At last, we’ve come to Return of the Jedi (ROTJ). There is good here, and there is terrible. In fact, this 3-part blog started out about cheesiness in ROTJ and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Now, I bring to you my Ewok rant in order to get the negative out of the way first:
They're about 3 feet tall. Cute and cuddly. I wouldn't mind having one as a little sidekick. But I wouldn't expect an Ewok to do much during a fight. Even if it had a bow & arrow, or a spear, or a slingshot at its side. Even if it had a numbers advantage. I'm just not threatened by something I can punt. And maybe I'm crazy, but I can't imagine an army being frightened of them either. This wasn't just any army. It wasn't a ragtag group in camo-ponchos, like the Rebels. No, this was the Imperial Army. These guys were armored from head to toe. They were armed with guns and giant, walking death machines. These are troops that, for over 20 years, kept the ENTIRE galaxy in line. And I'm supposed to accept that the waddling teddy bears win? I'm sorry, but we've been shown, in a total of 4 films, how badass and dangerous Clonetroopers/Stormtroopers can be. We've seen Stormtroopers deal with similarly sized creatures with deadly precision in ANH. Obi-Wan even takes the time to emphasize that he's only seen that level of lethal accuracy from Imperial Stormtroopers. In case you call shenanigans because you went to Wookieepedia and read that Jawas are passive, watch the Rebels run from Stormtroopers onboard the Tantive IV. Or on Hoth. Watch the Clonetroopers massacre Jedi. The PT shows that Order 66 (the order to wipe out the Jedi) was primarily carried out by Clonetroopers. So what changed? It all depends on who you ask. Some might say the Ewoks had a turf advantage. Certain Extended Universe stories have said they were fierce psychological warriors: at night, they would chant and beat their drums, getting in the heads of the Stormtroopers. Or they would ambush small patrol groups and viciously murder them. But this is my blog, and I don't buy any of that. I don't buy the Empire's defeat on the moon of Endor. Even though it happened. I can't reconcile what I saw with what I've seen, if that makes sense. Ewoks don't make sense. But you can't talk sense with Lucas, you have to talk cents.
See, the Ewoks exist for a precise reason: merchandise. Georgie, we recently learned (through this article), changed the story of ROTJ for the sake of merchandise. The issue I have with this decision has everything to do with the relationship of money and art. When big money is involved, you're very likely to see something basic and safe (swamping Hollywood, are sequels and remakes). So instead of Han Solo dying, or Leia becoming a queen, or Luke walking off into the sunset, we wound up with Ewoks and the Death Star, Part II. Not only is the Death Star a proven foe, but the Ewoks scream marketability. A win-win for those with dollar bills in their eyes. What little kid didn't want an Ewok teddy bear the Christmas of '83? Don't you remember The Ewok Adventure or Ewoks: The Battle for Endor? Terrible movies, but they didn't have to be good. They just needed to appeal to a small market: children. This was when Star Wars took a turn towards bad cheese. It eventually led to Jar Jar Binks, incompetent battle droids with high-pitched voices, and kid-Anakin Skywalker. But it began with Ewoks.
Now that the dastardly Ewoks are out of the way, time to get to the nitty-gritty. There are three major storylines driving this story, and they all spring from Han's rescue from Jabba's Palace. We've been hearing about this Jabba fellow since ANH, and if you've seen the movies as they were originally released, then when we get to ROTJ, we have no idea who or what Jabba is. As 3PO and R2 head off on their own to Jabba's, the intrigue and mystery surrounding this place mounts and mounts (as with most things, ruin this, the PT and 1997 re-releases do). Lando and Chewie, we hear from 3PO, have yet to return from this place. They get there, of course, and we meet giant-pig guards and dark, dank hallways. Bib Fortuna, our first Twi'lek, introduces the droids to Jabba the Hutt, who is literally a giant slug. He hangs out on a slab of concrete, eats creepy-crawlies, and has a court jester sit in his rolls (Salacious Crumb). He also has a taste for humanoid women, who he has dress in super-hot outfits. He also keeps them chained up, which is less respectable. A lot happens here: Leia, in disguise brings Chewie as her "bounty," she frees Han, they get caught, Leia is put in a super-hot outfit, Luke comes along, fights a rancor, gets caught, he and Han and Chewie are sentenced to death, they fight over a Sarlacc pit, Jabba dies, Boba Fett may or may not die, and they escape. Whew. Luke then goes to Dagobah, Yoda tells him he has to fight his dad, that there's another Skywalker, and dies. Luke chats with ghost-Ben (odd, it is, how often Obi-Wan is called Ben in the OT, but never in the PT), who tells him Leia, the chick he's kissed at least 3 times (with tongue, sometimes!), is his sister. Heavy stuff to process quickly, because next thing we know, everyone's chilling at the Alliance rendezvous, plotting to blow shit up.
One of our three storylines happens on the moon of Endor. It involves a poorly thought-out plan and Ewoks. Han, Leia, Chewie, and the droids are the main players here. It's disappointing. The most important stuff happens above the moon: Lando leads the Alliance fleet against the Death Star and the Imperial Navy while Luke battles Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine onboard the Death Star. I'll start with the space battle, since the Luke story is what the entire OT, and saga, led to. This is arguably the best space fight in cinema history, and definitely in the Star Wars saga. Our favorite space pimp is back, and he's leading the charge. Calling the shots, though, is the legendary Admiral Ackbar, known for his wisdom and brevity ("It's a trap!"). But it may as well have been Lando, since he tells the pilots what to do, and even tells Ackbar what's what in a galaxy far, far away. Once Lando realized the Death Star's shield was up, and it's uber-destructive laser was operational and able to target Rebel ships, he called off the attack on the space station and had the Rebel capital ships go up against their Star Destroyer counterparts. This scheme bought Han and company enough time to get the shield down. The remaining fighters literally went into the Death Star and flew straight to the core. Lando called all fighters and either a few heard, or the Rebels got pummeled, because only six or seven Rebel fighters went in, including Lando. It makes me wonder how far ahead they were thinking or if they even considered things wouldn't go as planned. But things go as planned, and they blow the Death Star to smithereens, again. But didn't I say Luke was onboard? HolycrapwhathappenedtoLuke?!?
Over the course of these movies, Luke has received the worst of it: His aunt and uncle were murdered, he watched Ben "die," he found out his mortal enemy is his dad, lost his hand, found out the chick he's been making out with is his sister, and was told he's got to fight his dad. To Luke's credit, he knows how to handle it. When Darth Vader takes Luke to the Emperor, Luke doesn't flip out and try to kill everyone, even though he'd be justified. He stays cool and trades barbs with the Emperor himself. Luke telling Vader he can sense the good in his old man. But the Emperor, well, he goads Luke every step of the way, trying to push him towards the dark side. It's only when Luke's friends are directly threatened by the Emperor does Luke actually summon his lightsaber. Vader defends, and we get an immediately iconic shot of Luke and Vader's blades locked, with the Emperor cackling. This starts the emotional struggle between father and son, at least in the physical sense. Luke regains composure and tries to avoid fighting Vader, but the thing about a Sith with a lightsaber is, they'll kill you. So the fight continues. Until Luke hides, of course. Good thing he's been wearing black all movie, because he is doing some serious lurking in the shadows. Vader's hunting him and antagonizing him, and it's great to watch. But then the greatest moment of the trilogy comes: Vader threatens Leia, and Luke goes berserk. The choral swell in the music is beautiful, and the first time there's been a score to accompany a lightsaber duel. The music, the acting, the fight choreography, it all meshes. The emotional undercurrent is electric (pun intended). One of the things that makes this work is that we've never seen Vader on the defensive. He's never been in a situation where HIS life was in danger. And yet, when the fight is through, Vader is down, minus a hand. Holy crap. And when enticed by the Emperor to kill his dad? Luke tosses his lightsaber away. The Emperor doesn't take so kindly to that, and shoots lightning out of his hands into Luke. I'll wait a minute while you let that sink in. It's this action that finally wakes up old Anakin Skywalker, who chucks the Emperor down a conveniently located shaft.
The unmasking of Vader disappoints me. Just like with the Ewoks, I don't trust my eyes (deceive you, they can). I see this pasty old guy underneath the helmet and don't buy that was Anakin. But following that we get Luke burning the body, another beautiful moment between the two heroes of the saga. Both the original ending and the revised ending are letdowns to me, especially in light of what could've been. I should apologize here to the folks who accept what we were presented with. But I won't because I'm an angry nerd. Either way, this wraps up my look at the Star Wars Trilogy! Stay tuned, though, for a special edition of "Random Thoughts" to cover anything I missed. Thanks for reading!
I don't want to be stoned or burned at the stake, but Return of the Jedi was definitely my favorite of the three.
ReplyDeleteIs it fair to judge a movie based on information released almost 30 years later of what the script could have been? It's an interesting idea...one thats tough to really quantify, because in our minds we can picture the "perfect" movie. Celluloid is much different in that we can't change it or adapt it. We have the idea of what Return of the Jedi could have been, but who knows how it would have turned out. It certainly sounds cool. To me the pros of Return of the Jedi VASTLY outweigh the cons. Yes the ewoks are annoying and pretty damn implausible, yes the celebration on Endor in the woods is kind of lame. But their are really beautiful moments of poignancy, incredible action sequences (the pacing of the third act is absolutely flawless), and emotional heft to boot, like you mentioned.
ReplyDeleteStar Wars discussions will never get old for people who truly love the series and grew up watching it. It's a shame that future generations will be including the PT along with the OT (I consider them seperate and have a hard time considering them all one story, even if they are supposed to be). Regardless, I guess it's up to us to keep the name of Star Wars in good shape--Lord knows Lucas won't!
Zac, there was once a time when it was my favorite. But at some point I grew old and bitter. It happened in high school, I think after Attack of the Clones.
ReplyDeleteDavid, funny that you say we can't change celluloid. I believe there's a certain George who would disagree. He, of course, would be wrong. Celluloid shouldn't be touched, just like an artist shouldn't take a painting out of a museum to make some changes after it's been displayed.
If anything, my annoyance with Return of the Jedi is accentuated by what could've been, not informed by it. The shenanigans on the moon really just break the movie for me. To me, it doesn't feel like the characters are acting intelligently. That bugs me in any movie. Star Wars just whips up the best and worst in me.