The perfect Star Wars movie. The perfect action adventure flick. The perfect film.

Rating: 10/10 (12 February 2012)

It's now an accepted fact that the first Star Wars is regarded as one of the most, or amongst some communities, the most successful movie of all time both in terms of critical acclaim and box office gross. Attempting a sequel to a movie of such magnitude, while an exciting prospect from the movie goers' perspective, is a suicidal task for the crew behind the same. One can only imagine the immense pressure of expectations that the makers of this film would have gone through while making this movie and even more so when the movie eventually saw the light. However, this movie not only fulfills all such hopes that fans of the first movie would have from the sequel but takes the Star Wars franchise into an even better and exciting territory, and improving upon the minor flaws of the first, turns out to be an adventure that can be regarded as good as perfect in all aspects of film-making. Although I had gotten a slight hint of this from the forums and internet talk, I now realize why this is regarded as the best movie in the Star Wars universe.
There's little need to get into the plot as it is best experienced by watching the movie directly. To describe it in short though, Darth Vader is desperately after Luke Skywalker and wants to turn him to the dark side. In an attempt to capture him, he plans to use his friends Han Solo and Princess Leia as bait. Meanwhile, Luke, guided by Obi-Wan Kenobe's voice through the mystical Force must travel to Dagobah where he must learn the true ways of a Jedi Knight in order to confront the evil lord Darth Vader.
Once again, all the elements that made the original Star Wars a success abound in the sequel. There's a well conceived story put together in place, great writing and editing that makes all the sequences feel connected to each other allowing them all to flow together, there's the original cast giving better performances this time being more aware of their characters, and of course, there's the by now famous Star Wars opening musical piece. Lucas, busy handling his newly established visual effects house and finances, hands over the directorial reins to his trusted professor Irvin Kershner. A professor at the University of Cinema Sciences, the way he handles the epic sequences while at the same time concentrating on expanding and developing the characteristic traits of the main cast gives the film an emotional depth which was sorely lacking in the original movie and which was one of my complaints with that film - the characters there were appeared too flat and devoid of personality as though they were just going through the motions. The presence of some character development this time allows us to connect with them even better which in turn makes the situations in which they get involved in a lot more engaging. Amongst all, the character of Han Solo as a dependable "scoundrel" is what really stands out; Ford plays him out in a near perfect way which is not only consistent with what Solo was in the first film, but also takes it in a further positive direction. His sequences with Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia are amongst the high points of the movie and are brilliantly played out. We also see Mark Hamill as a now slightly more mature Luke Skywalker as he journeys to Dagobah to learn the ways of a true Jedi from the strangely voiced Yoda. And of course there's the inseparable duo of C-3PO and R2-D2 who are actually forced to stay apart from each other for a major portion of this movie. As much as I can admit to not being able to understand anything R2 says, I have inexplicably grown to like his presence immensely in Star Wars.
The film features visual effects and action on a scale that's almost twice as big as its predecessor (the budget only confirms this). Spending $32 million on a movie in 1980 would not have been regarded as a wise decision but thank goodness that Lucas decided to go for it or we might not have been able to witness space battles on such a huge scale. The battle on the ice planet at the start of the movie is brilliantly staged and a behind the scenes documentary sheds some light on how some of these miraculous shots were achieved. What's really great about the action is that unlike the heavily edited action sequences of present films wherein the average shot just lasts for about 2-3 seconds, shots in Star Wars last longer making the action very comprehensible and easy to follow. Its easy to see the strategies being adopted by each side while fighting as opposed to units just being brought down by random shots fired by people / creatures obscured by the miss-mash editing. And the best sequence of the movie comes towards the end in an epic battle between Luke and Darth Vader that literally will send your pulse racing. Even more exciting is the battle's infamous outcome which I shall not reveal.
Movies like The Empire Strikes Back come only once in a while. Perhaps, every decade must have only a few of these movies present. Fans would obviously come up with a few nitpicks here and there but as far as my opinion goes, this movie is perfect in every aesthetic and area of film-making I'm ever aware of. Now that this movie has set such high standards for the Star Wars saga, I wonder where the next movies will take me. Suffice it to say, The Empire Strikes Back strikes a positive blow from which recovery is simply not possible. A winner all the way !!!
Score: 10 / 10