplectic rage that overcame fans when the prequel trilogy first hit the screens in 1999 with Phantom threat.

“Star wars was my Vietnam, “comedian Brian Posehn liked to joke, and he was not the only disgruntled superfan. Patton Oswalt included a bit in his stand-up set, where he told waves of applause that the first thing he would do with a time machine it would not be to stop the Kennedy assassination or the Holocaust, but rather to travel to 1993 and “kill George Lucas with a shovel to prevent him from making prequels. That’s how I would try to save the story. “An entire documentary, The People vs. George Lucasportrays crowds of outraged fans who are bitter about what they thought was the mutilation and mutilation of their childhood nostalgia with the prequel trilogy.

Obi-Wan Kenobi two decades later

This part of the nerd story has apparently been deleted, at least if the breathless expectation of the Disney + original series Obi-Wan Kenobi is any indication. Instead of the red-haired screams directed at Hayden Christensen, many people seem overjoyed that he and others from the prequel trilogy are back (even fueling speculation about Christensen’s own spinoff as Darth Vader), and everyone has forgotten that he ‘ won ‘two Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Male Supporting Actor.

Even Ewan McGregor, as a fan favorite Star wars the character Obi-Wan Kenobi, had a hard time enduring the hatred of the prequel movies. “They were not received very well,” McGregor told Total Film Magazine (via CBR). “Every time they were released, they were hammered. And it did not feel very good.” Nevertheless, McGregor was one of the few casting choices that fans loved (or at least did not tear to pieces), which is a big reason why Obi-Wan Kenobi series has been awaited with excitement, and a major factor in its success.

McGregor is excellent Obi-Wan Kenobi, which brings a wounded dignity and reluctant heroism to the show, especially when he goes full Alec Guinness. The six-part series finds the title character living in hiding a decade after the events of Order 66, which tried to wipe out any Jedi. Kenobi does little work to survive in the deserts of Tatooine while keeping an eye on the young Luke Skywalker from a distance. He is a man haunted by his last (and, in his mind, last) encounter with Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi he was to train, but who turned to the dark side and wreaked galactic chaos like Darth Vader.

Related: What to See Before Obi-Wan Kenobi at Disney + in Chronological Order

This failure and the years of darkness that enveloped the republic have worn Kenobi down to a tired, sad man. “The battle is over. We lost,” he says, “the time of the Jedi is over.” “You seem a little bitchy,” a girl says to him, and it’s hard to disagree. McGregor’s vulnerability and pain as Kenobi are palpable, but so is the character’s charm, compassion, and intelligence. He does a wonderful job of exploiting the headspace of a man who exists instead of living, a man who has basically lost his faith; After all, the Jedi Code is basically a religion or spiritual practice, and McGregor plays Kenobi as if he had witnessed the death of God.

Fantastic Star Wars characters whose fans can handle them

After a quick hiss of lightsabers and blasters in the opening minutes, the first episode is a surprisingly depressing and patient methodical look at this character and the world he lives in, where the Inquisitors of Star wars hunt the remaining Jedi and large parts of the galaxy live in a kind of anarchic, permanently wild west. When Kenobi is contacted by Senator Bail Organa to help find a kidnapped Princess Leia, the aging Jedi emerges from hiding with questionable anxieties and begins a new search.

Surely one of the joys of Obi-Wan Kenobi sees Leia and Luke as children. Vivien Lyra Blair (from Bird box) is lovely as a young Leia and will hopefully not tolerate the same harassment and bullying that a young Jake Lloyd was subjected to after playing Anakin in Phantom threat. “My whole school life was really hell,” Lloyd told The Sun, “I learned to hate it when the cameras are pointing at me.” Apart from Blair, Moses Ingram is especially evil as Reva, the third sister of the Inquisitors. Again, however, it is a tragic testimony to Star wars fans that Ingram, when she was cast, literally had to be warned by Lucasfilm about racist setbacks against her character.

As such, it is quite difficult to announce anything major new Star wars media. Aside from the toxic fans and the franchise’s duty to Dark Side (Disney), which makes it hard to comment at all, there is an undeniable personal bias present in consuming new products from the galaxy far away. If you do not understand the many world maps Star warsthen it can be confusing to fully appreciate a single piece in the puzzle Obi-Wan Kenobi (though the series does a remarkable editing job that sums up the prequel trilogy at the beginning). Subsequently, if you know this franchise as your own (lightsaber-chopped) hand, you may have incredibly high and unrealistic expectations. The old adage that “you can not please everyone” applies twice Star wars.

Obi-Wan Kenobi celebrates its influences

Fortunately, Obi-Wan Kenobi is generally a lot of fun and entertaining no matter how invested one is in this story. Deborah Chow’s instruction continues to show why she is one of the best directors in television today, with a filmography that i.a. Mr. Robot, Better Call Saul, Marvels Jessica Jones, and Reign. Her work on The Mandalorian prepared her well to instruct each section of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the feeling of pacing and well-plotted tension is performed effectively. Showrunner Joby Harold is practically a professional at taking on franchise projects with lots of expectations (and fans with toxic comments on social media) and handling them carefully so as not to disturb the fans (work on Transformers, John Wick, King Arthur, Army of the Dead, and Lightning movie).

Whose Obi-Wan Kenobi is not exactly original, it is not harmful. This series obviously does not exist in a vacuum, so it depends on the trilogies of Star wars movies, it is accommodated in between, but it respects the franchise in smart, careful ways. It is also a compilation of some other films: the aging and once respected and powerful hero on a quest to protect a young girl from Logan; the expansive world-building of bounty hunters and neon-lit streets in John Wick (especially the sequel); the self-exiled, discouraged reluctant Jedi of The last Jedi. These influences swirl around and blend in with Star wars the universe in often very pleasing ways.

Related: Star Wars Books: The Must-Read canonical titles in chronological order

Obi-Wan Kenobi also introduces some really enjoyable characters. Along with Ingrams Reva, Kumail Nanjiani (who continues his Chris Pratt-like career from slacker funnyman to buff action movie star) is really funny as a cheater disguised as a Jedi, and Flea from The Red Hot Chili Peppers (you read that right)) have disgusting fun as a kidnapper. Planet jumping adventure of Obi-Wan Kenobi takes time for pleasant little detours through the life and habitats of this extracted galaxy, and the series is often most entertaining when not focused on action.

Despite the disadvantages of Prequels, Obi-Wan entertains Kenobi

Obi-Wan Kenobi is not without its minor problems. There are some blatantly stupid continuity choices that make the suspension of infidels even more difficult, like Kenobi’s sudden exit from a roof fight, or how he quickly digs up his lightsaber from an unmarked area in the great desert after a decade of presumably changing sand. Some dialogue is also clumsy, and the series (like any prequel) suffers to some extent from a lack of effort; when the audience knows that characters will survive or persist in later episodes, they become virtually invincible and suck some excitement out of the usually exciting action sequences. While the relentless march toward a showdown between Vader and Kenobi is certainly exciting in one sense or another, it’s more interesting to chart the paths they take.

Chow and the writers, however, are wise to know that a prequel is not so much about efforts as about character development; viewers know that these characters will survive and who they become, so it’s important to focus instead on how they do it. So far, after its two-part premiere, Obi-Wan Kenobi seems to follow this path and deepen the psychology of the characters and more Star wars world-constructing in pleasant ways. It’s almost two decades since we’ve actually seen McGregor’s Kenobi, in the underrated Sith’s revenge; now that the hatred has disappeared, it’s really exciting to see what he will do next.

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