Muppets in space! A good film but weak by comparison with the two before

Rating: Null/10 (30 June 2002)

Han Solo has been captured by Jabba the Hutt, but C3P0 and R2D2 come to rescue him with some other help too. Once free from Jabba, Han joins with the Rebels to prepare to launch an attack on an all new Death Star being produced. Luke goes for further Jedi training with Yoda but is later captured by Vader himself. Battles rage in space but also on the moon of Endor as the Rebels try to prevent the Empire taking over the Galaxy.
This should have been the best of the series  the Jedi striking back after getting a kicking in part 5. Indeed the battles and plotting suggests that it could have been. Certainly the final confrontation between Luke and Vader could have been even better than the end of part 5, however it just doesn't feel as good as it could have been.
The focus is very much on Luke and how he has changed since his discovery of this father. Now he is dressed all in black and seems more ruthless than before. This is explored reasonably well but it isn't as dark as it should have been  I never really believed that Luke could go to the Dark Side. The rest of the story is spoilt by one thing  Muppets. This was supposed to be the big climax of the `three' films, we get that but we also have lots of puppets. The Ewoks are OK as characters but the whole film has far too many puppets in it to be good. Coming off the back of a much darker empire, Jedi is like walking out of a dark place into the light  it's just too bright and cheerful. It should have had layers.
Hamill is good as Luke but I wanted more depth  that said was good here but not as good as in Empire. If you watch his three films together then you see him change which makes you appreciate him more. Ford has little to do  it's like we've seen his space cowboy act before. Fisher is the same but has more to do. Ian McDiarmid is good  but again I appreciate his character even more now that I've seen parts one and two. Yoda is cool but after Empire his screen time seems cut down (mind you part 2 made up for that). Darth Vader is interesting  it's a bit sad but how many other characters have been played by three people (at the same time  not at different ages). Vader's body is Prowse, his voice is Jones and his face is Shaw.
Overall this is good  simply because it's a Star Wars movie and has plenty of action and thrills. The muppets and brighter mood stop it being as good as the two before but at least now the Phantom Menace has shown us what a bad Star Wars film is like, now we know that Jedi isn't the weak link in the series.