Three episodes in and one of the TV events of the summer is really heating up.
Quite literally as Hayden Christensen’s Darth Vader attempts to burn his old Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) alive – in a pain-inflicting role reversal from the Revenge of the Sith finale – in Chapter III of this Disney+ exclusive series.
If you ever wanted to know whether Obi-Wan and Vader actually battled between Episode III and Episode IV (A New Hope) – well that has now been emphatically answered with a resounding ‘yes’ in this Star Wars spin-off.
And Vader right here is majestically more powerful than a ‘weathered’ Kenobi, who ten years on from their battle on Mustafar has definitely lost some of the Jedi artistry that made him a great warrior.
Just like with The Book of Boba Fett, the first two episodes are a bit of a methodical slow-burn as we see a disillusioned Kenobi – known to the locals as ‘Ben’ – working under the radar on Tatooine, keeping an eye on Luke (Grant Feely) from afar, as the youngster grows up to a farming backdrop under the guardianship of Owen (Joel Edgerton) and Beru Lars (Bonnie Piesse).
But in a surprising ‘curveball’ it soon becomes clear it’s actually his twin sister, ten-year-old Leia (the excellent Vivien Lyra Blair), that requires his immediate help as she’s kidnapped from her Alderaan homestead – and her surrogate father and Kenobi’s old friend Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits) begs him for help.
Unfortunately moving from the relative safety of his desert planet abode to Empire-ruled locales in search of the young princess brings immense danger for Kenobi – in the form of Rupert Friend’s Grand Inquisitor and ruthlessly-ambitious sidekick The Third Sister ‘Reva’ (Moses Ingram) – who have been hunting down all Jedi to finally eradicate them from existence.
But when Kenobi realises that Anakin is still alive at the end of Chapter II, this leads to an inevitable confrontation between the former friends that is another lightsaber battle – that can be tantalisingly added to Star Wars lore.
And Vader really shows that he has now completely advanced to the ‘Dark Side’ as the embodiment of evil – reflective of his menacing performance seen in Rogue One and the 1977 original.
Just like with The Mandalorian this is brewing into a truly essential ‘gap filler’ – as the force grows stronger with every chapter.
ESP Rating: 4/5 (after three chapters)
Gavin Miller
DISNEY+
SEASON 1 – EPISODES 1-3, OUT NOW
Cast: Ewan Mcgregor, Vivien Lyra Blair, Moses Ingram, Indira Varma, Sung Kang, Kumail Nanjiani, Rupert Friend, Joel Edgerton, Bonnie Piesse, Simone Kessell, Jimmy Smits, Grant Feely, Flea & Hayden Christensen
Running Time: Approx. 42-56 Mins Per Episode
ALSO OUT: STRANGER THINGS 4 (15)
Obi-Wan wasn’t the only massive TV event to be launched in the past week, as the highly-anticipated first half (episodes 1-7) of season four of Stranger Things was launched too. Unfortunately – despite being a huge admirer of this franchise – being a Star Wars fan took president over reviewing this brilliant sci-fi series, but it would be ‘remiss of me’ not to plug it here – as this is definitely next on my radar . . .
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