I’m enjoying it a lot. Found the first episode to be a lot better than the second one, but I remain hooked to the story. At least for the time being, it looks it’s going to tie the prequel and original trilogies more organically than I expected, but we’ll have to wait and see.
Pros
- Ewan’s doing great as Obi-Wan, no doubt helped by the better character direction and dialogues he is provided with. I really like how he feels at midpoint between his ROTS portrayal and some aspects of Alec Guinness’s beloved turn.
- The young actress playing Leia does a phenomenal job. I had no trouble believing she’ll grow up to become a rebellious Carrie Fisher. She also embodies the similar traits of Padmé really well.
- I’m really onboard with the premise of pairing Obi-Wan and Leia. It makes Obi-Wan’s reaction to her plea in A New Hope more meaningful in hindsight. Also fixes the inconsistency on how would Leia know his ‘Ben’ nickname.
- Order 66 flashbacks from new perspectives are always welcome. Does somebody know if they finally used actual people to play the clones rather than CGI?
- Temuera’s cameo as a clone trooper-turned-beggar was heartwrenching.
- A minor detail but I’m so glad they fixed the Grand Inquisitor’s eyes.
Mixed
- John Williams’s Obi-Wan theme is great as usual, but the rest of the music doesn’t stand out that much for the moment (The Mandalorian and Book of Boba’s scores had me hooked a lot sooner).
Cons and/or headscratchers
- The production aspects are hit and miss. The costume and set design ranges from stunning (Alderaan, Daiyu) to awkward (the Inquisitors). The action and stuntwork also leaves a bit to be desired (Reva’s parkour being the worst offender).
- In the second episode, why are they so fixed on suggesting the Grand Inquisitor is dead? Seems pointless knowing he’s still around for Rebels and if they really killed him off I doubt the showrunners and canon consultants would let such an oversight to pass.
- Didn’t really grasp why would Kumail Nanjiani’s character decide to help Obi-Wan so soon, wish there was more context to his motivations.