Return of the Jedi (1983), PG, ★★★

The final duel: Luke vs. Darth Vader.

This is it. The final chapter of the original Star Wars saga. The problem with most movies that are set as the conclusion is that the director tries too hard to push the boundaries of overstaying its welcome with setting up bombastic special effects and create the action sequences as a great action sequence but with too much oomph. It sometimes gives me a headache. Well, not as painful as Michael Bay's sequences. However, even though there are some flaws in its narrative and a silly flaw in its climactic battle (we'll get to that later), this is still the funnest chapter and movie out of the original series and wraps up the whole story quite well interconnecting the characters.

Darth Vader (voiced by James Earl Jones) has landed on the second Death Star in which he warns the main guard that the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid) is going to be arriving to observe the Death Star and see if it is on schedule. Meanwhile, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) sends both C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) and R2-D2 to meet Jabba the Hutt, however, they are placed in the palace with him. Leia (Carrie Fisher) tries to infiltrate the place and she does rescue Han Solo (Harrison Ford) from carbonite but fails and is now Jabba's slave and Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) is already disguised there as a guard.

Luke arrives to Jabba's palace later to save everyone and barter with him. After a lengthy fight with Jabba's Rancor, both Luke and Hans are sentenced to death by feeding them to the Sarlacc pit. After he is freed with the help of R2-D2, Luke and his fellow companions fight all of the villains defeat Jabba and escape.

The Rebel Alliance learns that the Empire is constructing a new Death Star with Emperor Palpatine at the helm and their mission is to strike an energy shield that protects the station on a planet called Endor where Han Solo leads a strike team to destroy it. The strike team, accompanied by Luke and Leia, travels to Endor in an Imperial shuttle and even though with a bit of confrontation with the Ewoks, they gain their trust. Luke tells Leia later on that she is his sister and that Vader is their father and has to go confront him.

Lando and Han in front of the Falcon. 

Even though this is a fun movie to wrap up the original trilogy, I had some problems with this chapter. The opening sequence is overlong and takes forever to get going because we have to introduce all of the characters one by one to confront Jabba. Why did they not go in by full storm with reinforcements? Well, I understand we would not get a great shot of Leia in a slave bikini but it is just lengthy introductions with the characters talking to Jabba about saving Han. Plus, the action near the Sarlacc pit is great but one minor character dies in poor fashion and they would have had something with Boba and Han or Luke. I would have cut some of the introductions and add a little more action.

I do want to add a good laugh because it never gets old.

Now, the visual effects become a little unsatisfying compared to the first two especially on the ride to the Sarlacc Pit but then the weary beginning strains off and then it becomes adventurous and exciting but also there is some heavy-handedness as we, spoiler alert, see the death of Yoda as he reveals to Luke that there is another Skywalker, not Vader. That is a powerful scene that elevates the narrative into a zone of drama that is drawn into a bit of sadness and satisfaction simultaneously especially in Luke's character development.

Now, the Emperor is a fascinating villain trying to seduce Luke into the dark side like he did with Anakin Skywalker when he turned into Darth Vader but it never works. Luke tries to do the same thing when he surrenders to the Empire into trying to persuade Vader to come back to the Light Side. It brings on to a great lightsaber sequence that is both emotional and suspenseful as we now realize that it is Father and Son dueling against each other right in front of the Emperor.

Ok, the Ewoks are cute. They are basically teddy bears. Now, you all are going to hate me for this but they do not add any stakes to the climactic battle on Endor. They fight against the clumsy stormtroopers with rocks, sticks and arrows and that is my problem. Those minimalistic items are supposed to hurt them and they do. It's not a big jolt into the fascination of what the series is all about but it's entertaining at best. But, the space battle is quite exciting and revolutionary as they try to destroy the Second Death Star and that's when the great special effects is in gear.

On a final note, every character is cast greatly and the story is quite fulfilling. I wish that the conclusion was greater than it should be but there is so much fluff, exposition and unnecessary cuteness that it disintegrates into kid fare and that's fine. But, it bothers me as to how it wraps up. The original Star Wars trilogy is quite exciting and never boring with fulfilling dialogue, action sequences and music you want to experience repeatedly.

Now, it's on to the prequels...Oh no!

***