The most recent Star Wars project, Obi-Wan Kenobi provided audiences with a vessel for nostalgia, taking them back to the events of the prequel trilogy and the Clone Wars, as well as offering glimpses of the beginnings of the original trilogy.
Ultimately, the six-episode series received mixed reviews from fans and critics. Fans of Star Wars are known for making their opinions heard throughout various facets of the internet, and Letterboxd is a great hub for fans to share their most insightful, most intense, and sometimes most humorous reactions to whatever they watch. Some of the reviews are hilarious, offering either distasteful sarcasm or immense enthusiasm.
Pent Up Emotions
The time between Revenge of the Sith and Obi-Wan Kenobi was a long break for Ewan McGregor and Star Wars, making his return to the screen all the more exciting in episode one of the series. One fan in particular, Letterboxd molly, had an intense reaction to his return, saying "When the camera panned up to show Obi-Wan for the first time I suppressed a scream so powerful that it's still rolling inside me."
Unfortunately, molly was in class and had to hold in her emotions when watching the scene, but many fans across the internet, particularly those watching in groups, exhibited loud reactions to McGregor's return. The internet was certainly able to connect over their love for the actor, who was always consistently enjoyable in the prequel films.
The Most Foolish People In The Galaxy
Letterboxd's system allows for miniseries to be rated and reviewed as soon as the first episode premieres, meaning fans can react to the series quite early. One fan, Maxx, commented on this, comparing these s to a Star Wars reference. "The Inquisitors think Jedi are the most foolish people in the galaxy. I personally think they're a close second to Letterboxd s who rate a show five/one stars before they watch the whole thing."
For many viewers of the series, the dramatic response, either one way or the other, seems to have stuck, as many reviews did end up majorly frustrated with Disney's handling of Star Wars, or enthusiastic to see their favorite characters return.
Video Game Fight
Many viewers who considered the series to be stale and cheap found the fight scenes to be a representation of that. In the original films, the fights themselves often had story to them, with character development in the movement of a lightsaber or in a character's footwork or Force ability usage.
s on Letterboxd often referred to the fights in Obi-Wan Kenobi as having far fewer stakes, and therefore story, to them, due to audiences knowing where the characters would have to end up to be all set for A New Hope. A , the highest rated on IMDb.
You Know What You Did
The callbacks to the prequels and the memes that have since derived from them were an important part of the fan service the series delivered. Few lines in the prequels have been memed as much as Obi-Wan's "Hello there."
Letterboxd OC124 pointed this out, as part of his emotional response to the series' ending, saying "Episode 6 thank you very much you managed to make me cry more than once particularly when Obi-Wan said Hello There. Yeah you know what you did." The reaction is made funny by the 's run-on sentence of emotion resulting in the love for the iconic meme line.
He Did The Thing
Like with OC124, Letterboxd Mario found the show agreeable due to the fan service of the "Hello there" line, writing "He said it! He said the thing! 11/10." The line became a hot topic on the internet after the show's ending, as it became the talking point for whether fan service was used in an effort to make up for some of the show's faults.
While this fan clearly thinks the line capped off an enjoyable and nostalgia-driven series, others were dissatisfied by what they believed was a dry attempt to get viewers through sentimentality while not adding an interesting story to the universe.
A Third Time
The idea of a Darth Vader and Obi-Wan Kenobi fight sparked interest in viewers as soon as news of Hayden Christensen's return to the character was announced. Lightsaber duels are a huge part of the Star Wars mythos, and the fights between these two characters are some of the most iconic. But how many times can it be seen before audiences begin to grow tired of it?
seanoconnz sarcastically writes "Ever since I was a little boy all I've wanted to see was Darth Vader fight Obi-Wan Kenobi for a third time." The duel was definitely cinematic, but not on the scale audiences has grown to know of the two's fights.
The Farmers Of Star Wars
Joel Edgerton has come a long way in his film career since Attack of the Clones broke him into the industry. The actor was still willing to take a small role in the series to reprise as Luke's Uncle Owen. The standoffish farmer had some strong moments in the series, earning over some fans for himself.
aspect of the show Reddit fans also loved.
Qui-Gon Effect
The Phantom Menace was considered one of the weaker Star Wars films for a while, with Liam Neeson's Qui-Gon Jinn being an exception to the criticism. The new series surprisingly brought the character back as a Force ghost, conflicting the previous idea that he couldn't, which was a retcon that most fans seemed to be okay with.
The something fans would want to see in a potential season 2.
A Long Story
One of the show's major criticism is the shear amount of one-liners and dialogue quirks that fans felt didn't add to the story. One fan, cody, joked about a particular line they found summed up this criticism. The line occurs in a scene where Obi-Wan and Leia are hitching a ride on a vehicle, and Stormtroopers approach and make small talk.
"The soldiers ask what our hero's story is, Obi says 'its a long one' and is met with the 'its a long ride' response, but the story is only a few sentences and the ride is only a few minutes," they write. The dialogue is meant to build up suspension during the scene, but the practicality of it makes it funny to this fan. Some of the show's quotes were against the character's normal personality
Alternate Title
The relationship between Obi-Wan and Princess Leia is one that fans were not expecting the series to contain, as it had previously seemed that they had never met one another. The shock of the plotline being centered around Obi-Wan rescuing her resulted in a distaste for the idea, causing many fans to poke fun at it.
Letterboxd Maura_Pop jokes about an alternate title, with a review simply stating "Adventures in babysitting..." referencing the classic '80s film. Many of these fans were likely expecting a more dramatic tale centered around Obi-Wan and Anakin.