Sufficient conclusion to the original trilogy, but should have been great

Rating: 8/10 (26 December 2008)

Return of the Jedi is the third film in the Star Wars series, and the last of the original trilogy. It is sometimes seen as the weakest of the three. The reason? Ewoks, ewoks, ewoks. These furry aliens have been deemed too cute for Star Wars, too much for kids, too much for merchandising. But personally, I don't loathe the ewoks like some do. I actually think it was neat to see how such primitive weapons could beat the Empire, which after all was Lucas' intent. Nevertheless, I agree this is the weakest film of the original trilogy. It is, however, a sufficient conclusion.
What's good about it to make it an adequate conclusion to the film series? A few things. This is where we first see the gangster Jabba the Hutt (not counting a bad new scene inserted into the first film). He has become a famous movie villain in his own right. The best part about this is that we see Princess Leia half-naked when Jabba puts her in a golden bikini (though, arguably, she's *still* wearing too much). And, some of the scenes with Darth Vader and the Emperor, complete with the famous music associated with them, recaptures some of the feel of The Empire Strikes Back. There's emotion when Luke finally fights Vader, especially when Vader brings up Leia, and the music in this scene works well.
On the down side, we have some fake-looking puppets here. Granted the 1977 original had some fake-looking aliens too, but Return of the Jedi came out only a year before Gremlins and that movie shows Hollywood could have done better. Also in Return of the Jedi, we have a death star blown up, and that had already been done in the original. I don't think the conflict Luke felt about his father was intense enough; the idea that Vader was good after all was unconvincing. If this film could have been darker like Empire Strikes Back, instead of having questionable compassion for Vader, Luke could have felt self-loathing, a kind of guilt for being the offspring of a monster. Luke's compassion could have perhaps shown up only at the end. Still, even if Return of the Jedi isn't great, it's a must-see to get closure on the first two classic films.