Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi (tv series)

[Captain Dunsel]

Episode V…

Now, I can’t be the only one who giggled when Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith said “Kneel Before Zod” and declared Reva to be The Undeniably Coolest of the Inquisitors, officially and forever His Special Bestie, and pinned the Special Badge from a Cracker Jack Box on her chest:

 

[Psab keel]

Star Wars has had built in plot armor from the word go.

I'm not saying everyone should turn off their brain to enjoy this show (y'all would be happier if you did, but I digress), but goddamn Star Wars has always been stupid.

A farmboy learns space magic from a Muppet in order to defeat his cyborg father. It's all stupid. From a certain point of view, it's some of the dumbest **** ever put to celluloid.

Goddamn Chewbacca does a Tarzan yell in RotJ. TIE fighters scream through vacuum. Stormtroopers ride giant lizards in the desert when motorized transports exist. This list of dumb **** in Star Wars never ends. I really think 90% of the gripes about this show disappear if you're able to unleash your inner 7 year old for an hour.

If it's really that stupid, why are adults obsessed with this thing that's, "meant for kids?" Why do we spend thousands of dollars and countless hours replicating props from it? If this were any other franchise we would all be considered creepy.

 

[robstyle]

Anyone else wondering if 60's Era Chicago scored the music for episode 5? Maybe a touch of Prince's Sexy MF in for some flavor.



And I'll call it, Reva already had robot guts. So she just has to get new robot guts to replace the old robot guts. It's also why when she yells it sounds like finger nails on a chalkboard.

 

[Paul Andrew]

If it's really that stupid, why are adults obsessed with this thing that's, "meant for kids?" Why do we spend thousands of dollars and countless hours replicating props from it? If this were any other franchise we would all be considered creepy.

Because we love it. It's ok to love things that are stupid. We just don't need to pretend they aren't in order to feel better about loving them.

 

[CopperRevan]

If it's really that stupid, why are adults obsessed with this thing that's, "meant for kids?" Why do we spend thousands of dollars and countless hours replicating props from it? If this were any other franchise we would all be considered creepy.

We can thank the trekkies from shielding us from that label...lol

 

[Wolfsburg]

I can only throw up my hands if they're literally saying that the Grand Inquisitor survived because he had two stomachs. Haha! Does he have no other vital organs, bones, etc in his torso? A rage fueled thirst for survival is just about as flimsy an explanation as well. I could almost buy that the Grand Inquisitor perhaps planned to somehow be stabbed but I have no clue what precautions one could take for that event. Clearly the saber went all the way through. Maul's survival was one of the dumbest things to happen in SW so I'll concede this is less silly by comparison.

Does Reva also have two stomachs? She has survived being impaled by a lightsaber at least once and probably twice.

I'd say Fennec Shand's ridiculous survival after being shot point blank by a blaster (which would instantly kill most any other more minor character) and her subsequent revival by adding wires and electronics to her innards has perhaps set the precedent for this kind of thing sadly.

Saying SW is "just for kids" shouldn't be a free pass to just let things slide. Something can be kid friendly and be for all ages, and not insult one's intelligence. If they can sell me on an idea or concept, that's great, my ears are open but so often it looks like they're not even trying. The "Somehow Palpatine survived" type trope doesn't really cut it.

 

[Sluis Van Shipyards]

I just watched it tonight and have to say for one second when Reva was talking to Obi-Wan at the door, they could have made her character a likeable character. Then the moment passed. They've apparently opened the floodgates to video game Force powers with Vader grabbing the ship then ripping it apart. I could buy a group of ten or more Jedi being able to grab a ship while it's taking off, but not one Sith grabbing it while it has momentum. If they are totally going full "Screw you Lucas!!!" I say give Vader Force lightning because he can't use it. I think after this I will watch the Mandalorian and that's it.

 

[Paul Andrew]

 

[CopperRevan]

So we are comparing Chewy's Tarzan yell with oh yeah, Leia didn't actually meet Kenobi based on ANH? I'm trying to understand the validity of accepting what you have dubbed as " stupid ". Tarzan yell, yes, to me is stupid. Can I overlook that? Yes. Leia in ANH calls for General Kenobi who fought with Bail Organa in the clone wars and the context was clear, she never met him before and yet this show has Kenobi leave Luke to protect Leia? Now that is a different kind of stupid. I can't overlook that. Let's not confuse the discussion and atleast get to some common ground on what it is we are comparing.

 

[Psab keel]

Feigning indifference by saying "it's stupid" or "some of the dumbest $%^ ever put to celluloid" and in the same breath claiming a love for it anyway, simply don't mesh. If you truly didn't care you wouldn't waste your time with it. I'd venture a guess that there are movies you actually hate. So if that's the case, why would Star Wars get a pass and those movies won't? I really don't understand the logic there and I'm not trying to be confrontational. I sincerely don't understand that.

 

[ScourgiousJinx]

We just don't need to pretend they aren't in order to feel better about loving them.

I can't speak for anyone else but that's not how I feel at all. I respectfully disagree with your assessment.

 

[BlandoCalrssian]

 

[Paul Andrew]

Feigning indifference by saying "it's stupid" or "some of the dumbest $%^ ever put to celluloid" and in the same breath claiming a love for it anyway, simply don't mesh. If you truly didn't care you wouldn't waste your time with it. I'd venture a guess that there are movies you actually hate. So if that's the case, why would Star Wars get a pass and those movies won't? I really don't understand the logic there and I'm not trying to be confrontational. I sincerely don't understand that.

I never said I didn't care, and I'm not feigning indifference. I love Star Wars, but I take it as it is instead of armchair writing it for the most part (TRoS, I'm looking at you). But if you break Star Wars down to its basest level, it is not exactly genius level entertainment. And that's fine. Everything doesn't have to be. Star Wars shouldn't be. It's about space magic and laser swords and wise muppets and green pig men with axes and murderous teddy bears and a million other things that sound like they crawled off the pages of a 10 year old's sketchbook. It's supposed to capture wonder and excitement, and if you are starting every show looking to take it to task for things that don't make sense then I think you might be missing the point of it. The logic is simple to me. I like the trappings and the mythic underpinnings and when Darth Vader tears a cruiser apart with space magic its badass. It doesn't have to strictly adhere to 40 years of canon to be fun for me, and it doesn't have to be written without holes. I've enjoyed lesser material with worse plotting.

As far as movies I hate, I don't waste my time on them for the most part. There aren't that many, but for what it's worth, I walked out of Vanilla Sky 20 minutes in because there wasn't a character I cared about or related to, and The Joker - for all Joaquin Phoenix's talent - is a joyless husk of a film. I respect what it was going for, but after watching it I found no reason to ever go back to it.

 

[Jodo]

This show is the equivalent of when I’d have all my figures set out, and I couldn’t wait to play with them, and then the most stupid neighbor kid would come down, my family would make me play with him, and all he would do is smash the toys together.

 

[Master Boda]

Because we love it. It's ok to love things that are stupid. We just don't need to pretend they aren't in order to feel better about loving them.

Huh, so that’s what the blue pill does.

 

[Paul Andrew]

Huh, so that’s what the blue pill does.

No man, that's a boner pill.

 

[Master Boda]

No man, that's a boner pill.

Ha.Ha. that razor sharp wit of yours.

 

[Bloop]

OWK Part V thoughts:

I honestly thought there was a smaller ship inside the ship Vader ripped apart.

The fact that Hayden didn't look de-aged didn't bother me too much, though it's odd that they didn't seem to try to do much of any de-aging, given the technology available. I will say that I've been learning some deepfake software and found that it can have a hard time when objects obscure the face to be replaced, and since the scenes with Obi-Wan and Anakin had lots of lightsabers crossing in front of Anakin's face (plus the lighting of the sabers on his face can make it harder), maybe they just opted not to try de-aging him because it would take too much work.

My biggest problem with the episode - why would Vader and the Grand Inquistor let Reva live? She tried to kill them both. I don't know much about the Grand Inquistor character, but Vader? No way he'd let her live. Lazy writing.

I've enjoyed the series so far, with some caveats that I've mentioned in this thread, but I didn't find this episode as entertaining. I didn't hate it, but it just didn't quite land for me.

The direction felt very "TV" to me - obviously, it is TV, not a giant budget movie, but these series (Disney's Marvel and Star Wars efforts) should feel a bit more elevated. I don't think it's the budget, just the choice of camera angles, lighting, etc (I was glad to see others agreed about the shaky-cam I mentioned in my previous post). I can't recall if Deborah Chow's episodes of The Mandolorian had similar issues. I see in her credits that she's also directed episodes of Better Call Saul, but that series calls for a very different style that Vince Gilligan has established - lots of stactic shots, not much camera movement at all. TV directing tends to be more about holding to whatever style has been established by the creator, so maybe Chow is better at directing when she doesn't get to establish her own style. Since she directed all the OWK episodes, I have to assume this style of directing is her choice. I don't think OWK is badly directed overall, but I think it could've been better, even if it didn't have the budget and time of a feature film.

 

[Paul Andrew]

Ha.Ha. that razor sharp wit of yours.

I like to respond in kind.

 

[CopperRevan]

Imagine if they decided to do a series based off of Goonies called "Chunk: A Truffle Shuffle Story" . As if Goonies wasn't complete somehow and we needed added context. Or "Sloth: Abused by Momma Fratelli", where they had to enlighten us all about the horrors of abuse and try to explain how his face got disfigured and his subsequent struggle with PTSD. Do we really need to know? I'm so glad they never did a sequel to that movie.