The Jedi Return

Rating: 10/10 (9 April 2004)

Contains Spoilers After rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt, Luke returns to Dagobah to finish his training, but Yoda is dying. Just before he expires, Yoda tells Luke that he's close to being a full fledged Jedi and that to complete his training he must thwart Darth Vader once and for all and that there's another Skywalker. There's just one problem, which Yoda finally confirms: Vader IS Luke's father, Anakin Skywalker. It is here that the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi comes clean about Luke's dad, that O himself was very impressed with Anakin when he met him and arrogantly believed that he could train Anakin as well as Yoda. Big mistake. Luke doesn't want to fight Vader knowing that he's his father, but Obi-Wan tells him that saving Vader's soul is a lost cause: "He's more machine now, than man. Twisted and evil." Then another bombshell is dropped - Leia is Luke's sister.
We later catch up with the Rebel Alliance and their plans to destroy the new Death Star. Han will lead a group of soldiers on Endor into the shield generator complex that keeps the shield protecting the new Death Star working and blow it up while Lando, back in the driver's seat of the Millenium Falcon, leads the attack on the Death Star itself. After some forest hijinx and making an alliance with the local alien race of Ewoks - cute little teddy bear men and women - Luke tells Leia that they're twins and then he lets himself get captured so he can face Vader and the Emperor. Luke appeals to Vader to repent his sins and resists the temptations of the Emperor, but Vader insists that the Dark Side is the right side and the Emperor continues to act all disturbingly feminine towards Luke while the battle rages on outside and on Endor. Luke is eventually forced to fight Vader in order to save him while the Emperor goads him to give into the hate within him. Finally, Vader pisses Luke off by suggesting that Leia may fall prey to the Dark Side and Luke kicks his ass. After teetering on the brink for a moment, Luke throws down his light saber and says that if the Emperor wants him, he'll have to kill him. The Emperor tries to Kentucky fry Luke and Luke calls out to Vader for help. After watching his boy get fried for a few seconds, Vader attacks the Emperor, hefts him up and throws him to his death. Luke tries to save Vader while he's still alive and even unmasks him. Vader repents, tells Luke he's sorry and expires. Luke then escapes the Death Star before Lando and the gang blow it to smithereens. Han was helped in its destruction by the Ewoks.
Luke burns Vader's body, joins the celebration over the destruction of the Empire and sees the ghost of his father Anakin Skywalker with the ghosts of Yoda & Obi-Wan. And they all live happily ever after.
Yeah it's a little too cute in some spots, but at the end of the day, it's not a bad film. Maybe not the best way to wrap up a trilogy, but certainly not as bad as so many people would make it out to be or as bad as the prequels that were relased in 1999 and 2002 (and projectedly 2005).

The film is more about Luke, which makes sense since he's the main character. Mark Hamill does a pretty good job, all in all. Harrison Ford has little to do here as Han Solo. Ford really lit up the screen whenever he was on hand in the first two films, but here he keeps mostly to the background, which is a bit of a shame given the flair we were accustomed to him giving Han. This is partially due to the fact that the film is mostly about Luke, and the fact that Ford was making the transition from smart ass matinee idol to quiet leading man, and probably also he was simply getting tired of playing the same smart ass over and over again. Ford's not bad, but he does feel under used. Carrie Fisher has more to do as Leia, but when you look at her eyes and her smeared eye liner, she looks like she's lost, like she's off on her own, like she almost doesn't know where she is. Known for having abused drugs in the past, this was probably the point where poor Carrie was starting to lose it. Still, Fisher and Ford make the most of their roles and screen time, as does Billy Dee Williams as Lando. James Earl Jones still has the intimidating boom in his voice as Vader, but it's a shame that it wasn't David Prowse we saw when Vader was unmasked. I always thought Ian McDiarmid was a bit feminine as the Emperor, more annoying than scary. Alec Guinness still has that poetic charm as Obi-Wan.
Special effects are still a highlight of the film, with plenty of battles and the light saber duel to entertain.