Return of the Jedi is a return to some of the strengths of A
New Hope. Richard Marquand has wisely
chosen to knock back the exposition that dragged on The Empire Strikes Back,
and he keeps the narrative engine buzzing.
Several character reveals hold our attention, and we remain interested
in questions like whether Darth Vader can be redeemed or not. All these keep us involved.
That said, we didn’t need a repeat here of a two-stream
narrative whose main goal is the destruction a Death Star. That plot was interesting in A New Hope but
points to an imaginative void in this film.
Likewise, the cloying cuteness of the Ewoks drags on Return. While none of the original Star Wars trilogy
aspires to realism, not even characters in the Flash Gordon serials played to
the audience as obviously as these teddy bears do.
But there is still the universe of Star Wars at the core of
this film, a story with some suspense, characters we love and issues of some
importance. That’s more than many films
offer.
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