Return Of The Jedi ( * * * * )
For reasons best left unsaid, I had the opportunity/obligation to watch this film, oh, about twenty times last year, mostly in a row. Again, not because I wanted to, but because I had to. That being said, it's a surprisingly solid movie, Ewoks and all.
The Acting: These are well-worn characters by now, but they're well-worn in the sense that a comfy sweater is well-worn on a cold winter's afternoon. Mark Hammil's Luke is the only character asked to really evolve here, and to that end he does. By the final duel, we believe he's a Jedi. Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor is deliciously, two-dimensionally evil. And one of my favorite characters is Admiral Ackbar, who is part fish, part Winston Churchill. As usual, every dwarf and midget actor in a five continent radius is called into the Leavesden Studios--this time to play Ewoks and a few Jawas, though the Ugnaut union is left out in the cold. Carrie Fisher proves that you can quit cocaine and not gain a lot of weight, or at least work it off in time to don a brass bikini. Not sure how C-3PO stays so skinny; maybe he got AIDS. The worst is Harrisson Ford, who phones in Han Solo 'cause he'd rather be playing Indiana Jones.
The Story: I've groused about the story before, and it does feel like it was written to sell toys, but would it really be that much better if it was darker or more serious? They could've killed Lando and Nein Nunb, but they still wouldn't've got an MTV award for it. But at least they'd be dead.
The Direction: Richard Marquand, who died of a heart attack four years after the movie released in 1983, seems an unusual choice to helm a preordained blockbuster. Despite a sagging middle and a muppet-heavy bent, he still helmed the most visually dynamic dogfight scene ever when the Rebel fleet takes on the Imperial fleet. It couldn't kick more ass.
Overall: If I never see this movie again, it'll probably be soon enough. But I'm glad it saw it those twenty or thirty times. Those were the days.
Tredekka Rules:
The Acting: These are well-worn characters by now, but they're well-worn in the sense that a comfy sweater is well-worn on a cold winter's afternoon. Mark Hammil's Luke is the only character asked to really evolve here, and to that end he does. By the final duel, we believe he's a Jedi. Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor is deliciously, two-dimensionally evil. And one of my favorite characters is Admiral Ackbar, who is part fish, part Winston Churchill. As usual, every dwarf and midget actor in a five continent radius is called into the Leavesden Studios--this time to play Ewoks and a few Jawas, though the Ugnaut union is left out in the cold. Carrie Fisher proves that you can quit cocaine and not gain a lot of weight, or at least work it off in time to don a brass bikini. Not sure how C-3PO stays so skinny; maybe he got AIDS. The worst is Harrisson Ford, who phones in Han Solo 'cause he'd rather be playing Indiana Jones.
The Story: I've groused about the story before, and it does feel like it was written to sell toys, but would it really be that much better if it was darker or more serious? They could've killed Lando and Nein Nunb, but they still wouldn't've got an MTV award for it. But at least they'd be dead.
The Direction: Richard Marquand, who died of a heart attack four years after the movie released in 1983, seems an unusual choice to helm a preordained blockbuster. Despite a sagging middle and a muppet-heavy bent, he still helmed the most visually dynamic dogfight scene ever when the Rebel fleet takes on the Imperial fleet. It couldn't kick more ass.
Overall: If I never see this movie again, it'll probably be soon enough. But I'm glad it saw it those twenty or thirty times. Those were the days.
Tredekka Rules:
- Rule 4: Sweet Actor Bonus--Alec Guiness, +1 star.
- Rule 5: Spitting = Good Acting--Nice Jedi drool, Mark Hamill. +1 star.
- Rule 6: Over The Top Acting Award--"Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield while be quite operational when your friends arrive..." Mcdiarmid makes fairly dry dialogue like that drip evil. +1 star.
- Rule 18: The Two-Headed Calf Boobie Prize--Goes to Revenge of the Jedi. Don't worry, Star Trek II: The Revenge Of Khan will get the same...-1 star.
- Rule 22: The Great Entrance Award--emulated as recently as in Team America: World Police, Luke's cloak-wearing, Gamorrean Guard-stranglin' entrance is a classic. And in its own anticlimactic way, Boba Fett's uncermonious death is a "classic" too. +1 star.
- Rule 24: Exploding Buildings Are Good, +1 star. Exploding Death Stars aren't bad, either.
- Rule 28: The "For The Kids!" Penalty--Minus 1 star for the fact that "Ewok" is a household word, yet it was never said in the movie. It's the "Play it again, Sam" of alien races.
- Rule 31: Lightsaber Are Sweet--and now in Berry Burst Green! +1 star
Tredekka Score: ( * * * * )
posted by Tredekka at 5:31 PM
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