Ricky Church reviews the fourth episode of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi…
While the latest episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi might not have been as tense and somewhat epic as last week’s ‘Part IV’ still delivered a pretty entertaining instalment with plenty of classic hallmarks of Star Wars, especially ones that called back to A New Hope and more recent stories from the franchise.
The first half of the series had Obi-Wan gradually getting his groove back, both physically and mentally, and this episode sees him taking quite a large leap as he embarked on another rescue mission for Leia. He wasn’t the reluctant recluse any longer, but driven with eagerness to get her back no matter the risk. McGregor conveyed this change to Obi-Wan very well, but as confident as Obi-Wan seemed McGregor still made sure to emphasize his worry and terror at being in the heart of the Inquisitors’ headquarters, as seen in the video game Jedi: Fallen Order. This is especially true when Obi-Wan makes the grim discovery at what has happened to other Jedi the Inquisitors have caught. Obi-Wan’s strange sense of the Force before finding their corpses and their ‘mummification’ was a nice callback to Star Wars Rebels and the Grand Inquisitor’s strategy for luring in other Jedi.
The rescue definitely succeeded in evoking A New Hope‘s rescue of of Leia with Obi-Wan sneaking through another Imperial compound and even using the same Force power to distract Stormtroopers, though amusingly his and Tala’s improvised plan was much smoother than Luke and Han’s hair-brained scheme. The lighting also stood out quite a bit, especially when Obi-Wan lit up his lightsaber. The sequence where Obi-Wan shut off the lights and quickly attacked Leia’s guards in the dark was a great use of lighting and camerawork, showcasing Obi-Wan’s skill and ingenuity. It is also notable for how quickly Obi-Wan is adapting back to the ways of the Jedi. ‘Part III’ displayed how out of practice he was with his lightsaber, but in this he was once again using it with ease and striking some classic poses.
The supporting cast once again complimented McGregor with some great performances. Indira Varma got more of a chance to flex her muscles as Tala with how she effortlessly switched between Obi-Wan’s compassionate ally and the type of no-nonsense Imperial officer we’ve come to know so well, even going so far as to face off against Moses Ingram’ Reva. The look on Ingram’s face as Tala admitted to being a double agent was quite funny and a good example of Ingram’s physical performance. She also showed off more of Reva’s characteristics here as she tried convincing Leia to give up whatever information she knew and further teased her backstory with her brief reflections on her childhood, though Reva’s good cop act isn’t quite convincing, something Ingram displayed Reva’s comfort level using threats and pain than compassion as interrogation techniques. Vivien Lyra Blair, as always, delivered as Leia and she still had the same defiance Leia would have in A New Hope against her captors, she also gave the young princess vulnerability as she briefly believed Obi-Wan was dead or screamed for help when she was about to be tortured. The chemistry between McGregor and Blair makes it easy to see why, decades in Star Wars‘ future, Leia would name her own son after Obi-Wan’s alias.
There were, however, some elements that didn’t quite land and came off as more goofy, even for Star Wars. While the New Hope aspects were appreciated and helped the episode, the manner of Obi-Wan, Tala and Leia’s escape came off a little silly as Leia simply hid in Obi-Wan’s coat, amounting to something like children stacking up on top of each other in a trenchcoat to sneak into an R-rated movie. The only reason it seems mildly plausible here is due to the confusion of the Stormtroopers and officers in the scene and how quickly Reva found them – though it is worth noting they nearly made it all the way to the landing pad before being discovered. Some of the elements with Tala’s partners could have been fleshed out a little more as well as the death of their comrade didn’t fully land, but it is interesting to possibly see the beginnings of the Rebellion come out of this.
And while it was very cool to see Fortress Inquisitorious and Purge Troopers in live-action for those who have played Jedi: Fallen Order, it’s a little amusing that Vader and the Inquisitors haven’t implemented much more defences against another Jedi sneaking in much the same way Cal Kestis did – or from preventing a Jedi from exploiting a flood in the sealed tunnels the same way Cal does. It feels a little too much of a repeat from the video game, hindering some of the originality of Obi-Wan’s breach into the Fortress.
Despite those minor elements that didn’t work, ‘Part IV’ was a nice adventure that set the stage for the second half of the series. McGregor, Blair, Varma and Ingram continued their great performances and the connections to other Star Wars media felt organic and were nice touches. It may not have been as intense as the previous episodes, but it was still as entertaining and character driven as we’ve come to expect from director Deborah Chow.
Rating: 8/10
Ricky Church – Follow me on Twitter for more movie news and nerd talk.
