Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Review

"Do or do not.  There is no try."

-Yoda

Three years after the destruction of the Death Star, the Rebel Alliance is hiding out on the frozen planet of Hoth.  Eventually, Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) discovers their location and launches an attack forcing the Rebels to flee.  Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamil) and R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) are separated from the others as Luke searches for Jedi Master Yoda (Frank Oz) to learn the ways of the Force.  Meanwhile, the Empire is in hot pursuit of Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and C-3P0 (Anthony Daniels), as Vader wants to use them as bait to trap Luke in order to bring him over to the Dark Side.

What Works:

The Empire Strike Back is interesting in that it takes the characters we know and love, separates them, and sends them to their darkest moments.  This movie is much more about character development than anything else.  It forces them to make tough choices and that's interesting to watch.  Like most second films in trilogies, it's a bit of a set-up movie for the final film, but it's not filler by any means.  The film sends the characters to their lowest points so that they can rise again in the next film and that is really interesting to watch.

Empire also introduces some new characters that are really fantastic.  First is Yoda, and Empire's version of Yoda is by far the best.  We first meet him and he is simply a wacky goofball.  His first scene with Luke and R2-D2 is one of my favorites of the series and watching him fight with the droid over the lamp never fails to make me crack up.  But later we learn that he is extremely wise and much different from out initial impression.  Yoda is a fantastic character in the original trilogy, and in The Last Jedi, and I feel like that is often forgotten as he is far less interesting in the prequels.  He is easily one of the best parts of Empire.

The other awesome new character is Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), who is probably the coolest and smoothest character in the entire series.  The guy is a charmer and oozes magnetism.  He shines every time he is on screen and his moral conflict about betraying his friend is really interesting.

The scene where Han is put into carbonite is also fantastic.  The scene is phenomenal on every level.  The cinematography, editing, and music all do a great job of ramping up the tension and the acting from Ford, Fisher, and Mayhew is spectacular .  It's an intense and iconic scene and memorable in every way.

Finally, though the action scenes are fewer than in the original, they are still very memorable.  The Hoth battle is excellent and does a great job showing that even without the Death Star, the Rebels are still completely out gunned by the Empire.  We also get one of the best lightsaber duels of the series between Luke and Darth Vader.  It's a fantastic sequence and iconic for a reason.  It's great seeing just how outmatched Luke is and it doesn't take long for us to realize Luke should not have left Dagobah.

What Sucks:

As I said above, this movie is more about character development and it slows things way down, particularly in the second act.  There are moments where I think it slows things down a little too much as we lose some of the energy the first film had in spades.  But that's all I've got.

Verdict:

The Empire Strikes Back is widely considered to be the best Star Wars film.  I have to disagree with that as I believe A New Hope is superior, but Empire is still great.  Sending the characters into the darkness is really interesting and it gives us some great moments.  The Hoth battle is spectacular and the lightsaber duel is amazing.  Plus Yoda and Lando are great additions to the cast.  The film does slow down a bit too much at times, but it definitely earns it's title as a classic movie and absolutely has got it going on.

 9/10: Great