Review of Return of the Jedi (1983) by Luke K — 21 Dec 2015

Return of the Jedi is an exciting and satisfying end to the original Star Wars trilogy, though not quite matching the intensity and power of The Empire Strikes Back. The story of Luke and Vader, the Rebellion and the Empire comes to an exciting head in this final film, with excellent moments of conflict and drama. Luke's internal conflict of battling the dark side, and his cries for his father Vader to listen to the good in him adds a compelling thematic and human element to this final instalment, raising interesting questions around good versus evil, and fate versus free will. The moments with Luke and Vader really are the standouts here: their final battle is brutal, raw and thrilling as Luke's inner rage is released, and the final scene of Luke helping Vader in his final moments - as well as the following funeral scene - is oddly touching, and ends the overarching battle between the two on an emotional, moving and complicated note rather than a one-dimensional, black-and-white good overcoming evil arc - which I really liked. Another favourite part of mine is the entire act at Jabba's palace and the escape - it was exciting and super fun, which a Star Wars movie should be.

I thought this movie had a few problems though; there was a lot of heavy exposition - especially from Obi-Wan to Luke - and the film was inconsistently paced. Also, there is WAY too much Ewok screen time.... That said, the larger story and character beats worked, and the relationship between Han and Leia was at its strongest here. With strong thematic depth, fun action and enough satisfying conclusions to central character arcs, Return of the Jedi overcomes its flaws and is a great finish to cinema's most iconic movie trilogy.