a review of 星球大战3：绝地归来

The final chapter in the original trilogy comes off as much smaller scaled than what came before (and most of what followed). It's a lot of watching the characters get distracted by other diversions that are somewhat removed from their main goal of combating the evil empire. Some are necessary such as the rescue of Han Solo, but for the most part it's all kind of goofy. Return of the Jedi is where the silliness really started to creep into the series. The extended stay with the newly introduced Ewoks is nothing more than a bunch of cutesy, fluff amusement. Kind of absurd to see a fraction of the galaxy's all powerful dictators taken down by these tree-living space teddy bears. That's not to say the film is lacking in poignancy though. Watching Luke struggle with the fact that he must take down his father in order to become the hero he needs to be strikes a nice balance between tragedy and hopefulness. Their final showdown is a conflict flowing with a lot of powerful emotions. Something that makes the conclusion all the more tender. As far as the action goes, the space dogfights are some of the most explosive in the series and the aforementioned lightsaber duel has some moments of real brutality. The big battle on Endor is exciting, but somewhat cheapened by the amount of Ewok-related humor that was thrown in. George Lucas really dug deep into his imagination for this one. The result is one of the more alien-feeling Star Wars films. The opening act on Tatooine is filled with remarkable sights and disgusting creatures all in a very dirty looking environment. These movies might have had an even bigger influence on the gross out sci-fi flicks of the '80s than I at first thought. It's all wonderfully brought to life by the strong direction from Richard Marquand and some excellent practical effects. While there is an overabundance of the kind of juvenile, kid-friendly humor that would eventually play a role in the downfall of the prequel trilogy, Return of the Jedi is still a satisfying final chapter to Lucas' first Star Wars story. It manages to tie together what feels like a series of inconsequential events into a neat and tidy conclusion while showing us some imaginative sights along the way.