_Return_of_the_Jedi_ (spoiler)
Kelvin Thompson
_Return_ofthe_Jedi_
by Kelvin Thompson
_Return_of_the_Jedi_ is a bad movie. In its predecessors producer George
Lucas (_American_Graffiti_) sketched out a clear, wonderful path for his
immortal saga to follow, but this latest installment takes a wrong turn
with every twist in its plot.
In its opening minutes, _Return_ claims to be Episode VI in the Star Wars
saga, but the viewer is disappointed to learn that in fact it is two
episodes. Episode VI-A involves Solo's escape from the clutches of Jabba
the Hutt, and Episode VI-B details the turning point in the rebels' war
on the Empire. The two plotlines are fine, but Lucas should have merged
them so they ran in parallel, just like the plotlines in each of Episodes
IV and V.
It might have gone as follows: The movie opens with a dramatic
confrontation between Luke and the rebellion's military commander. The
commander has decided that time is too pressing and Luke too important to
expend, so Solo's liberation must wait until after the Death Start falls.
Luke appeals to Leia, but she reluctantly agrees. Luke heads off in a
huff to finish his training with Yoda (when Luke arrives, Yoda admonishes
him, "Much to relearn have you."), and Leia begins preparations for the
assault on the generating station. However, a new rebel superweapon
breaks down, and only Solo knows some piece of information that is vital
to its repair (perhaps the Worm Asteroid from _Empire_ has high
concentrations of a rare mineral, and only Solo knows the coordinates of
the asteroid). The rebels judge the generating station to be
inpenetrable without the superweapon, so Luke is summoned from this
training to rescue Solo while the rebellion fights a holding action.
This way the movie could have worked toward all its climaxes
simultaneously -- the success of the battle hinges not only on capturing
the shield base, but also rescuing Solo and then retrieving the minerals
from the Worm Asteroid. Or perhaps the expedition to the asteroid could
fail, forcing a hasty revision in plans (as it is, the viewer becomes
bored that the rebels' plans succeed with clockwork precision). For
example: The rebels originally judge the base to be inpenetrable, and
plan instead to take the Death Star directly, but when the expedition to
the Worm Asteroid takes too long they are forced to make a desperate
assault on the generating base. The Ewok's surprisingly useful aid would
be even more appreciated under these circumstances.
But these enchancements of the plotline would have made only the
action-adventure elements of _Return_ acceptable, and the Star Wars saga
is much more than an action-adventure series. More properly, Star Wars
is a great epic of high fantasy, a close cousin of Tolkien's
Lord of the Rings , Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia , and Alexander's
Prydain series (Donaldson's Chronicles of Thomas Covenant may also be
similar, but the viewer may not have read them). As such, the saga must
have strong elements of action and adventure, but it must also devote
some time to examining human and philosophical issues. In this latter
category, _Return_ fails as well.
The movie fails because it does not offer any new blows to the solar
plexus. The first Star Wars (Episode IV, _A_New_Hope_) delivered the
highest concentration of adventure to come along in decades, perhaps
ever, and it gave the viewer some outstanding human moments -- Leia's
brave defiance in captivity, Luke's uneasiness and frustration with his
special gift, Obi-Wan's defeat-cum-victory beneath Vader's saber (a scene
which will no doubt become even more meaningful when the first trilogy is
released), and Solo's last-minute heroism.
_Empire_ also came through with the thrills (although they were old hat
by then), but it went further and clobbered the viewer with betrayal and
defeat -- consider the many scenes of betrayal by the Falcon's
hyperdrive, the wrenching scene where Solo first meets Vader and learns
of Calrissian's betrayal, the air shaft scene where pious Luke learns of
his profound connection to the Dark Side and Obi-Wan's betrayal by
omission, and finally, the scenes where Solo and then Luke are outright
beaten, betraying their guaranteed victories because they are Good.
_Return_ offers some plot elements similar to those of _Hope_ and
_Empire_, but the viewer has already seen them and hence is bored. What
Lucas should have added was a sense of tragedy, a sense of loss to temper
the final victory. Yoda's death does not suffice, since it does not
directly contribute to the final victory (in fact, Lucas should have kept
the Jedi Master around).
On a minor point, more Ewoks should perish during the assault on the
generating station. In these battles the Imperial Storm Troopers,
supposedly the deadliest in the galaxy, are too easily beaten. And
although the Ewoks, like Hobbits, are easily underestimated, they get off
altogether too easily. Also, the rebels in the space battle around the
death star should suffer devastating losses.
More importantly, however, Luke should die -- and he should die by
Vader's unrepentant hand. The viewer knows he should die because
throughout the middle trilogy Luke has become a symbol for the battle
against the Empire -- he and the battle are one. Luke has only secondary
relationships with the other people in the rebellion, yet he *is* the
deciding factor in this decisive phase in the rebellion. As he has
prospered, the battle has prospered; as he has waned, the battle has
waned. It was his spark that rekindled the hopes of Light Side, and as
the fire catches, the spark which ignited it must die.
And the viewer knows Vader (and hence Anakin Skywalker) must die
unrepentant. The viewer realizes that good is corrupted instantly, while
evil yields to good only slowly -- the priest may lose his collar and
the virgin her maidenhead in a second, but the alcoholic remains an
alcoholic, the pederast a pederast, the tyrant a tyrant even after years
without sin. Hence, given the urgency of battle, the only believable way
to purge the galaxy of Vader is by annihilation.
The very structure of the middle trilogy demands that good meet evil,
that father meet son, that the Jedi Knight Skywalker meet the Dark Lord
Vader. And the viewer feels it is fitting that at this crucial balancing
point within the trilogy-of-trilogies -- between the first trilogy's
descent from light into darkness and the third's ascent back into light
-- that the two balancing representatives of good and evil -- the
Skywalker of the Light and the Skywalker of the Dark -- should meet and
destroy one another, tipping the balance toward the light.
The viewer expects a scenario along the following lines: First, after
his return from the rescue mission, Luke does not pose a threat to the
assault on the generating station -- his presence does not disturb the
force unless he performs extraordinary feats -- and it is he instead of
Solo (who is off chasing minerals) that leads the battle on the ground.
When the generator starts to fall, the Emporer sends Vader and an
additional brigade of Stormtroopers down to defend it. Vader meets Luke
just as the rebels take the central control room and he again tries to
win his son to the Dark Side. The Emporer, still in the Death Star,
senses the disturbance in the Force and uses the Dark Side to create a
field which keeps Luke's cohorts out of the duel (although they can see
it). The Emporer also sends down a spectre of himself to help Vader in
the fight.
Fortunately, Yoda's additional training has honed Luke's understanding of
the Good Side, and Vader's and the Emporer's advances are as ineffectual
as light sabers against a perfect mirror. In fact, Luke begins to win
over Vader. Vader banishes the Emporer's furious spectre, turns off his
saber, and opens his arms to Luke. As father and son embrace, however,
Vader unsheaths his saber and literally stabs Luke in the back. In his
dying moment, Luke dissolves the Emporer's isolating shield, then
disappears into vapor. Chewbacca, only an arm's distance away, reaches
out and rips off Vaders mask and respirator, exposing the ravages wreaken
not only by Obi Wan's saber in Episode III, but also by the insidious
Dark Side. As Vader flops around gasping for air and reaching for his
saber, the remaining rebels finish him off. Perhaps Leia gives him a
parting message and performs the coup de grace.
With the shield generator disabled, the final, desperate assault on the
Death Star commences. Only a fraction of the rebel fleet remains after
the earlier battles, and to make matters worse the Emporer is using the
Dark Side to unleash a terrible pyrotechnic barrage agains the rebels.
Nonetheless, the rebels fight determinedly. They make one unsuccessful
try at the core of the Death Star, then succeed in reaching the core,
only to have their bomb misfire.
Then, when everything looks utterly hopeless, Solo shows up with the
asteroid in tow. It is much too late for the minerals to do any good,
but, while Calrissian keeps the Imperial Fleet busy, and while the ghosts
of Luke and Obi-Wan distract the Emporer, Solo leads the *giant worm*
down to the center of the Death Star. The worm goes gaga over the large
power source and starts feeding. Solo races to the surface. Boom.
Everybody except Luke survives, and he does too, as a ghost. The Emporer
lives to serve as a nemesis in Episodes VII through IX, and to die in the
final, ultimate battle of Episode IX. Yoda and Leia remain to carry on
Jedi traditions. Hans and Leia live happily ever after. In Episode IX
we learn that even the worm has survived.
Unfortunately, in Episode VI Lucas chooses not to use a plot which
adequately follows the excitement and meaning introduced by Episodes IV
and V, hence the viewer leaves _Return_of_the_Jedi_ deeply disappointed.
The viewer can only hope that after a much-needed rest Lucas can overcome
the shoddiness of _Return_ when producing the first and third trilogies.
robert thau
> by Kelvin Thompson
>
> _Return_of_the_Jedi_ is a bad movie. In its predecessors producer George
> Lucas (_American_Graffiti_) sketched out a clear, wonderful path for his
> immortal saga to follow, but this latest installment takes a wrong turn
> with every twist in its plot.
OHMYGOD!!!!!!!! I *agree* with a Kelvin Thompson review. Uh oh folks ...
My mind is going ... I can feel it ...
--
Robert Thau \
Keeper of the *FLAME* ))
r...@tardis.ARPA ( (
h-sc1%th...@harvard.ARPA \\
ter...@tekcrl.uucp
>> by Kelvin Thompson
>>
>> _Return_of_the_Jedi_ is a bad movie. In its predecessors producer George
>> Lucas (_American_Graffiti_) sketched out a clear, wonderful path for his
>> immortal saga to follow, but this latest installment takes a wrong turn
>> with every twist in its plot.
>OHMYGOD!!!!!!!! I *agree* with a Kelvin Thompson review. Uh oh folks ...
>My mind is going ... I can feel it ...
Not only that, but if you read very carefully and can remember his
review of "Star Wars: A New Hope", he contradicts himself in this review
by indirectly saying that "A New Hope" was a very good movie. Now, can you
trust a reviewer that will contradict things he's said in the past???
Simcha-Yitzchak Lerner
> review of "Star Wars: A New Hope", he contradicts himself in this review
> by indirectly saying that "A New Hope" was a very good movie. Now, can you
> trust a reviewer that will contradict things he's said in the past???
Did I miss one? Which film is SW:A New Hope?
--
Opinions expressed are public domain, and do not belong to Lotus
Development Corp.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Simcha-Yitzchak Lerner
{genrad|ihnp4|ima}!wjh12!talcott!sesame!slerner
{cbosgd|harvard}!talcott!sesame!slerner
slerner%ses...@harvard.ARPA
Ron Christian
>> _Return_of_the_Jedi_ is a bad movie. In its predecessors producer George
>> Lucas (_American_Graffiti_) sketched out a clear, wonderful path for his
>> immortal saga to follow, but this latest installment takes a wrong turn
>OHMYGOD!!!!!!!! I *agree* with a Kelvin Thompson review. Uh oh folks ...
>My mind is going ... I can feel it ...
***
I also agree with Kelvin. This is scary.
--
__
Ron Christian (Watkins-Johnson Co. San Jose, Calif.)
{pesnta,twg,ios,qubix,turtlevax,tymix,vecpyr,certes,isi}!wjvax!ron