Half way the story: pros & cons.

Rating: 6/10 (8 August 2010)

What a difficult task, reviewing an isolated chapter of a much larger franchise such as the Star Wars saga! One might draw parallels with other epic undertakes as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, for example. Is it fair to review a single movie as an independent story, when actually much of what transpires from it (or to it) is directly linked to crucial motifs in a story that spans for six movies? Not only that but in the particular case of this movie (episode), we have reached half way in the story, with the first act of the saga completed in the earlier episode (Revenge of the Sith), giving this movie the job of linking the two trilogies together. So as one might expect we get back in first gear again, with the story unfolding very slowly again.
Some twenty (more or less) years later after the events that toke place in "Revenge of the Sith", the empire is already established, the senate hanging on a thread, and with the Jedi almost extinct nothing is between the emperor and his grip on the universe, except for a few rebels. The movie opens with a ship carrying princess Leya, a rebel ambassador, fleeing from an imperial cruiser.
Lucas has told many times that he chose to tell this movie and its story from the point of view of the two bickering droids, R2D2 and C-3PO. For as amusing as it is (they really stand out as a kind of odd couple), this really makes the first half of the movie very slow. Inspired from Kurosawa's "Hidden Fortress", these slow beginnings where seldom in the Japanese director's movies, but then again you got rewarded in the end, as Kurosawa made self contained movies and no sequels, hence the drawback in Lucas choice. Before George Lucas directed the later trilogy it was understandable, as there was the need for introducing characters. Not anymore! For some interesting exceptions (the delightfully Han Solo) we already know from the prequels who the droids are, who Obi-Wan is, who Darth Vader is, etcetera, etcetera. Perhaps one of the few unexpected consequences of the recently produced trilogy and prequels.
However, once we get to the second half of this episode things start to get moving! The escape from the Death Star helps you to sink in with the real nature of Episode IV, an adventure movie more than anything else, not really worried with developing the true motif and backbone of this saga which revolves around the Skywalker family. From there on, including that final assault on the Death star (very nicely done by the way!!), going through it all with the land mark score by John Williams (which is indefinitely part of the story's identity), we are definitely in gear: accepting the new characters and their roles in the saga, as well as going back to our empathy for the old ones (Obi Wan and such). And of course, by this time the prequels have helped to emphasize our wish to see the Skywalker novella unfold. So when the credits come on the screen you are already reaching for the "Empire strikes back" DVD.
To conclude my review, if you want to see a self contained movie, you are in for a fair adventure movie, but the real prize will get past you if you haven't seen the prequels or don't intent to see the sequels. So don't waste time. By the whole lot and see the full six episodes! It's a unique cinematic experience.