BE WARNED – SPOILERS AHEAD!

The only time I’ve mentioned Disney’s ‘Kenobi’ series is in the post, ‘Why Obi-Wan Kenobi Is My Favourite Character in ‘Star Wars’’.

I decided against reviewing it because, while I did say it wasn’t perfect, as time went on, I realised I hadn’t enjoyed it in the way I’d really, really wanted to.

We (boys and me) had been looking forward to a film/series about Kenobi so much, that, to begin with, we refused to entertain the possibility of any kind of disappointment.

But with each episode of the 6-part series, it became harder and harder to ignore how much the story was lacking.

Yes, there were moments that grabbed our attention, namely the duel between Kenobi and Vader, but a good story needs more than a handful of standout moments.

It’s like the ‘Kenobi’ book I read a few years ago – I wanted so much to enjoy it but found it quite dissatisfying, and the only parts I found interesting involved the scenes of Kenobi on his own, and the parts about the Sand People and their way of life.

In his internet travels some months ago, Gordon had come across something called the ‘Patterson Cut’.

An enterprising young filmmaker, Kai Patterson, who’s also a ‘Star Wars’ fan, had decided to recut the series into a 2.5hour film; after all, the original idea had been for Kenobi to be a trilogy of films.

Patterson uploaded his full explanation on TikTok:
“While going through all six episodes, I really noticed how much fluff there was… [I] changed some of the ordering, some of the scenes, just to make them more effective… I [also] went into Blender and created a new shot… so it makes a little more sense why [Vader] did nothing… I wanted to add more Star Wars music… I really like how it turned out…”

Gordon had already watched the Patterson Cut, and recently asked me if I’d like to, and I thought, why not.

What struck me almost right away is how much more tightly focussed this cut is.

Instead of the original opening, showing the dreary monotony of the anonymous, reclusive life Obi-Wan has chosen for himself on Tatooine, Patterson has replaced it with a flashback scene originally shown in episode 5 of Obi-Wan and Anakin sparring in a training duel on Coruscant.

Straightaway, we get an action sequence, reminiscent of the way ‘Star Wars’ films begin.

Cutting out the ‘fluff’ greatly improves the pacing.

By eliminating a good number of unnecessary scenes that did nothing except take the audience away from the story, Patterson allows the story to unfold at a faster rate.

Despite this, we still get the important, essential character moments that the series had included from the prequel films.

Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor)

One of the fat-trimming exercises that stood out for me is having only one scene that shows how smart and rebellious young Leia is instead of the 2 or more scenes (can’t remember the exact number) in the series, underlining the same point.

I must mention that one scene that came across completely unbelievably daft, of Leia managing to outrun/outmanoeuvre her kidnappers, 3 adults, before getting caught; Patterson has cut it to show the more believable situation of a child confronted by strangers and frozen in shock before being grabbed.

Another bonus of the tighter focus is it makes for better villains.

While Patterson still shows the Inquisitors, he’s removed a good number of their scenes, bringing Darth Vader front and centre as the main villain who strikes fear by his mere presence alone; even Obi-Wan is clearly unsettled when he sees him for the first time.

In the original, the character of Reva had too much screen time to the point where it felt as if Obi-Wan was becoming a secondary character in his own show.

Patterson has removed enough of Reva’s scenes, giving her a tighter focus to “… make Reva more menacing…” as he feels what usually makes characters less menacing “is when the characters around them find them annoying…”

Having the usual racist accusations levelled at us fans for simply questioning aspects of Reva’s character, the truth is, we, too, found her annoying.

Instead of having her survive to then go on to the ridiculous scene where she threatens a young Luke and is ultimately redeemed – why has the redemption arc become a thing?? – Patterson has Reva die by Vader’s hand, which adds a poignancy to her character that was sorely lacking in the series.

Coincidentally, Reva’s death was in the original film script.

Having Reva die before the final battle between Obi-Wan and Vader means the focus is completely on the fight, instead of diluting its impact as the series did by cutting it with the Reva/Luke scene.

As far as the music is concerned, I didn’t find it the least bit memorable.

Patterson has rectified this by adding the music from the prequels to his edit, with the biggest improvement being the inclusion of ‘Duel of the Fates’ to that final battle scene.

By cutting out the superfluous parts and retaining the important plot points and fan-favourite character moments, Patterson has given us a version that makes for more rewarding viewing.

At the end of the day, though, he can only work with what’s already been made, which means parts of it come across as abrupt and awkward, not to mention confusing.

And, of course, nothing can be done to address and put right some of the continuity issues with regards to ‘A New Hope’.

While I think it’s possible to watch Patterson’s edit without first having to watch the original, the man himself encourages, in fact insists, that people watch the original first before watching his edit, which can be found on his website.

Personally, if I watch ‘Kenobi’ again, it’ll be the Patterson Cut and not the original series, as I feel Patterson’s version is more respectful not only to Obi-Wan Kenobi but also to Anakin/Vader.

TV Series/Film Review - 'Kenobi': The Patterson Cut