Great but not excellent

Return of the Jedi was released in the late spring of 1983 and is the final installment of the original trilogy. The hype around its release might not have been matched until The Matrix Reloaded or Avengers: Endgame. Star Wars had fully embedded itself into the culture, forever changing how we think about films and media. Return of the Jedi is the weakest of the original trilogy, though. It never reaches the novelty of A New Hope or the thematic depth of The Empire Strikes Back. Instead, it plays the hits, adds a few new flourishes, and ends with a fireworks show.

When I say “the weakest of the original trilogy,” that is relative. Return of the Jedi is a really good movie. The cast is all back and as good as ever. The story is fun, introducing new locations and characters. The narrative, a little clunky in spots, does the work and knows where the focus should be. John Williams is still great. It is all really good. So good. Just not great.

Is that my fault, my expectations getting in the way of enjoying the film? I cannot say, but I do think the first third of the movie is a little unbalanced. The scenes on Tatooine are fine but feel like fan service. We have already spent time there, and rehashing locations in a science fiction story can feel like a lack of imagination. I also really do not like that this movie reintroduces the Death Star. In a galaxy far, far away, simply redoing the plan from a previous movie feels like wasted potential.

 While the final battle is split between ground and space, the central conflict of the film centers on Luke and the Emperor. Both men struggle over the fate of Vader, revealed in the previous film to be Luke’s father. The Emperor wants either Luke or Vader by his side as he conquers the galaxy, and Luke is determined to redeem his father, as he still senses good in him. The staging of the fight is a little stilted, but that was by design, as Lucas envisioned lightsaber duels as more akin to samurai bushido than anything else. There is clever use of light and shadow as Luke fights Vader, and the dialogue is as strong as any in Star Wars, really crystallizing the conflict of the entire franchise.

What I failed to mention in the other Star Wars reviews is the creature design. Chewbacca has always been great, but the Ewoks are fun and a little over-hated, and the entire menagerie in Jabba’s palace is varied and memorable. So many new and great creatures populate the screen. I think this is where Star Wars as a franchise is underappreciated. The films rarely spend time explaining why the creatures look or act the way they do. This is a galaxy far, far away, and if a giant slug gangster wants to sit over a torture pit that houses a 16-foot-tall lizard monster, then so be it.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi does not reach the heights of the previous film, and it is often punished unfairly for that. This movie is good in all the ways it needs to be and is genuinely a good time. I cannot blame anyone if this is their personal favorite, but for me it is a step back from the rest of the trilogy, however small that step may be.