Kenobi still holds firm and strong on repeat viewings, to finally be able to watch it all in one go as opposed to every week is a great ride. You really feel like it's an extended cut of a Star Wars film, like a mini epic, with tons given that wasn't even asked for but I appreciate greatly regardless. Obviously I spoke a very good deal about this series in the proper review and hold it highly, so I won't retread much ground but more focus on spoilery topics now that significant time has passed and tell you what minute changes I would make. No show is perfect, I understand that better than most but I really couldn't believe some of the bashing on this show. Bridges were burned, people were burned, I did what I must. So here we go for slight improvements. Believe it or not I would only change one major plot element, I'm very happy with how the story progresses from planet to planet, conflict to conflict in a broad sense. I enjoy Reva, I genuinely do, we rarely get to see such a consequences be damned loose cannon in the Inquisitorium, her story of revenge against Vader and how she goes about it is well done and consistent. However! I do almost wish she bit the quite literal dust on Tatooine, now that being said we have never encountered an Inquisitor that was redeemed. They all fucking die one way or another, so to see that alone is unique and interesting. I am down to see Moses Ingram reprise the role. But I genuinely felt first time watching the finale, she would die, that her anger and rage is what was keeping her alive Darth Maul style but once she spoke to Obi-Wan and got that peace and rised above what Vader is, that's when she would die. We love poetry in Star Wars so it would reflect Maul's death also on the sands of Tatooine in Obi-Wan's arms. Also speaking of parallels, apparently people called ripoff on the Vader mask slice? Even though....not every casual or hell even major Star Wars fan has watched Rebels so the fact we get that in live action, as well as the Inquisitor fortress from Jedi Fallen Order, I feel is nothing but a treat! The circle is now complete, we now have both Matt and James along with Hayden and James, that's cool as shit man! I just feel no one is ever gonna be happy, that I always have to keep fighting, keep defending, never obtaining victory in the Star Wars community. I mean is that what you wanna do with your life? Make a 40+ minute video deconstructing and defaming a series or film because it didn't do what you wanted it to do? That's senseless, but that's what happens man. I'm not here for it, I know I've hated a fair share in my time and it's good to vent but you gotta move on. Even with aspects of Star Wars that I see the fault of and could even recommend ways to fix it, in this show even it doesn't hurt the overall enjoyment and I can move along. Yes, the Leia chase scenes could have been changed very slightly to better work, have her hide in the forest, have her get a better head start on the rooftops. Yeah, Reva should have died from her wound but who knows her ultimate fate? They could have put Leia in a cargo box instead of a coat at the fortress. But for the most part, those are tiny details that don't warrant an overall....underwhelming? Aggravated? Negative? Hateful stance? When so much great stuff is given like Tala, Vader, Obi-Wan's journey, Leia, the duels, Master Qui-Gon! More additions to the lore like The Path with Quinlan Vos helping out, the weird ass amber crystal trophy room, new planets, things we get to see in live action, new droids, and a brand new story never told before. Hardly worthy of just a 7/10 on IMDB in my opinion. It's a mighty good mini-series that's engaging, well directed, well acted, and I stand by my rating of a 9/10! I got plenty from this, even though I was waaaaay off the mark with how this show would go, but an open mind and hunger for more Star Wars leads to positive experiences more often than not for me. I can't hate it and even if I did, give it about 5 years for Lucasfilm to retroactively improve it. That is literally the entire history to Star Wars, fuck your "they didn't even plan it out" horseshit. I could force snap some necks right now but I won't because we got more awesome shows to talk about, Dave Filoni take me home!
Showing posts with label Hayden Christensen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hayden Christensen. Show all posts
Monday, December 19, 2022
Friday, July 1, 2022
Obi-Wan Kenobi
I love watching Star Wars.
I'm just so happy it's here, regardless of if it was either a film or a show this was way up on the list of future Lucasfilm projects I was looking forward to. I'm not taking back what I said in my Solo review, I enjoyed the movie and forever will judge those who boycotted it but it was a sacrificial lamb to get a Kenobi movie from me. But hey, we got a roughly 6 hour series in time and I still mostly refuse to associate myself with the Star Wars community, I'm just really over people. I read the Kenobi book by John Jackson Miller quite awhile before the show even began to get me in the mindset of the story this show wanted to tell. And while it did take tiny bits here and there, it of course crafted it's unique original story. I thought it would be one of the most downplayed Star Wars shows ever, heavy on introspection, reflection, and acceptance for Obi-Wan who is still grappling with the fallout of Revenge Of The Sith with maybe some Inquisitor action thrown in because they are a big presence at that time. But no, the story starts out humbly enough but changes gears quick when Leia gets kidnapped forcing Kenobi to leave Tatooine to rescue her while contending with the Inquisitorious and eventually Vader. It's not super in your face the arc that Obi-Wan goes through from being a broken, severely PTSD ridden, hermit content to do nothing to gaining some catharsis and peace while regaining his attunement to the Force through the course of the series. Massive spoiler here but, Ewan McGregor friggin' knocks it so far out of the park that it left that galaxy and ended up in ours. He flexes those acting muscles without even uttering a syllable at times, but carries the wisdom, experience, and compassion of a Jedi Master. It thrills me that we get so much attention on Leia in this show, because Luke has his story and is the focus of 3 movies minimum, so why the hell not give young baby Leia some attention? I have glimpsed the future, and may the space gods have mercy on me for this is precisely what my future daughter will be like. I know it in my soul, a terrific hot mess, beyond stubborn, absurdly adorable, and constantly making me proud and yet worrisome. This girl, Vivien Lyra Blair is a gosh dang 20/10! I have spoken. Moses Ingram pretty much snared my attention from the trailer alone, and Reva's story is really dang good though appropriately kept in the dark for the majority of the series so zip a lip on that for now. And I know she is given plenty of attention and I know people were like "I was hoping for Kenobi. Why are you here?" and that she should have had her own series, to which I would be down for to get a show all about the Inquisitors and how they operate. But the one single thing I was adamantly upset about before seeing the show was there was no handsome evil Jason Isaacs as The Grand Inquisitor, but we got Rupert Friend instead. Those qualms were quickly put to the side after his first scene, entirely reminding me why I love this character so much. He gets that air of superiority, smug charm, icy calm control, and intimidation with some very fun friction with Reva. Like there aren't enough costumes from Star Wars I want already. Speaking of costumes, Darth. F***ing. Vader. How? How...do they keep making him better?? I mean really, my favorite Star Wars character ever just keeps getting improved over time, and in recent times they have been attempting to increase the fear factor with resounding success. I have not feared this Dark Lord in my life until Jedi Fallen Order and then this show makes me horrified to the point of silence. The writing, good God the writing really favors Vader here. Not just lines, but what he does and how he does it is the stuff of legends and nightmares. And the fact we get Hayden back, he gets to do it again after the Prequel Renaissance, I'm proud of him he does such good work! Cause I've went through it all with the prequels, from loving them just as much as the originals and thinking they were all the same level of great, to thinking so little of them after hearing so much negative feedback in my early adult years, to a balanced state of appreciation and enjoyment today. I mean obviously it has so much to do during that era of the prequels, but the stuff here for those big fans of Episodes 1, 2, and 3 I know makes them so happy. It made me incredibly happy, shocked, intrigued, emotionally involved as always. The love just never will fade over time. It's beautifully shot with a lot of emphasis on the expansive environments, and the intricate closeness of character's facial expressions. I honestly think they upped the quality of this show than Mando or Boba, difficult to describe but you can feel the effort and detail given to each episode. Considering it was all from the vision of a single director who brought her own style and little touches is great to see. Not at all that there is anything bad about how multiple directors work on one show, that's a good majority of television, but it's just nice to see someone work on it until the end. Should there be a season 2? I am in the camp of a firm no. It gave enough to satisfy me and my want for knowledge of this period in galactic history, but it ended just right to where I can live happily with what I got. There's no doubt more stories to tell in the subsequent 9 years before A New Hope, but I don't think it needs to be commited to film. The comics have been a doing a LOT for Star Wars in all eras, and I can only begin to tell you how much I need to strap in and dive into the immense depths of all these comic runs at the very least Vader's. I know there is going to be an in retrospect where I ramble on so many tangents about so many things, but this is an overview of what I thought and is it worth watching. Not as accesible as other modern Star Wars shows, but highly entertaining with good storytelling contained within. But if you have even a modicrum of interest or knowledge in Star Wars it's going to be on the list. 4 stars, I will give it a 9/10, and for those saying why do you harbor such hatred for the community? I am what you made me.
Friday, May 8, 2015
Revenge Of The Sith
Woohoo! Last movie of Star Wars week and what a way to end, to review the only good prequel movie! Now all I have to do is wait until December to review The Force Awakens.
Alright, there is a hell of a lot to cover in this movie so I will relay all the important details. The Clone Wars are finally coming to an end. The separatists have kidnapped the Chancellor and are holding him captive on their star ship, so Anakin and Obi-Wan who have become greater friends over the time between the last movie are sent to rescue him. They face off with Count Dooku for the last time and Anakin kills him by the order of the Chancellor. They return the Chancellor back to Coruscant and Anakin learns some very important news, Padme is pregnant. But soon Anakin is having terrible dreams about the death of his wife and promises her to save her by any means necessary. Afterwards Palpatine entrusts Anakin to be his representative on the Jedi Council, and the Council asks Anakin to spy on Palpatine, later Anakin attends an opera with Palpatine where he tells him of an old Sith legend about a Sith Lord who actually had the power to save people from death, Anakin asks if it is possible to learn this power, but the Chancellor tells him it cannot be learned from a Jedi. Meanwhile Obi-Wan has tracked down the general of the droid army to the planet of Utapau, where when he destroys the general the war will finally be over. Palpatine finally reveals to Anakin that he himself is a Sith Lord and can teach him how to save his wife, but Anakin warns the Council of Palpatine's deception and they send four Jedi masters to confront and arrest the Sith Lord. Anakin intervenes at the last second before Mace Windu kills Darth Sidious, slicing Windu's hand off and watching as Sidious kills him. He then pledges himself to Darth Sidious and gains his new title, Darth Vader and his first orders are to destroy the Jedi Temple and kill all the Jedi within it. Darth Sidious then deploys Order 66 which turns all of the clone troopers on their Jedi generals killing all of them. Master Yoda and Obi-Wan go to the temple and see the damage that has been done, and find Anakin to be the cause of all this destruction and death. Lord Vader then travels to the fiery lava world of Mustafar where he murders all of the separatist leaders, now with no opposition to his power Darth Sidious forms the first Galactic Empire, and deeming himself The Emperor of the galaxy. Obi-Wan confronts Padme of her husband's horrible deeds and tells her that he must kill him. Padme soon travels to Mustafar with Obi-Wan hiding on the ship. Padme confronts Anakin and sees how far he has truly fallen, he then chokes her almost to death but Obi-Wan soon stops him and they have a final duel on the planet. Meanwhile Master Yoda fights with Darth Sidious in the senate, Yoda failing to defeat The Emperor he forces himself into exile on the planet Dagobah. The powerful duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin continues on and on until Obi-Wan gains the upper hand and cuts Anakin's left arm and both legs off and sees him being burned alive on the gravel and ash filled land, taking Anakin's lightsaber before leaving with Padme. Padme gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia, and Anakin Skywalker completes his transformation into Darth Vader when his mutilated body is given cybernetic limbs and his body is encased in a black suit of armor complete with life support. Darth Sidious removes the last bits of Vader's humanity by telling him that he killed his wife. The Jedi decide it to be best for the twins to be separated to keep them safe from the Empire. And the Empire begins construction of the first Death Star. This is without a doubt the best film of the prequel trilogy, mainly because it just gets back to the original trilogy at the end. The acting is fantastic, everyone does a great job bringing the darkest of the Star Wars movies to new heights. The action is the best of the entire prequel trilogy, the final fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan is a sight to behold with so much raw power and emotion going into the fight. The fall of the Jedi and the rise of the Sith is everything I wanted it to be and it does not disappoint in the slightest. Anakin's transformation in to the dark lord of the Sith, Darth Vader is the only reason the entire prequel trilogy was made, which makes you wonder why we even have the first and second movies other than to establish how the Republic fell and how the Empire began. If there is one single movie you should watch from the prequel trilogy it is hands down, Revenge Of The Sith. I cannot recommend it enough, don't watch the first two movies, watch episodes three through six and then join us all around Christmas to witness the continuation of the Star Wars saga.
Alright, there is a hell of a lot to cover in this movie so I will relay all the important details. The Clone Wars are finally coming to an end. The separatists have kidnapped the Chancellor and are holding him captive on their star ship, so Anakin and Obi-Wan who have become greater friends over the time between the last movie are sent to rescue him. They face off with Count Dooku for the last time and Anakin kills him by the order of the Chancellor. They return the Chancellor back to Coruscant and Anakin learns some very important news, Padme is pregnant. But soon Anakin is having terrible dreams about the death of his wife and promises her to save her by any means necessary. Afterwards Palpatine entrusts Anakin to be his representative on the Jedi Council, and the Council asks Anakin to spy on Palpatine, later Anakin attends an opera with Palpatine where he tells him of an old Sith legend about a Sith Lord who actually had the power to save people from death, Anakin asks if it is possible to learn this power, but the Chancellor tells him it cannot be learned from a Jedi. Meanwhile Obi-Wan has tracked down the general of the droid army to the planet of Utapau, where when he destroys the general the war will finally be over. Palpatine finally reveals to Anakin that he himself is a Sith Lord and can teach him how to save his wife, but Anakin warns the Council of Palpatine's deception and they send four Jedi masters to confront and arrest the Sith Lord. Anakin intervenes at the last second before Mace Windu kills Darth Sidious, slicing Windu's hand off and watching as Sidious kills him. He then pledges himself to Darth Sidious and gains his new title, Darth Vader and his first orders are to destroy the Jedi Temple and kill all the Jedi within it. Darth Sidious then deploys Order 66 which turns all of the clone troopers on their Jedi generals killing all of them. Master Yoda and Obi-Wan go to the temple and see the damage that has been done, and find Anakin to be the cause of all this destruction and death. Lord Vader then travels to the fiery lava world of Mustafar where he murders all of the separatist leaders, now with no opposition to his power Darth Sidious forms the first Galactic Empire, and deeming himself The Emperor of the galaxy. Obi-Wan confronts Padme of her husband's horrible deeds and tells her that he must kill him. Padme soon travels to Mustafar with Obi-Wan hiding on the ship. Padme confronts Anakin and sees how far he has truly fallen, he then chokes her almost to death but Obi-Wan soon stops him and they have a final duel on the planet. Meanwhile Master Yoda fights with Darth Sidious in the senate, Yoda failing to defeat The Emperor he forces himself into exile on the planet Dagobah. The powerful duel between Obi-Wan and Anakin continues on and on until Obi-Wan gains the upper hand and cuts Anakin's left arm and both legs off and sees him being burned alive on the gravel and ash filled land, taking Anakin's lightsaber before leaving with Padme. Padme gives birth to twins, Luke and Leia, and Anakin Skywalker completes his transformation into Darth Vader when his mutilated body is given cybernetic limbs and his body is encased in a black suit of armor complete with life support. Darth Sidious removes the last bits of Vader's humanity by telling him that he killed his wife. The Jedi decide it to be best for the twins to be separated to keep them safe from the Empire. And the Empire begins construction of the first Death Star. This is without a doubt the best film of the prequel trilogy, mainly because it just gets back to the original trilogy at the end. The acting is fantastic, everyone does a great job bringing the darkest of the Star Wars movies to new heights. The action is the best of the entire prequel trilogy, the final fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan is a sight to behold with so much raw power and emotion going into the fight. The fall of the Jedi and the rise of the Sith is everything I wanted it to be and it does not disappoint in the slightest. Anakin's transformation in to the dark lord of the Sith, Darth Vader is the only reason the entire prequel trilogy was made, which makes you wonder why we even have the first and second movies other than to establish how the Republic fell and how the Empire began. If there is one single movie you should watch from the prequel trilogy it is hands down, Revenge Of The Sith. I cannot recommend it enough, don't watch the first two movies, watch episodes three through six and then join us all around Christmas to witness the continuation of the Star Wars saga.
Attack Of The Clones
Well this movie is slightly better than The Phantom Menace. But not by much.
So this installment of the Star Wars saga takes place ten years after The Phantom Menace, and surprisingly....not much has happened. Anakin has gotten older, he's still a Padawan. Obi-Wan is now almost a Jedi master. Padme is no longer a queen and yet everyone still calls her milady for some reason, and she hasn't aged at all she looks the same as she did from the last movie. The Republic has encountered a bit of a problem, a separatist organization has been created and now the Republic is almost on the verge of war. And the separatists have tried to assassinate Padme, so she has to be guarded by Obi-Wan and Anakin, whose relationship has certainly changed in the past ten years. They are good friends but they still have the master-apprentice relationship, which cause friction as Anakin is acting very self absorbed and feels like his master is holding him back. So they figure out a bounty hunter was sent to kill Padme so they have to split up, Obi-Wan starts his search for the mysterious bounty hunter, and Anakin has to protect Padme and return her to her home planet of Naboo. Soon Obi-Wan discovers who the bounty hunter is and travels to the world of Kamino where he also discovers that a clone army has been produced for the Republic from the DNA of the bounty hunter Jango Fett the father of Boba Fett. Meanwhile on Naboo a romance starts to blossom between Anakin and Padme and really I could care less. I know it's important to the characters and the story but really it's just tedious and boring. It reminds me of Bella and Edward's romance in Twilight, and that makes me sick to my stomach, but we will get to the Twilight movies in good time! So anyway, Obi-Wan tracks Jango to the planet of Geonosis and gets captured and has a brief chat with Count Dooku played masterfully by Christopher Lee who is the saving grace of this movie! Seriously, what is with these prequel movies and the only thing I truly love about them is the secondary Sith Lord? Speaking of Sith Lords, Count Dooku reveals to Obi-Wan that the senate of the Republic is under control of a Sith Lord by the name of Darth Sidious. Yes, yes, politicians are evil. Ha ha! Moving on...Anakin has horrible visions of his mother dying so he goes to Tatooine to try and find her, but finds it's too late and she dies in his arms. They soon receive a pre-recorded message form Obi-Wan telling them of the planet Geonosis, so they travel there to save him only to be captured themselves. Meanwhile in the senate, emergency powers are given to Chancellor Palpatine to use the clone army to fight the separatists. So they quickly rush over to Geonosis to capture their leaders and save our heroes. The battle is successful but Dooku gets away so our Jedi knights track him down and fight him. The fights in this movie are really good! Even though the duel with Dooku is short, it's still very good primarily for one reason, we get to see Yoda pull out his lightsaber and fight! Are you kidding me? And he's like lightning quick, he's doing all these flips and tricks, it's unbelievable! I'd say watch the movie just for that! But the fight doesn't go good for our heroes, Anakin gets his right arm cut off, him and Obi-Wan are nearly crushed by a pillar which Yoda stops but gives enough time for Dooku to escape the planet. So Anakin gets a robot arm and even secretly marries Padme even though they've known each other for a couple of days, maybe a week at best. Seriously, they meet up after ten years, travel to Naboo, hang out and build their horribly written romance for a few days, go to Tatooine and bury Anakin's mother and then go to Geonosis to help Obi-Wan and then they are sooo deeply in love they get married. Blah, blah blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. Just wake me up when we see Yoda fight.
Alright! We get to look at Revenge Of The Sith tomorrow! I love that movie. Can't wait!
So this installment of the Star Wars saga takes place ten years after The Phantom Menace, and surprisingly....not much has happened. Anakin has gotten older, he's still a Padawan. Obi-Wan is now almost a Jedi master. Padme is no longer a queen and yet everyone still calls her milady for some reason, and she hasn't aged at all she looks the same as she did from the last movie. The Republic has encountered a bit of a problem, a separatist organization has been created and now the Republic is almost on the verge of war. And the separatists have tried to assassinate Padme, so she has to be guarded by Obi-Wan and Anakin, whose relationship has certainly changed in the past ten years. They are good friends but they still have the master-apprentice relationship, which cause friction as Anakin is acting very self absorbed and feels like his master is holding him back. So they figure out a bounty hunter was sent to kill Padme so they have to split up, Obi-Wan starts his search for the mysterious bounty hunter, and Anakin has to protect Padme and return her to her home planet of Naboo. Soon Obi-Wan discovers who the bounty hunter is and travels to the world of Kamino where he also discovers that a clone army has been produced for the Republic from the DNA of the bounty hunter Jango Fett the father of Boba Fett. Meanwhile on Naboo a romance starts to blossom between Anakin and Padme and really I could care less. I know it's important to the characters and the story but really it's just tedious and boring. It reminds me of Bella and Edward's romance in Twilight, and that makes me sick to my stomach, but we will get to the Twilight movies in good time! So anyway, Obi-Wan tracks Jango to the planet of Geonosis and gets captured and has a brief chat with Count Dooku played masterfully by Christopher Lee who is the saving grace of this movie! Seriously, what is with these prequel movies and the only thing I truly love about them is the secondary Sith Lord? Speaking of Sith Lords, Count Dooku reveals to Obi-Wan that the senate of the Republic is under control of a Sith Lord by the name of Darth Sidious. Yes, yes, politicians are evil. Ha ha! Moving on...Anakin has horrible visions of his mother dying so he goes to Tatooine to try and find her, but finds it's too late and she dies in his arms. They soon receive a pre-recorded message form Obi-Wan telling them of the planet Geonosis, so they travel there to save him only to be captured themselves. Meanwhile in the senate, emergency powers are given to Chancellor Palpatine to use the clone army to fight the separatists. So they quickly rush over to Geonosis to capture their leaders and save our heroes. The battle is successful but Dooku gets away so our Jedi knights track him down and fight him. The fights in this movie are really good! Even though the duel with Dooku is short, it's still very good primarily for one reason, we get to see Yoda pull out his lightsaber and fight! Are you kidding me? And he's like lightning quick, he's doing all these flips and tricks, it's unbelievable! I'd say watch the movie just for that! But the fight doesn't go good for our heroes, Anakin gets his right arm cut off, him and Obi-Wan are nearly crushed by a pillar which Yoda stops but gives enough time for Dooku to escape the planet. So Anakin gets a robot arm and even secretly marries Padme even though they've known each other for a couple of days, maybe a week at best. Seriously, they meet up after ten years, travel to Naboo, hang out and build their horribly written romance for a few days, go to Tatooine and bury Anakin's mother and then go to Geonosis to help Obi-Wan and then they are sooo deeply in love they get married. Blah, blah blah, yadda, yadda, yadda. Just wake me up when we see Yoda fight.
Alright! We get to look at Revenge Of The Sith tomorrow! I love that movie. Can't wait!
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