I’m legit angry. I was willing to go along with the show for 2 episodes and then most of this one, but it’s enough. It’s only marginally better than Book of Boba Fett which is not saying very much.
I don’t know why - I didn’t have high expectations. Maybe it’s because there’s enough stuff that I do like that was unexpectedly good. Any time Obi Wan is actually on screen ranges from decent to great.
But like everyone here is saying, everything looks cheap. Not cheap like the original Star Wars where they’re doing the most with a lower budget, but where they’re doing the least with a higher budget. All the inquisitors look goofy, and not in a good way. The sets are substandard. The directing is straight up bad. I feel bad saying that because Deborah Chow sounded really promising and respectful of the source material, but there’s no other way you would get this kind of sloppy chase sequences and setpieces and parts that drag on for too long.
Other than the editing which is also abysmal. I want to scream at the people making the show to STOP CUTTING AWAY FROM OBI WAN. JUST STOP IT. I don’t want or need to see Leia or Reva or whoever moving through a tunnel, or doing parkour, or walking, or talking, or anything at all. Why, WHY, when you have a show about Obi Wan and Vader meeting again for the first time, and you went to all the effort to bring in Ewan and Hayden, do you think it’s necessary to devote around half (more?) of the screen time to NOTHING? To characters that aren’t even supposed to be there, or exist!
The music is awful. Just so generic it would be better if it weren’t there at all. It’s sad because that’s one of the things Star Wars is known for and they literally had John Williams make an Obi Wan theme for it, and they somehow couldn’t bring themselves to make use of any of the large library of existing music to good effect.I want to believe that this can be cut down into a good movie. There are certainly enough good things in it, it’s just that they’re surrounded by inquisitors (which I have never liked,) repetitive dialogue, poor chase scenes, and an overall lack of focus.
“Like you trained his father?” Such an awesome scene. Vader being scary, having a castle, and terrorizing the innocent. Great. Obi Wan’s flashbacks and trying to connect with Qui Gon, great. Nar Shadda-esque planet, pretty good. Clone Vietnam vet, cool. Some of the dialogue between Obi Wan and Leia, decent. Obi Wan taking out a bunch of stormtroopers, badass. There are so many nuggets of good things here that have to be dug out, but they shouldn’t have to be.
How does it look cheap? I can’t see that these are obviously sets. The designs are very Star Wars. They aren’t wobbling. So how are they cheap. Is it because they aren’t all crowded with stuff? Not every place in the universe is crowded. I just really don’t get the hate being heaped on this series.
And the pacing is pretty normal series pacing. So I don’t know why you are expecting movie pacing in an extended series. If they wanted movie pacing they would have made a movie. Making a 6 part series gives more time to explore more while telling the same story. It seems some of us like that and some don’t.
I can’t say the music is outstanding, but it also does not interfere. Good incidental music sits in the background and is only noticeable when called for.
No I mean the lighting, the materials used in the costumes and buildings, and the effects. Maybe also the caliber of actors for all the non-Obi Wan, non-Owen, non-Vader characters.
I’m not talking about pacing, I’m talking about what they choose to show or not show, and the way they cut it together. You can have a 6 part series and still have it be focused and interesting. In fact I think that would actually be easier than what they’re doing. (Every show now is trying to be a “prestige” show where there’s many vying factions and individuals with their own agendas, which is where I think the inquisitors come in.) For what it’s worth they did want to make a movie, they only turned it into a show after Solo underperformed and they canceled further spinoff movies.
I’m not seeing anything low production about any of it. Definitely not the sets, lighting, effects, or acting.