Review: Star Wars Episode VI - Return Of The Jedi

So I make my way to the end of the Saga (for now anyway, bloody Disney) and it's a solid finale chapter. Of course trying to follow Empire is always going to be the impossible task and Return of The Jedi doesn't quite live up to its predictors, still it's a good movie with some of the best character moments of the series and some solid action as well.

It's been a year since the end of Empire (I think, don't take my word for it), Han is still trapped in carbonite, Luke hasn't returned to Yoda and Vader is still fighting with Fathers For Justice. Springing a trap on Jabba The Hutt (which may or may not have included getting Leia into that gold bikini), Luke, Lando, Leia and Chewbacca free Han and rejoin the Rebellion for their final last ditch attempt to destroy the second Death Star and kill the Emperor once and for all.

While the support team take out the shield generator on the Forest Moon of Endor, Luke allows himself to be captured by the Empire to face Vader again and help restore his father to the side fo the Jedi and the man he once was.

It's a basic story but this is all end chapters, there's a goal to get, the arcs are reaching their end and the stakes are high. You don't need anything else and going as one long story across three movies it's a solid ending. The scenes with Luke, Vader and the Emperor making a nice little breather from the action moments while still holding a lot of themes and tension.

This being the final chapter the characters are based more on where they've come from and where they are now and it's a good change, Luke is no longer the world-hungry farm-boy, he's a Jedi Knight, strong of will and body, he is one with the force and treats it with the respect it deserves. However he's still his father's son and can get fiercely protective of his friends, a trait the Emperor tries to exploit to his advantage.

Han can still be a cocky sonuvabitch but his loyalty to Luke and the Rebellion is at its highest, he truly cares for the people he's fighting with and for Leia and doesn't hide behind an arrogant sarcasm anymore, although he does still have that joker tendency about him, often leading his men with little knowledge about what to do and making this up as he goes along.

Hey look, unintended Indy reference.

Gold bikini aside (and by god it should've been to the side, on the floor and off her chest) Leia is now the furthest thing from a Princess, she's a soldier, a fighter and a leader, joining in and leading by example. She's not afraid to get into the thick of it, although in Jabba's case she does so reluctantly, and holds her own with plenty of surprise moves and even choking that fat slug herself. Leia has come a long way from that girl with the weird hair and her relationships with Luke and Han signify her being treated as an equal and at some points even above them.

Vader also comes through surprisingly, with the scheming Emperor now taking the role of Big Evil Bastard, Vader is giving some more humanity and emotional weight, especially with Luke as his son, there's something about the way he continually calls Luke 'my son' that hints at his wish for Luke to join him. That's not to say he's father of the year and does still try to turn Luke to the dark side, even at the cost of his own life (Luke needs to kill Vader in order to let the hate overtake him) however his paternal bond is restored when he sees how similar his sons path is to his own and where it led him.

With Lucas still on screenplay and the director's chair changed once again, now to Richard Marquand, the film sets about tying up the storylines while giving us some of the biggest action sequences of the series. Now biggest isn't always best (stop giggling you pervs) and you can see a distinct lack of focus through the final moments, it's something that haunted Phantom Menace to the worst extent with four separate storylines and its hurting it here with three, New Hope had only one with the Trench Run and Empire made do with two separate plots with Luke's story running parellel in time and location to Leia and Han's. However here there's too much, we have Luke's story with Vader, we have Han and Leia on Endor and then we have Lando and the Rebels outside the Death Star. They're all connected (which is more than you can say for Phantom Menace) but constantly jumping around between the three stories takes too much focus away and you don't get the full impact of each one.

Of course that being said the action scenes are definitely the smoothest they've been in the original trilogy with several of the outer space shots looking really clean and impressive. The continued use of models and backdrops show the care and attention that went into these scenes and how the experience of the crew has improved over each film, the battle between the Rebels and Empire outside the Death Star is particularly great due to the high amount of action going on plus the speed through the heart of the Death Star is some truly great stuff, the battle of Endor shows some nice stop-motion and scale work with the Ewoks and the giant machines, small and primitive against big and modern and they hold their own.

It's Luke and Vader's battle that rings loudest though because of what it represents, it's angry, it's primal, it's not graceful, it's Luke letting the dark side in that little too much and just wailing on Vader, it's an impressive fight but that level of hatred and anger elevate it to one of the best moments of the trilogy.

I realise I'm mostly talking about the ending here but that's because there's not a lot to talk about at the start, unlike A New Hope which showed a progression from start to finish or Empire which continued on the dark path of greatness from beginning to end, Jedi is a concluding element so it spends its time wrapping up the story, it does have a strong start with the trick at Jabba's palace and seeing all those puppets in the one place working together to create a pretty disgusting place did make for a good watch, as did the ensuing battle even if Boba did die like a bitch but after that there's not a lot of note until the ending. I feel like Jedi was missing something, perhaps it was the missing focus I mentioned earlier or maybe trying to follow the near perfection of Empire was against them from the start, whatever it was you can feel it.

Return Of The Jedi may not match up to its earlier chapters but compared to most of the prequels it's still a great film, it end the arcs of these characters with respect and dignity, it has some great character moments and while not as memorable as others the action scenes really are the best looking and most elaborate of the original trilogy. Definitely worth checking out, pretty much required after the first two, but a good film in its own right.

8/10