It’s hard to imagine that a fan of Star Wars might not like this return of Ewan McGregor in the skin of the Jedi master: directed by Canadian Deborah Chow and already on Disney +, the first two of the six episodes that will count Obi-Wan Kenobi are more than conclusive.
The series opens with an illuminating four-minute context in which we come back to the key moments of episodes I, II and III signed George Lucas: The Phantom Menace (1999), attack of the clones (2002) and, above all, Revenge of the Sith (2005). We thus see the confrontation between Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), the “death” of the latter and the birth of his twins: Leia, entrusted to Senator Bail Organa (Jimmy Smits); and Luke, sent to his uncle and aunt on Tatooine.
From there, jump 10 years in time. Obi-Wan Kenobi lives a long crossing of the desert, both literally and figuratively. “He is in a very dark period. He hides, and with the Jedi being hunted, he can no longer use the Force. Somehow he lost faith. The only link he has with his past life and his only responsibility now is Luke, over whom he watches over from a distance, ”summarized Ewan McGregor during a virtual press conference where he spoke tenderly of this character. who has always continued to live there.
“For years, in interviews, I was asked two things: would I do the sequel to Trainspotting — that’s done — and would I play Obi-Wan Kenobi again. He always replied that he would like to take over the role. He didn’t feel like he’d be asked, though, because the trilogy “wasn’t received very well. But over the years, I’ve met fans who saw Episodes I, II, and III when they were the age I was when I discovered A New Hope [l’épisode IV, sorti en 1977]. I then realized how much these films were loved and important to them”.
A reality that must have caught the ears of Disney who one day approached the actor to ask if what they were reading on social media — that he would like to play Obi-Wan Kenobi again — was true; and if he was really ready to put on the Jedi costume again and wield the lightsaber. He did not hesitate to accept the challenge. The most complex, he assures, being to find the voice of the character. Thus, when he went to the set of mandalorian for a surprise appearance from the Jedi master, “I started speaking with a kind of English accent that wasn’t that at all. Fortunately, we had months before we started shooting the series. So I went back to the original movies and Alec Guinness [qui a créé le rôle]. For The Phantom Menace, I was inspired by him even in this spark of amused wisdom he had in his eyes. Afterwards, everything was as simple as putting on the costume”.
A film in six stages
From there, then, the work was… work. And, also, an immense pleasure to find this universe and to have the time to dig into the character in a series that he sees more like a long film. This is also the vision adopted from the start by Deborah Chow, whose sources of inspiration are Logan by James Mangold and Joker by Todd Phillips “where we built a whole story for a character”, explained in a press conference the one who also directed two episodes of the first season of the mandalorian.
“The most important thing that we sought to do, she continued, is to respect the canon and all that has been done before. But we also had to have an original story to tell with an original vision. It was the biggest challenge but at the same time, it’s very exciting to bring these two iconic characters back and tell a new adventure with them. »
Two iconic characters because Anakin / Vader, so Hayden Christensen, is also back. Although he does not appear in the first two episodes, his presence, dark and menacing, is everywhere. Among others, among the Inquisitors who pursue and kill the Jedi. Among them, the relentless and tenacious Reva, played by Moses Ingram (The Queen’s Gambit). From the outset, she is very present in Obi-Wan Kenobi whose action takes place among other places on Tatooine to follow, but from afar, the young Luke (Grant Feely); on Alderaan where Leia (Vivien Lyra Blair) grows up who, at the age of ten, is already fearless; and on Daiyu, landing point for bounty hunters and a (pseudo?) Jedi – about whom we won’t say anything here out of respect for the element of surprise and the story.
Let’s just say, carried by Ewan McGregor aptly playing the broken man, who slowly becomes a reluctant hero before finally returning to the path of the Jedi; set in stunning sets and cinematography; and meticulously tied to the past, the first two episodes ofObi-Wan Kenobi, are remarkable. If they are representative of the whole series, we can speak of a comeback of the Force.