‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ review: Ewan McGregor kickstarts a redemption in the making

Though the writing relies a bit too much on coincidence, the first two episodes of Disney’s latest ‘Star Wars’ spin-off herald a promising watch ahead

The eagerly-awaited mini-series,  Obi-Wan Kenobi begins with a comprehensive recap of the much-reviled prequel trilogy. In less than three minutes, the events of Star Wars Episodes I, II and III,  The Phantom Menace (1999),  Attack of the Clones (2002) and  Revenge of the Sith (2005) are laid out.  

From Jedi master Qui-Gon (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi, (Ewan McGregor) finding the chosen one to bring balance to the Force, a nine-year-old slave Anakin Skywalker on the desert planet of Tatooine, to Anakin (Hayden Christensen) being seduced by the Dark Side with a little help from Senator Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) and becoming the breathing-challenged Sith Lord, Darth Vader.  

If I had known of the précis version, I would not have suffered through a repeat viewing of  Revenge of the Sith. However, like Master Yoda might say, fear of bad acting and clumsy writing the path to the Dark Side is. 

Revenge of the Sith ended with Padme (Natalie Portman) dying after giving birth to twins and Obi-Wan engaged in a deadly duel with his former friend and apprentice Anakin on the volcanic planet of Mustafar. The twins, Luke and Leia, are separated for their safety. Leia is adopted by Alderaan senator, Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) while Luke is sent to Tatooine to live with his uncle and aunt. Palpatine issues Order 66 to destroy the Jedi.

Obi-Wan Kenobi is set 10 years after the events of  Revenge of the Sith, with the Jedi in decline, and Obi-Wan a broken man who has lost his faith. The inquisitors are spread across the galaxy hunting the remaining Jedi.  They do not seem to be doing a very good job of it despite the Grand Inquisitor (Rupert Friend) being a former Jedi guard.

Obi-Wan is successfully hiding in plain sight as Ben harvesting the meat of some unknown beastie, while dolefully watching young Luke play at being pilot. Luke’s uncle Owen (Joel Edgerton) is not particularly happy with Obi-Wan’s proximity, believing no good will come out of having a famous Jedi master hanging around.

Though the Grand Inquisitor says the Jedi cannot help themselves when they see others in need, Obi-Wan manages to stoically look away as a wicked foreman cuts the wages of a poor, hapless worker. The scene was reminiscent of a certain coolie in Deewar telling Karim chacha that he was not going to pay Peter’s goons the next week.  

Reva (Moses Ingram) has a bee in her bonnet about catching Obi-Wan and hits upon the plan of kidnapping Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) to force him out of hiding. Though initially reluctant to get involved, Obi-Wan relents after Senator Organa approaches him. The second episode thankfully has more action and Blair makes for a cute little princess.  

The writing relies a bit too much on coincidence; Reva chooses to kidnap Leia just by finding some tenuous link between Organa and Obi-Wan being one of them. Of all the princesses in all the planets in all the galaxies, she had to walk in on Alderaan.

There are creatures wild and wonderful including the eopie, and the strangers walking into a bar scenario is alive and well at Tatooine. Kumail Nanjiani is a scream as Haja Estree, the con artist with a heart of gold. The hot neons in the planet of Daiyu are quite attractive.

If Obi-Wan Kenobi is meant to explore how the Jedi master turned from a broken man into Alec Guinness bending the storm troopers’ mind in A New Hope, we have not seen much of it till Episode 2. Hopefully, things will pick up considering the episode ended with a certain Sith Lord waking up in a Bacta tank…

Obi-Wan Kenobi is currently streaming on Disney+ Hotstar