Bleak and atmospheric sequel (spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (27 March 2004)

Sandwiched between the exceptional "Star Wars" and the comparatively so-so "Return of the Jedi", "The Empire Strikes Back" is widely considered to be the best of the original "Star Wars" trilogy. The film has it's one or two flaws, but it does develop the story and characters in surprisingly dark ways. This has to be the bleakest and most nihilistic "Star Wars" film so far.
Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and his rag-tag group of rebels are now on the run from the Empire, hiding out in the icy planet of Hoth. After they are routed by Imperial forces, the group split. Luke heads off to swamp planet Degobah to seek out Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz), who will instruct him further in the ways of the Force. Meanwhile aboard the Millenium Falcon, his friends Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) are hunted relentlessly hunted down by Darth Vader (David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), intent on using them to locate Skywalker...
The scriptwork and acting hits a peak in this film. Darth Vader comes into his own here. Given a much more commanding role, and willfully choking to death incompetent underlings, he is more of a threatening and sinister presence. And yet you begin to see hints of the inner conflict behind the steely black mask, culminating in his now infamous revelation to Luke at the end of the film.
Further developed here are Han and Leia, as the story gives them a romantic attraction. Initially it feels unlikely, a hardened but nevertheless proper Leia falling for a rogue like Solo but Fisher and Ford work well to make the romance touching and believable without going over the top.
Mark Hamill is on fine form as Luke Skywalker. The young Jedi-to-be is really put through the wringer here, and Hamill carries it off well. However the droids C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) have their dramatic importance (but not their screen time) seriously reduced, and as a result become more of a distraction than an amusement.
Of the new characters, Billy Dee Williams is convincingly ambiguous as Lando, an old friend of Solo whose motives are initially suspect. But best of all is Frank Oz as the benevolent Yoda, his gentle voice and memorably unique use of language conveying power and sage wisdom.
Some great settings here. There is the above-mentioned Hoth and Degobah, but also Cloud City, whose eerie inner chambers and corridors (combined with John William's haunting score) set the scene for the finale. Great set-pieces include a chase through an asteroid belt, and Luke and Vader's final duel.
"The Empire Strikes Back" is a worthy sequel to "Star Wars", as well as a first-rate science fiction film in its own right.