Its fun, but full of holes and inconsistencies

Rating: 5/10 (5 October 2015)

In many ways, Return of the Jedi cut firmly against the brilliant grain set by Empire Strikes Back. The reason Empire was so effective was that it showed us the rebels were still losing, you can't just destroy the Death Star and have everything go away. But here, Lucas rounds out the trilogy with another climactic space battle and everything wraps up really nicely with no questions ask. Return of the Jedi is clearly the least impressive of the original trilogy. It is full of holes, tonal inconsistencies and plot implausibilities. I'd chalk this up to Richard Marquand not being half as competent as Irvin Kershner, and the departure of Gary Kurtz from the project. Kurtz reportedly left because he and Lucas couldn't agree on whether story or spectacle should take priority (Lucas was obviously in favour of spectacle), and you can tell because Return of the Jedi's story makes absolutely no sense in places.
The opening sequences in Jabba's palace entertained me to no end as a child, but now it just confuses me. How long has it been since Empire Strikes Back? Didn't Lando and Chewie go in to try and rescue Han? Chewie and the droids are turned over to Jabba, but Leia seems ready to get Han out of there and leave them behind. Was it the plan to get captured? Was Luke's plan to get captured? Since when can Luke do Jedi mind tricks? Did Luke go back and train with Yoda for a year, and if so, why wasn't "is Vader really my father" not asked then? The film's screenplay is quite messy and doesn't flow on from the rest of the saga. In one typical scene, Yoda admonishes Luke for rushing off to face Vader without proper training, then says he doesn't need anymore training and only when he confronts Vader will he be a Jedi. Again, maybe some concrete evidence on how long has passed would help. This film is the point where the story meant little to Lucas and the details even less (Solo is promoted from Captain to General where all he did was get frozen in carbonite, and Calrissian walks off the street into the role of General!).
I've always regarded Darth Vader quite lowly on my list of movie villains, and watching Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back I found myself wondering why. I now realise its because Return of the Jedi completely nukes him. The idea of there still being good in Vader comes completely out of nowhere - he tortured his son with the knowledge that his father is the most evil man in the galaxy and then chopped his hand off and let him fall to his likely death. The addition of Emperor Palpatine also relegates Darth Vader to a side character - during the conversations between Luke and the Emperor, Vader sort of stands diffently to the side and chips in with the occasional "yeah. what he said." Palpatine's character development pretty much begins and ends with "evil" - he seems so sure that Luke will join him, yet Luke's battle with the dark side emerges only as a plot point in those scenes. Even if Luke turns to the dark side, what will make him join Palpatine? The expanded universe implies more information about this, but its not very well established here. The execution is pretty inconsistent - Luke goes from being Alec Guinness-style calm to flailing his lightsaber around like he's never held one before. Now that I mention it, Mark Hamill seems to be playing two characters simultaneously.
I've covered what I didn't like, but this is a Star Wars film and there's so much to love. The epic space battle at the second Death Star only reminds me how much I missed it in Empire Strikes Back. Ford is having a lot of fun in this movie, and the rest of the cast delivers pretty solidly as well. The gorgeously shot introduction of Red Guards in stark contrast with the white stormtroopers is a beautiful throwback to Vader's black/white contrast in the original Star Wars, and once again, it tells us the bars have been raised. The sound editing/mixing is always in good form in Star Wars - my favourite scene being a harsh lightsaber ignition sound just as Luke says Vader won't hurt him or turn him over to Palpatine. The Battle of Endor walks a narrow line between cheesy and genuinely exciting, and Marquand keeps the Ewoks just shy of the Gungans.
Return of the Jedi is a really fun movie, but its not a cinematic artwork like its predecessors. I grew up watching this film, but when I read about where the story would have gone were it not for Lucas' toy revenue - the death of Han Solo and a tired Luke walking into the distance like an old Western - I'd be lying if I said the film's sickly sweet dance party ending didn't stick in my craw just a bit.