The Force Is With Mark Hammill

Rating: 7/10 (15 June 2003)

Who cares how they got to this movie as long as they got to it? The ewoks are dumb. Harrison Ford seems to "phone it in," and the black- screen is horrible (especially for something from ILM). So, why did I give this thing a 7? Mark Hammill. The only reason for watching this movie is the very reason I loathe the others: STORY. The resolution of the Father-Son conflict comes to a climactic head in this movie. Maybe it's Freudian, but it's comforting to witness Luke's compassion and love for his father proving wiser than Yoda and Obi-Wan's "kill him and let God glue back together the pieces of Darth Vader" mentalities. In the end, Vader saves Luke's life. Which, really, brings us to a conundrum, doesn't it? Wouldn't LUKE be the one the prophesies foretold of bringing balance to the force (opposed to Anakin, as believed in Episodes 1 and 2, and stated in interviews with Lucas)? Think: Darth slaughtered the Jedi and oppressed people for years! Luke, however, followed a path of enlightenment, and saved his father (and, by extension, the universe) from himself and the Emperor's grip! This one aspect of the story was so well-done, I feel it saved the entire Star Wars run.