Much better than the original

Rating: 9/10 (19 April 2005)

The second instalment of the original trilogy is in my opinion far better than the original film. The original film introduced something brand new to the movie scene back in the 70's but aside from being an instant classic and being very original it had some problems. The characters were very badly drawn up making them nothing more than card board cutt-outs and in the end that felt very unfulfilled. This problem is rectified in Empire Strikes Back. Its very obvious that George Lucas has had more fun writing the characters in the second movie. He begins to give them edge and more depth. The story in the second film is also far more fulfilling than that in the original and the twitch at the end is still one of the most interesting and well-thought-out twitches in movie history.
The acting has also improved loads since the first film mostly due to the fact that the characters are better defined. Especially Mark Hamill shines in this film and if you compare him to the character of Anakin, played by Hayden Christensen, in Episode II you begin to see some similarities. They are both quite hot tempered and impatient and you actually see where George Lucas was going. Also Harrison Ford begins to show his real talents in this film. There are a few new characters in the film like Lando Calrissian, played by Billy Dee Williams, and Yoda, voice acted by Frank Oz, and they are both good adds to the cast list.
The effects have of course improved and they serve to make the film even more visually interesting than the first film. Furthermore the second film is darker than the original film and this darkness works very well within the Star Wars universe and I wish they had use this darkness more in the third and final film of the series.
All in all Empire Strikes back is the best Star Wars film out of all the series.
9/10