Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
Director: Richard Marquand
Writer: Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas
Starring: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, Anthony Daniels, Ian McDiarmid, Frank Oz, James Earl Jones
Reason for watching: Showing Jane all of the Star Wars movies
Number of times I’ve watched it: Probably around 10 to 12 times.
***
NOW THIS IS THE WORST MOVIE OF THE ORIGINAL TRILOGY, and it ain’t even close.
Alright now that I’ve gotten your attention with the click bait, I’m gonna own up to something. Until this recent rewatch of Return of the Jedi, I thought that somehow this movie was worse than the best of prequels Revenge of the Sith. The not so surprising redemption of Darth Vader had been quite off putting for some time and led me to not liking the script as much. And while I hold to those beliefs still, I forgot how fun this entry was.
Now, for some clarity’s sake, Harrison Ford was pretty set about not wanting to come back after Empire Strikes Back. His belief was that Han Solo was not an interesting character to play due to his lack of intelligence and depth of character. He’s not entirely wrong, and Han does not grow much in Return of the Jedi. And that’s certainly not something I loved, but Ford did something here that I did enjoy. He stopped trying too hard and had fun. Solo was always a quippy and fun character, but now we’re getting him cracking jokes while he’s blind. It’s not the best turn for his character, that comes later, but it’s certainly fun.
Actually, my main positive for Return of the Jedi is that the movie has fun. We get to explore Jabba’s debaucherous palace and the forrest moon of Endor. We get to see Luke flail around his lightsaber like an idiot after the most convoluted and obvious “signal” of all time. R2-D2 and C3PO are still a funny duo. You have the Ewoks playing a major role in that battle of Endor, which would be like saying a group of teddy bears helped win D-Day and the storming of Normandy. If that comparison sounds ridiculous it’s because SO ARE THE EWOKS TURNING THE TIDE AGAINST THE EMPIRE!!!!
The theme of father and son set up by Empire Strikes Back plays out well here, but it is a little one-sided. While we get to see Luke’s fear and anxiety about having to face his father again, Vader does not get nearly enough time to match it and give us more connection to him. We are certainly happy to see him toss Emperor Rubberfa…I mean Palpatine…into that chasm and explode. But how much more interesting and touching could that have been if Vader had earned that moment of regret and redemption like Luke did when he realized using his anger only caused him to fall into the same bad footsteps as his father.
All of that ties in with a larger issue with why this movie falls short of its predecessors. If the original trilogy is supposed to follow the Hero’s Journey, then we already know how the ending goes. The tension is gone, and we are not concerned with how it will all end. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if you are going to match A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, you need more tension, something severely lacking in this movie.
Some other small complaints: the stormtroopers hit a new level of pathetic here; the opening is a bit of a slog until Luke shows up at Jabba’s palace; and the playout of Luke and Leia realizing they are siblings and not freaking about it after considering that they kissed is DISGUSTING. In general though, I still have to give this movie credit for being a good time. You get the happy ending you want, and the only ending that really made sense at the time considering George Lucas did not have the sequels or prequels planned out yet. It’s hard to stick the landing with trilogies; I’ll cut it some slack.
6/10
Until I see another one.