Star Wars: The Phantom Menace
dir. George Lucas (1999)
This has the makings of a good film. Neeson is excellent. Portman and McGregor bring class (even if underused). But Palpatine’s machinations contribute nothing immediate, Lucas draws a grating correlation between accent and intelligence, and Darth Maul dies an unforgivably insipid death.
Obi-Wan Kenobi
dir. Deborah Chow (Disney+, 2022)
This six-episode miniseries serves almost single-handedly to rehabilitate the prequel trilogy, affording it weight and relevance through Kenobi’s character arc. The scripts do justice to Ewan McGregor’s acting talent. The peril feels real, despite that we know what happens to the protagonists.