Come On Get Happy (spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (15 April 2000)

This is a strange movie that is the antithesis of "The Empire Strikes Back." While 'Empire' was dark and moody, "Return of the Jedi" is as light as a feather. All of the tension and suspense of the last movie is gone here. The story moves more slowly, the character tension is mild and the overall mood is playful and goofy. "Jedi" is pure fairytale, but unfortunately, the characters in the fable aren't very interesting.
Coming on the heels of Empire's cliffhanger ending, Jedi raises more questions than answers. The first, why are people as powerful as Luke, Leia & Lando having so much trouble freeing Han from an overweight, greedy Jabba the Hutt? This scene shouldn't of taken a 1/4 of the movie to get done. Second, why is Luke suddenly all polished & somber like? In the last film, he was really struggling with his future. Third, why are Lando & Han suddenly best of pals? As Empire ended, Han wanted to kill Lando for betraying him and his friends. Now, in "Jedi" they are best of friends.

After the rescue scene, the movie's tone was set. "Come on get happy." Everything was played for fun from then out. The Ewoks, the space battle & Han & Luke's time on Endor. Even the evil Emperor comes off like the wicked witch in the "Wizard of Oz." Only a tamer version. I admire George Lucas & co for trying to create a modern day fairytale. Unfortunately, the final product doesn' turn out to be that captivating. The acting has no soul, the scenes are forgettable, and the dialogue is unoriginal.

The only true emotional pull of the film comes from the character tension between Luke & Vader. Mark Hamill really makes these scenes touching with his heartfelt pleas to his father to change his evil ways. Unfortunately, this scenes are few and far between. In final, this film should of been a lot better. A disappointing conclusion to the original trilogy that only grows worse with the passage of time.