You already have saved me.

Rating: 8/10 (26 November 2015)

Return of the Jedi has the conclusion of the trilogy's Skywalker and Darth Vader's redemption at its core, which nevertheless does not save it from being the weakest of the trilogy. In many moments, it seems to echo its previous instalments, but with a lesser sense of wonder and escapism that Star Wars first wowed audiences with, and which Empire improved upon. There is another intergalactic band entertaining at Jabba's palace, but although the design and costuming of the aliens is creative and often unique, the derivative jazz song is not nearly as memorable as the Cantina Band theme. In Tattoine we had endless deserts, twin suns, houses submerged blow ground to avoid the heat, sand creatures and scavengers roaming the cliffs...here we have a impressive looking sail barge and an imposing creature in the dirt, but it does not feel entirely otherworldly, and the conflict and threat (specifically the iconic Boba Fett) are quickly extinguished, and it does not feel nearly as engaging as the Battle on Hoth. I point to a different little moment that expresses the world of Star Wars more effectively; as Jabba's rancor beast is killed, its handler emerges and sobs at this personal loss, and this is something which we can all identify with, and speaks volumes of the depth of Lucas' universe.
The technical accomplishments remain, and are even crisper in the last of the trilogy. There are three particularly stunning matte painting backgrounds; Jabba's palace jutting out from the rocky cliff as one sun is already half submerged, the legions of stormtroopers saluting the Emperor's first live appearance as the Imperial theme blasts, and the last shots of the Ewok's treetop village huts where spots of light and celebration sing of the Empire's defeat. Jabba's costume is amongst the most impressive of them all; an immense animatronic puppet which took six people each controlling a different segment of the body and whom booms in a deep guttural Huttese. The various fighter jets, pod- racer and star destroyer miniatures are likewise lovingly crafted and detailed; some of these bluescreen backdrops create the most immersive and chaotic space battles yet in the series.
The problem lies not in those areas but issues in the story. Star Wars, for the immense achievement that it was, was more an intro to the world and did not delve too deeply into the Darth Vader narrative, or the peril of the galaxy, and it was up to Empire to establish those strands. It perhaps left too much for RoTJ to lift; there are blocks of time in the film where characters will simply bring us back to speed and talk at length of the next plot development. Obi-Wan's ghost is conveniently informative (and the mention of the thematic relevance of point of view is not quite as bad as the infamous line in the prequels, but still slightly shallow), as is Yoda, who proclaims Luke battle-ready immediately after he returns to complete his training, and the reveal of the siblings is painfully drawn out, which perhaps exposes a small weakness of the dramatic acting of the main cast.
Luke has a mission, and a climatic reunion with his father. The rest of the cast is pushed aside to Endor, the home of the Ewoks, whom twelve year olds loved because of their likeness to teddy bears, but everyone else despised because of their irrelevance and ability to so easily decimate high tech legions of stormtroopers. The cross-cutting of this battle with Lando's assault on the second Death Star only further emphasise the tonal issues with the entirety of the Endor subplot; not only does it seem ludicrous that the shield generators are located on a separate moon (so what happens when you need to leave this random planetary system), but the methods in which the Ewoks wipe out the stormtrooper battalions have become laughably cheesy in time and lacking compared to the tension of the real battle high above.
The real strength of the movie is within Hamill's changed Skywalker, and in Sebastian Shaw's brief but crucial final moment. Post time- skip Luke is older, more mature, and understands the lure of the Dark Side which corrupted his father, so much so that he refuses to fight back even as the rebels are being defeated and throws his lightsaber away. As Vader witnesses his son be tortured by his master, the Kuleshov effect cuts back and forth between Luke's screams of agony and Vader's faceless mask, but the power of his characterisation enables us to know exactly how he is feeling, and in the final reveal of Shaw, redemption is attained. It is a pity that Lucas chose to mar this character (Anakin finds his redemption as the elderly Shaw, not as the moody Hayden Christensen - the force ghost should correspond with this) but the original trilogy stands the test of time. It is a galaxy that has become loved by millions.