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Obi-Wan Kenobi Episodes 1 and 2 (Disney+): Since Disney acquired Star Wars in 2012, the continuing adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope has been speculated to be in development. Originally this was announced to be a movie, then a four-part miniseries, and now the show is finally here. The first two episodes are fine and serviceable, even if they do take a little too long to get started. There does not need to be as much of Obi-Wan depressed on Tatooine in the first episode as there is, especially considering it is a decade after the Jedi have fallen. That said, there is a very interesting interaction between Owen and Obi-Wan in the first episode that does sort of make it worth it, however the episode could be about 20 minutes shorter without missing too much. Episode two has one of the best moments of the Star Wars fare on Disney+ so far during an interaction between Reva/Third Sister and Obi-Wan that to reveal more would be a bit of a spoiler.
The Time Traveler’s Wife Episode 3 (HBOMax): It is baffling that the first episode of this show that is designed to be Claire-centric also somehow manages to be entirely about Henry in a show called The Time Traveler’s Wife. Somehow, through the magic of Steven Moffat’s writing, the show manages to take Claire being raped and turn it into how it affects Henry. The episode also takes the problematic nature of Henry constantly being sent back in time to various points of Claire’s childhood and adolescence and continues to dig itself into a hole where it goes from the originally sort of innocuous nature of the relationship to the way it is by the end of this episode where 16-year-old Claire is openly coming onto Henry because, as she put it herself in the first episode, her entire sense of sexuality was built around Henry. This episode probably should not have made the cut in general because of the questions it raises.
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (HBOMax): The third (and probably final) Fantastic Beasts movie finally hits streaming after its theatrical window has closed. Considering how much Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald missed the mark by, it is hard to say that this movie is not better. That said, it is certainly not a good movie and it raises a lot of questions about how the wizarding world operates its governments. Apparently, there is a world government/United Nations of wizards in the world that just never got mentioned before and they have a world leader that is selected by magic deer. It could just be that the wizarding world Britain had Brexit-ed from this world government before Harry Potter begins but it just exacerbates the biggest problems that exist within the Harry Potter series, namely that there is no outside help from other countries or other wizarding communities outside the United Kingdom over the course of the books.
Sonic The Hedgehog 2 (Paramount+): The follow-up to 2020’s smash hit Sonic The Hedgehog is unlikely to get anyone new on board with this entry, however it has plenty for fans to love. It feels like what happens when someone takes totally insane source material seriously and it feels like the kind of Sonic movie that fans have wanted. Fans of the early 2000s era will be especially pleased considering how much of this movie feels like Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2. The post-credit scene is fantastic and sets up a really interesting direction for the inevitable third movie.
Ambulance (Peacock): Ambulance is kind of like someone played a lot of Grand Theft Auto 5 and decided to make a Fast and the Furious-style movie based on the experience. The characters aren’t deep, the story isn’t complex, but its still entertaining enough to warrant a watch from the comfort of your couch.
You May Have Missed:
Wind River (Netflix): Wind River came out in 2017 and tells the story of a US Fish and Wildlife Service agent (played by Jeremy Renner) who teams up with an FBI agent (played by Elizabeth Olsen) in an effort to track down who raped and killed a woman on the Wind River Indian Reservation. Both Olsen and Renner give great performances in the movie that continues writer/director Taylor Sheridan’s exploration of the modern western in a movie that brings awareness to the violence against indigenous women across the country.
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (Disney+): On a lighter note, this past week marked the 45th anniversary of the release of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It is not an overstatement to say that this movie profoundly changed the film industry and has since gone on to become a classic and made the American Film Institute’s list of 100 best movies. While this past week marked Star Wars Celebration in Anaheim which announced a ton of new stuff about season 3 of The Mandalorian, Ahsoka, a new show from Jon Watts called Skeleton Crew, and a new trailer for this summer’s Andor, it is important to remember where this all came from. With a budget of $11 million (about $51 million adjusted for inflation), it pulled a massive $307 million in its initial theatrical run, not including the piles of money brought in from merchandise sales which George Lucas famously retained from 20th Century Fox along with the sequel rights because those things were not as important at the time the contracts were signed. As a side note, it also is the movie that literary and religious scholar Joseph Campbell credited with bringing his work The Hero With a Thousand Faces to the mainstream as Star Wars is one of the easiest examples to use when outlining the Hero’s Journey as a literary concept.
