![]() ![]() “You can’t keep me here, my father is Bail Organa, he’s a senator. Thankfully – given how terminally boring great swathes of TBOBF were – Obi-Wan cut his time short so he could get to the meat of this week’s story.Īfter he hauled himself from the tank, we cut to Leia, sitting in a cell at the Fortress Inquisitorius (I thought that was a spell in Harry Potter?) doing her very best impression of herself in the opening of A New Hope. And there are mentions in Rogue One and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but by the time of The Book of Boba Fett, we saw Boba heal in real time over seven episodes, complete with nightmarish flashbacks of his time living with the Tuskens.Īnd now to Obi-Wan Kenobi, where our hero, badly burned during his showdown in Part III, had a go. (I say interesting in the very loosest fashion.) In the original trilogy, we only ever got a fleeting glimpse of one – Luke was submerged in one of the healing machines after the wampa attack in The Empire Strikes Back. And Obi-Wan’s rescue of Leia, lit only by the red lamps of the torture chamber and the blue glow of his lightsaber, is a fantastic use of light and shadow that ranks among Disney+’s more visually arresting sequences.The evolution of the bacta tank on screen in the Star Wars universe is interesting. The final reveal of Lola now functioning as a tracker for the Inquisition also promises something more explosive on the horizon. Reva’s ambitions of impressing Vader has caused enjoyable tension among the Inquisition and I’m hopeful that it will backfire on her in glorious fashion as the series draws to a close. Leia’s ability to completely block Reva’s mind interrogation is another demonstration of the young princesses’ Force sensitivity, and hopefully signals that future episodes will explore her link to Star Wars’ governing mystical power. ![]() Obi-Wan’s discovery of dozens of people frozen in amber-like cells raises questions of what exactly the Inquisition does with the Jedi it hunts. This is all capped off by the group being rescued by two Rebel pilots who, more or less, appear out of nowhere, which prevents Obi-Wan from having to devise an interesting method of escape.ĭespite these problems there are the odd moments of intrigue or visual flair that prevent the episode from being a complete misfire. The simplicity of the situation also means there’s little of interest for Obi-Wan, Tala, or Leia to do a few blaster bolt deflections is as good as it gets. Battles in the Fortresses’ corridors lack energy and are shot in an oddly static manner. The decision to go for a straight, plot-focused episode would have worked had this been a genuinely thrilling espionage story, but once again director Deborah Chow’s action sequences fail to generate any excitement. Character motivation, rather than fates, is what Kenobi needs to focus on and nothing of consequence in this department is explored. This would add uncertainty to a story with an otherwise obviously successful outcome. Leia’s capture seemed the perfect set-up for Kenobi to encounter Vader again, as it would force him to consider what is more important his duty to Leia or his shattered bond with his former brother. There’s no meaningful advancement on these emotions this week and thus no complex problems for Obi-Wan to contend with. The most interesting thing about this story is that Obi-Wan is wrestling with not just his connection to the Force, but his relationship with Anakin. Even Tala, a character whose fate is unknown, never feels truly threatened.Įpisode four’s biggest mistake, though, is the fact there’s little emotional depth. Tala and Kenobi get in, grab Leia, and run away, and at no point does the danger level rise above mild peril. But where strong prequel stories will add dangerous wrinkles to characters’ pasts - we only need to look back to last week’s fiery ordeal with Vader for a great example - episode four opts for an overly straight and simple rollout of events. We know both Leia and Obi-Wan will survive this ordeal. Kenobi sneaks through identical, often perilless corridors in search of his ward, with little more than a blast of water offering any kind of interesting hazard on his journey.Ī key issue here is that there are no genuine stakes, the classic problem suffered by prequels. ![]() But this week’s faux Death Star jailbreak does nothing interesting in its replication of events, and so acts as a hollow call-back rather than an interesting evolution. The Force Awakens is a flashier version of A New Hope, while Obi-Wan Kenobi itself is a longer rerun of Luke’s story from The Last Jedi. Star Wars is no stranger to remixing its own past. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |