It's Good But Is It Really That Great ?

Rating: 7/10 (20 July 2013)

A conjunction is a word linking two sentences . A couple of examples of a conjunction is " and " and " also " so when I say THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is a good film then I also have to use the conjunction " but " in case I suffer an internet disembowelment on the grounds of blasphemy or heresy
Two things the film does well is spectacle and character interaction . The film gets off to a great start where the rebel forces on the Planet Hoth have to fight a battle against The Imperial Empire who are attacking the base using giant robotic camels . That alone makes it worth seeing and we get some smart liners between Han Solo and Princess lela and we get some smooth patter from Lando who gives a masterclass in how to impress a woman
But ( There's always a conjunction )
most of the spectacle is confined to the first half of the film and after that the story concentrates on all the spiritual nonsense involving the force between Yoda and Luke Skywalker . Some people may be surprised that Mark Hamill's career as a movie star didn't take off but one wonders why he was cast in the franchise in the first place since he makes a rather wet unlikely hero rather than the youthful everyman the role is written as . Watching Hamill try and carry his scenes shows how unimpressive he is and how good the rest of the cast are in comparison
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK is a good Summer blockbuster but the brutal truth is that it's no more than that . It was made in an era before CGI dominated spectacular FX driven films at the turn of the century and that alone makes it worth seeing even if the most impressive scenes happen in the first half . But ( There's always a conjunction ) it's ridiculous the film is so highly rated on this site's top 250 movies and at best probably belongs in the lower reaches of the chart