A continuation that doesn't have a right to be this good

Rating: 10/10 (25 March 2013)

"Empire had the better ending; Luke gets his hand cut off, finds out Vader's his father, Han gets frozen, and taken away by Bobba Fett, it ends on such a downnote. That's what life is, a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of Muppets." - Dante Hicks, Clerks.
One of my other justifications for remaining ignorant to the Star Wars franchise was the fact that I felt I had already seen them before. After hearing the above lines in Kevin Smith's Clerks, I had no ambition to seek out the series because of the fact that I already knew all, or most, of the major, visceral plot points in the second installment, The Empire Strikes Back. But even knowing these details going in, I still emerged as enthralled and as taken as ever. It's one of the most awe-inspiring, gripping sequels I've ever seen.
My love for the series of Star Wars, so far, has likely been because I don't try to understand it all. I allow myself to sink into the films, letting the film's imagination, and my own, take me on a cinematic Odyssey. The less I look into the meaning of it all and the interworkings of the characters and series, the more, I feel, I see in terms of vision, writing, atmosphere, and style. Thank goodness I took this approach to The Empire Strikes Back, which employs all these elements with slick, constant entertainment. It abandons the cheery, free-spirited style of its predecessor in favor of a much dark enigma. Never before have I seen a film go from comforting entertainment to sheer calamity within one sequel.
Perhaps much of this is thanks to Irvin Kershner, who takes over for Lucas in the directing department. After achieving monstrous success with the original Star Wars, against all conceivable odds, Lucas, who was perplexed at how to follow up the hit, sidelined himself to executive producer and hired Kershner to lend his vision with the screen. New writers by the names of Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan were hired to continue the harrowing tales of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), and Han Solo (Harrison Ford). I couldn't imagine the hesitation amongst fans when these creative decisions were made. They must've expected the absolute worst from a sequel to an explosive hit. Could it be like the extreme hesitation the Star Wars fanbase currently has now with J.J Abrams manning the camera and Michael Ardnt writing the script for the forthcoming Star Wars: Episode VII in 2015, or should I not even mention that? The wonderful thing about these new faces being the driving forces behind this film is that we get a different spin on these characters and their lives that isn't drab, redundant, or contrived. Had The Empire Strikes Back adopted the same sort of easy-going charisma of its predecessor, this could've easily been a cheap rehash of previously successful material. Instead, Kerschner, Brackett, and Kasdan wisely choose to further develop these characters, making their problems more three-dimensional, their personalities more vivid, and their biographies more interesting.
Again, there are some terrific and grandiose special effects put to use here. The effects on the Millennium Falcon and the exterior shots of a galaxy far, far away is just marvelous and very appealing on the eyes. I'm always amazed at the naturalism of these effects, even for the late seventies/early eighties. Despite being largely products of computers and other visual mediums, they still possess an authentic and wonderfully realistic look to them.
One particular instance is when Han, Leia, and the rest of the gang fly their ship into the asteroid farm, which is exactly what it sounds like. Dozens of asteroids hurl themselves at the ship at breakneck speeds, leaving Han (the driver) with little time to react and dodge them. The animation and visual technique of the asteroids is astonishing, and every moving object adopts gorgeous fluency and technical precision. It's a visual wonder to say the very least.
The Empire Strikes Back beautifully carries the Star Wars franchise further than it might've even gone under the intense and uncompromising care of Lucas himself. The new faces delightfully provide us with more entertaining adventures and more eccentric characters such as Yoda (voiced by Frank Oz) and Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), consistently keeping us in-tuned and intrigued with the limitless possibilities of this creative world. Like before, Hamill, Fisher, and Ford provide the most likable of chemistry, and the scenes of intensity and peril do not fall short of enthralling, even if one is aware of the outcome. There are many directions Return of the Jedi can take, but if it shows the gripping intensity of its predecessor and the truly mysterious nature of its original, then the possibilities are as endless as the galaxy the series inhabits.
Starring: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, James Earl Jones, Frank Oz (voice), and Billy Dee Williams. Directed by: Irvin Kerschner.