The Redemption of Anakin Skywalker/The End

Rating: 8/10 (5 April 2003)

Here it is. The last episode of the Star Wars saga and the final step of the Skywalker odyssey is a fitting conclusion. The first time I saw this it immediately became my favorite movie off all time. I watched it every week for a year. Then I began to look at it critically. It's not the best Star Wars. It's not the best movie ever made. It's still my favorite though. The idea that Darth Vader can be saved is the reason I hold above the other two.
This film wraps up everything nicely. Han Solo is rescued from the bowels of Jabba's palace. Luke returns to Yoda. Luke confronts both Vader and the Emperor. The puzzle comes together. Luke changes so much from the end of ESB to the beginning of this film. The battle with Vader at the end Episode V caused Luke to finally grow up. he becomes his own man. He becomes a Jedi. Darth Vader also has been changed by the confrontation at Bespin. We see Vader as more of a human figure, he's not just this evil machine. He was once a man, a teenager, and a little boy. We feel sorry for him. He's just a pathetic half-man in a cumbersome suit.At the end of the movie you actually care for him. You feel impacted by his last words on the Death Star II. When you see Anakin with the ghosts of Obi-Wan and Yoda you are relieved. Anakin Skywalker has been saved. Looking at this critically there are a few things that are a step down from the past two films. Harrison Ford seems to be bored with the job of Han Solo. The Ewoks seem like unnecessary addition to make the film more kid-friendly. As the original trilogy was being made it grew up. Star Wars was swashbuckling adventure. Empire was a darker more operatic film that added turmoil to the story and true emotion. In Jedi the most feared man in the universe is saved by his own son. He becomes a father. A lot of the originality seems to be gone because we're used to the material by now. Still this will always be the Star Wars that gives me hope. If Lord Vader can come back. Maybe we all can.