We are in an ironic scenario where we feel somewhat saturated with Star Wars projects but, at the same time, it seems that more are canceled than are produced. The series are camouflaging a complex situation that it has gone from producing a film a year for five years to that we do not know if we will see its return in theaters until 2025.
Everything is the product of a constant redirection based on angry fan reactions which, on the other hand, they have been experiencing since the time of the original trilogy. Some will deny the majority, but it was not universal applause for ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, which veered in a somewhat darker direction that some fans of the original film rejected (critics were also less enthusiastic). And for that reason we have a more playful twist, almost back to the roots, in ‘Return of the Jedi’.
The return of playful fantasy
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the premiere of this closing of the original trilogy of George Lucas’s galactic saga, directed this time by another craftsman like Richard Marquand. For a change, this tape can be seen through Disney + to soak up the most adventurous facet of these filmswith a combination of ceremonious closing of the story and entertainment that will not scare off the small and impressionable fans.
The story is picked up years after the cliffhanger of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, with the rebellion at a difficult time after a hard blow from the empire to its aspirations. Luke Skywalker, more experienced as a Jedi, orchestrates with Princess Leia a plan to rescue the cryogenically frozen Han Solo from the clutches of Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine. After this mission, They must give the final reply to the evil governmentas Luke deals with the revelation that his greatest enemy, Darth Vader, is actually his father.
Far from being conformists, Lucas and the screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan were initially in favor of betting on a young and ambitious director for this new installment that would give another breath of fresh air. From radical possibilities like those of David Lynch (who opted for ‘Dune’ instead) or David Cronenberg to a score for Steven Spielberg. But Marquand was the final choice, a craftsman whom it was easier to redirect.
‘Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi’: playing with puppets
That limits the possibilities of a film that has the enough fun to make up for its structural problems. The rescue on Tatooine, while entertaining, eats up too much of the footage to be a mere first act that has to put the pieces back on the board after the crash on the previous table. On the other hand, the entire film, from Jabba’s lair to the Ewoks from the planet Endor, cries out for a more animated serial tone that takes advantage of the prostheses and puppets used (no doubt a Frank Oz or a Jim Henson would have gotten a lot out of it). take advantage of all this).
It does not change that we are facing a competent adventure, very nice in the new worlds and creatures that it presents and with an acceptable rhythm in its final stretch that has to alternate different connected plots. It will be the most unbalanced and the one that takes the least advantage of its potential from the original (and also loses with some recent tapes), but it is still a formidable fantasy.
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