REVIEW: Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

   Whew!   Here we are, all caught up on the Star Wars films...well, for another day or so, at least.  Behold, the last stop on the countdown to The Force Awakens.  Presenting: Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (ROTJ)!

In which everyone is green.

   Set about a year after the Empire Strikes Back, ROTJ wraps up the Original Trilogy.  Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his friends Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher), Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) infiltrate the palace of gangster Jabba the Hutt in order to rescue Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from his carbonite prison.  Meanwhile, the Empire is building a new Death Star, and its construction is being overseen not only by Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), but also by the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) himself, and both the Empire and Rebellion find themselves hurtling towards a conflict which will determine the fate of the galaxy.  Alec Guinness and Frank Oz return as Obi-Wan and Yoda, respectively, and there are supporting appearances by Denis Lawson, Kenneth Colley, Tim Rose, Jeremy Bulloch, Sebastian Shaw, and a very young Warwick Davis.

     ROTJ is a perfectly serviceable conclusion to the Original Trilogy, as it wraps up all of the questions raised by ESB, and ties the various plot threads together nicely.  We get answers to the mysteries of the Skywalker family, Han Solo is rescued, and the Rebellion gains a major victory over the Empire.  The movie's a little pat, in terms of its plot, but satisfying, although the film does suffer a bit compared to ANH and ESB in terms of tone.  The second and third acts of the movie tend to feature more levity than the series had shown to date, which makes for some uneven sequences as the film heads towards its conclusion.  It's the weakest entry in the Original Trilogy, but still a very well solid movie overall.

Quite possibly the most iconic undergarment in movie history, and the source of uncountable fanboy daydreams.

     The first third of the film revolves mainly around the heroes' attempt to rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt, and it's a fun sequence, but it also feels a little bit like a standalone movie.  It's a great set piece, filled with a variety of unusual aliens to rival the Cantina, some iconic new costumes for the leads, and a well-filmed action sequence out in the desert.  From a plot perspective, this portion of the movie is really there to establish two things: Han is saved, and Luke is now a full-on Jedi, in control of his powers, and sporting a brand-new lightsaber.  There's a deleted scene establishing how Luke came to his more advanced Jedi abilities, which would have been nice to see, but its omission makes complete sense from a pacing standpoint.   The whole sequence is fun, but it doesn't really connect to the rest of the film, making it feel more like an entry in an old-time movie serial.  That's not necessarily a criticism, just an observation that ROTJ is really divided into two sections - the Jabba part, and the rest of the movie proper.

    

I'm starting to think a light-up table is the key to science fiction.

   The bridge between the two sections is occupied by a fairly brief but crucially important sequence, as Luke returns to Dagobah to fulfill his promise to Yoda, only to have the aged Jedi Master pass away in his presence.  Their last dialogue, and the subsequent conversation between Luke and Obi-Wan's spirit, is a well-written exchange in which Luke learns the truth about his history - though he strangely never asks about his mother, and Obi-Wan doesn't volunteer the information - and realizes that Leia is in fact his twin sister.  The fact that she kissed him full on in ESB is, perhaps fortunately, not mentioned here.   The scene is only a few minutes long, but it does a very nice job pulling in the open-ended questions that ESB raised, and is vitally important for understanding Luke's actions for the rest of the film.  We see the result of Luke's journey to date, on his way from boy to man in terms of greater wisdom, comprehension, and compassion, and the sequence offers a nice bit of gravitas to the film.

Ford, Fisher and Hamill - the Trinity of the Star Wars universe.

   From there,  the rest of the film revolves around the final battle, which is divided into three sections: Lando and the Rebel fleet attacking the Death Star, Darth Vader and the Emperor aboard said space station of doom, and the forest moon of Endor, where the main heroes have some...well, let's call them 'adventures' with a furry race of teddy bear-like creatures known as Ewoks.   The film cuts back and forth between the three locations as the battle ignites, with Luke traveling from Endor to the Death Star to engage in final confrontation with Vader & the Emperor.

    So let's talk about the Ewoks for a minute.  They are, at least in certain circles, the most reviled component of the Original Trilogy.  Outside of ROTJ and the '80s Ewok-focused, child-friendly spin-offs, the Ewoks have barely been included in any Star Wars stories since.  They are definitely geared towards a younger audience, which is partially why some of the older fans dislike them.   The Ewoks are cute, and played almost entirely for comic effect, but serve an important role in the plot as the deciding factor between victory and defeat for the Rebels.  They illustrate the Empire's arrogance, and I've always gotten the impression that the intended takeaway here is that pluck and heroism can come in many sizes, and should not be underestimated.  Which is all well and good, and to be fair, I really don't have a problem with the Ewoks...in fact, I rather like them on their own merits.

   What I don't like is how they're used.   Specifically, in order to make the Ewoks even remotely effective, other characters have to behave like morons.  The main Rebel characters are captured because Chewbacca is suddenly so stupid as to trigger a bait trap; Han is reduced to a David Seville-like caretaker of the little fuzzballs, and the Empire, in particular a legion of the Emperor's 'best troops', proves to be completely incapable of dealing with their Stone Age-level attacks.  Not only are otherwise intelligent characters reduced to bumbling, but the fight on Endor is largely played for comic effect - downright slapstick at points, making a good chunk of the action in the last reel goofy.  It's jarring when contrasted to the psychological and physical duel going on aboard the Death Star or the vicious space battle happening above.   For little kids, I imagine all of this is fine, but I find myself wishing that the Ewoks - cute as the might be - had been played a little bit more seriously.  They could have looked the same, had the same culture, etc., but been portrayed as fierce and feral when need be.  It would likely have involved a higher death toll (total number of Ewok casualties in the film: one) but would have had a far greater impact and led to a more even third act.

At no point does Luke warn Vader "I have the high ground!"  Not that Vader would have listened.

    Outside of that, though, the film is a lot of fun.  The best moments occur in the Emperor's observation room, as Palpatine goads Luke into giving into aggression in an attempt to turn him, before Luke realizes that the only way to win is to appeal to Darth Vader - or rather, Anakin Skywalker.  We end up getting a maddeningly effective 'big bad' of a villain, an intense duel, and an enormously satisfying conclusion, as Anakin turns on the Emperor to save Luke.  From a prequel perspective, this also ties up the prophecy plotline, with Anakin restoring balance to the Force by destroying the Sith, which as I've understood it represent a perversion of the Force in the first place.  I like to imagine what's going through Anakin's mind in the fight - all of his rage, frustration, loss and bitterness clashing head-on with a chance at redemption in the form of the son he never knew he had.  The musical cue as Vader makes his momentous decision, which features the Jedi theme returning to overpower the Imperial tones, is my single favorite part of the entire Star Wars score.

I really have to wonder what this conversation was like.  "Hmmm...Skywalker, yes.  Dipstick, you are."

    The movie wraps up nicely, with the good ending happily and the bad unhappily, which is what fiction means, to borrow from Oscar Wilde, although one could argue that Vader - or Anakin - does get something of a happy ending.   It's an acceptable conclusion, but as an adult, at least, I can't help but feel it lacks the oomph of ESB.  Maybe it's because Lucas is back on the script (with Lawrence Kasdan co-writing), but the characters don't seem as sharp this time around.  Hamill and Fisher get some good acting moments, but Ford, Williams and the rest are fairly broad, much closer in tone to ANH than ESB.  Ian McDiarmid is a lot of fun, though - infuriatingly smug and gleefully evil, though I do kind of wish we'd gotten to see what Palpatine's reaction to the Ewoks would have been.  I'm not sure how much of the tonal shift in ROTJ towards levity is due to its new director, Richard Marquand, or how much is Lucas' writing, or if there are other factors in play, but whatever the case, this third film ends up lighter and softer than ESB, though it still does the bulk of the job just fine.


FINAL RATING: 8 PAWS (OUT OF 10):

       All told, the Original Trilogy ranks as one the best and most revered film series of all time.  So as we wrap up our look at it, all eyes are now focused on this Friday's release of Episode VII.  Unlike the three prequels, which all revolved around a premise of inevitability, this time we're going back to classic, beloved characters and learning their fates, so we're heading off the map.   We'll see - in a little over twenty-four hours - what the world of Star Wars looks like thirty years later, now that the EU has been relegated to 'alternate timeline' status.  My hope is that we get something worthy of the Original Trilogy, that offers a satisfying continuation for the original cast, engaging new characters to stand alongside the classic ones, and some fun that manages to be exciting without being pandering or silly.

When last we left our heroes...

     If you've read the blogs thus far, I thank you and hope you've enjoyed them.  The countdown will end this weekend with my review of The Force Awakens, which I will do my best to keep spoiler-free; details can be delved into at a later date.

So that's it until we're on the other side of Episode VII.  Until then, may the Force....well, you know.