fevered.earth

Tag: Media Criticism

  • Obi-wan (Episode 2)

    Last time, I got culture shock at a montage of prequel scenes as we rejoin the story of Obi-wan Kenobi.

    Loved this guy, who’s just a raptor with a gun.

    A theory starts to suggest itself, fairly or unfairly. At the beginning of A New Hope, Vader’s position within the Empire seems diminished compared to what we might have expected from his vaunted position at the Emperor’s side during the final fall of the republic. Previously I might have considered this to be a reflection of Vader’s loss of physical capability following him becoming char-grilled on Mustafar. In this new story, informed by the first two episodes of Obi-wan, I’m starting to wonder if he’s brought low by the lingering embarrassment for everyone involved with the Inquisitors.

    The episode starts out all well and good, with Obi-wan tracking the kidnappers from the previous episode down to the Blade Runner planet, which naturally gets introduced with another one of those interminable market square scenes where an oddly low number of people mill about for whatever reason around some stalls in the middle of the night. The unrefined writing from the previous episode hasn’t gone away, with a charming young waif turning directly to the camera and saying “I am representation of the ill future plausible for our kidnapped child protagonist”.

    It’s slightly weird that Obi-wan does his Deckard-hunt through the future slums to find Leia, who he’s there to save, given that Deckard is hunting to kill.

    Ewan McGregor is the pure quality component of all this, his Obi-wan voice not diminished in the slightest by the years, along with a brief uneven character role for Kumail Nanjiani of ‘Kingo’ fame. In hopefully not a sign of things to come, his contribution to the episode is trimmed down to exactly three moments, one where we find he’s a villain with a heart of gold, one where he considers being just a villain, and one where he still has the heart of gold. It’s so terse that we don’t even see him reconsider, he just walks out of one frame holding a gun and enters the next scene a reformed man.

    But those Inquisitors! The episode’s shabby treatment of them is typified by the extended, somewhat dull rooftop shootout where Obi-wan remains pinned down with Leia in peril as we see intercut shots of the third sister, played by Moses Ingram, bouncing along like Ezio Auditore on her way to cut down the trapped Jedi. Except the scene ends and Obi-wan walks off with Leia, then we cut back to her and she’s still jumping about. She was no-where near! All this builds up to the grand finale where she murders her commander in a dispute over who gets to claim credit for capturing Obi-wan, a feat neither of them have yet managed. There’s a fourth one this episode who looks like a shit Borg.

    They look slightly less outlandish here than they did in the previous episode, but they’re still walking in formation.

    All of which is just to say that as a villain faction, not much effort is being put into making them a threat. Perhaps the rest of them are going to melt away and Ingram’s Third Sister will become the sole antagonist, hopefully in a better fitting costume.

    The rest of the episode reaches the ‘fine’ mark once more. Getting to see Obi-wan go places and do things is still a grand novelty, for now.

    Ranking, best to worst:

    1. Flashback recap of the prequel trilogy
    2. Obi-wan: Episode 1
    3. Obi-wan: Episode 2

    If you like my writing, please subscribe to my Letterboxd reviews or watch Sixteen attempts to talk to you about ‘Suicide Squad’, available on Youtube now. Previously I watched and wrote-up season 1 of ‘Invincible’, in reverse order.

  • Obi-wan (Episode 1)

    If you like my writing, please subscribe to my Letterboxd reviews or watch Sixteen attempts to talk to you about ‘Suicide Squad’, available on Youtube now. Previously I watched and wrote-up season 1 of ‘Invincible’, in reverse order.

    It’s been years since I watched episodes 1, 2 and 3, and I was not ready for the sharp, disorientating culture shock I got from seeing them appear as the ‘previously on’ here; both conceptually in seeing a sort of professional fan cam version of Obi-wan’s origins and culturally, in seeing scenes that I associate so heavily with the arch, dramatic style Lucas put together for the Star Wars prequels replaced with the ruthlessly efficient edit style of modern TV and the bassy, minimalist music style these Star Wars Disney+ series are all bundled with. It felt wrong, but a little exciting.

    And they say George Lucas didn’t give the people what they want.

    The excitement drained slightly as we moved into another one of those bloody market square sequences. Rogue One was packed full of them and they’re shit. Skipping ahead, part of the challenge I think the show faces is integrating the dramatic, theatrical dialogue style of the prequels with the necessities of quick-turnaround TV writing, and the introduction of the Inquisitors is the worst of both worlds — artless, dramaless bloviating punctuated by nonsensical personal revelations. They look ridiculous, marching in formation scowling as they walk down the street. These are the avatars of Imperial power, untouchable by mere mortals by virtue of the system they represent — so why are they also crude outlaws rolling into town?

    Not exactly Peter Cushing, are they.

    Ewan McGregor and Joel Edgerton are both delightful reprisals, and their scene together really shines. Tatooine is a dull, dark place that mostly looks like a Jakku set and I could have done with one less shot of Obi-wan riding his camel beast across the sands. Obi-wan’s life and his house and his interactions don’t tell us a great deal, another victim of the brutally efficient script if nothing else. A Jawa is stealing from him, he’s secreting away slices of fish monster to eat, and he has nightmares.

    Leia’s Alderaan is where things get interesting, at least. The style of the prequels for the height of the republic is captured in at least a passing fashion, with a really nice nod to Padme’s habit of dressing her subordinates up as the Queen. This makes the tension between the critically-wounded old republic and the incoming matte drear of the Empire both textual and aesthetic, in the process somewhat justifying the latter (the single grey air traffic control tower silhouetted in the not-Mos Eisley that Obi-wan visits is mirrored by the rotunda that Bail Organa receives his guests in). The mercenaries who kidnapp Leia also have a modicum of actual menace that the inquisitors lacked.

    Alderaan has a glorious prequel vibe to it.

    All in all, as a first episode I would say “fine”. I’m willing to see where this one goes. My unfair demand for these new Star Wars is that they have the same passion and attention to detail that George Lucas put into the prequels — it is hard to imagine he would have signed off on the opening ‘escape from the Jedi temple’ sequence, which closes with children sneaking off down a bridge set against a background of indeterminate clashes between murky troopers and illuminated Jedi, tiny little figures facing off in small groups over a grid. I reckon Lucas would have had a tidal wave of crisp, brilliant white troopers marching in formation right to left, sweeping all opposition aside as the kids make their way into the shadows.

    Ranking, best to worst:

    1. Flashback recap of the prequel trilogy
    2. Obi-wan: Episode 1

    If you like my writing, please subscribe to my Letterboxd reviews or watch Sixteen attempts to talk to you about ‘Suicide Squad’, available on Youtube now. Previously I watched and wrote-up season 1 of ‘Invincible’, in reverse order.