A fitting conclusion to a masterful franchise

Rating: 7/10 (28 March 2013)

After the technological innovation that was the original 1977 space opera Star Wars, and its convention-defying, unbelievably dark sequel The Empire Strikes Back, my expectations for the conclusion of the iconic franchise, Return of the Jedi, were soaring into galaxies far, far away. Not long after, I fell back to Earth somewhat wowed but considerably disappointed. Return of the Jedi is a solid end to the franchise, competent, alleviating, and without a doubt, intriguing, but simultaneously bland and underwhelming. To, yet again, quote Dante Hicks from the everlasting Clerks, "all Jedi had was a bunch of Muppets." Of course, that's a vast oversimplification of what the film really features, but it's not an inaccurate statement. The last thing I ever expected to call a Star Wars picture is artificial-looking, but it must be said. Occasionally, the film will have points of sheer beauty and marvellous technology. Consider the briskly-paced sequence where Luke and Leia race through the forestry, evading a slew of enemies closely on their tale. Yet, frequently, much of the film looks like it was shot on the backlots of studios where the presence of a fully-designed set was dually noted. The mystifying qualities about space's contents and other-worldly galaxies seems to have been traded for modestly-interesting scenes, confined to solid land mimicking that of a forest preserve. It looks good. Not beautiful.
The second issue comes when we spend much of the film either listening to Ewokese or dealing with the language's speakers, the Ewoks, which don't even seem to belong in a Star Wars. The past gangs of creatures we've had to see, whether it be the Jawas or the Ugnaughts, were at least interesting, mysterious creatures. The Ewoks possess a cute, cuddly, warm persona that feels alien (pun intended) to the world of Star Wars. Not to mention, they often feel like cute, cuddly distractions to the more interesting plot developments and set-ups we're dealing with here.
For example, the drama between Luke Skywalker (reprised by Mark Hamill) and his newfound father Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) would've been the perfect thing to predicate this entire film on, rather than more or less shifting it to the side so we can watch the gaggle of Ewoks interact with their own culture and the new humans placed in the middle of it.
Another thing I began to start to get frustrated at with The Empire Strikes Back is its focus on the cutesy relationship between Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Leia (Carrie Fisher). There's really no surprise that there is a relationship in "the greatest franchise in history," but did it have to be this hesitant, restrained, and plodded out for three movies? Because both characters refuse to recognize their feelings strongly until the second movie, we get an abundance of joking dialog, senseless banter, and redundant little arguments between the two that easily become more obnoxiously spliced in than entertaining. This relationship either needed to not have begun or been greatly minimized here. Not shifted more towards the foreground.
However, I fear I'm making Return of the Jedi sound like the worst movie-going experience this side of the Millennium Falcon. There are still scenes of genuine ambition and prevalent imagination here, and the fact that George Lucas co-wrote this picture Empire writer Lawrence Kasdan gives more of the vibe that Lucas wrapped this story up the he wanted to. While Empire, my personal favorite of the original trilogy, benefited tremendously from Lucas' bravery in welcoming new talent to the film, it's nice to see the original pioneer, regardless of my opinions on him, finish what he started and finish it the way he wants it. I can respect that above all. Even the director at hand here, Richard Marquand, is given a nice range of variety, regardless of whether or not it's good variety. There is still a respectable amount of creativity and life in this project, despite its gradual inferiority to its predecessors.
The Star Wars films, as stated in my blog post before I finally sat down to watch them, formally stood as an annoying little blind spot in my rear-view that I was too lazy to wipe clean. When I finally did, I realized what I was missing. When you see this films in present day, there still is no lost wonder or the overwhelming feeling of datedness. It feels just as fresh, moving, and powerful as a thrilling sci-fi epic made in recent time. Return of the Jedi isn't necessarily the way I wanted the entire series to end (for, I would've rather had some more of the unrelenting darkness and bleak storytelling Empire used to its success), yet I simply can't bring myself to say I didn't like the film mainly because I feel that it's a pretty creative piece in and of itself. It's a fine movie that deserves its place in history, regardless of my opinion.
Starring: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and James Earl Jones (voice). Directed by: Richard Marquand.