4 stars (out of four)
The Empire Strikes Back takes a good thing and makes it great. A select few
sequels are able to pull this trick off. Whereas the first film is typically
burdened by necessary but cumbersome tasks like introducing characters and
establishing setting, a sequel has the opportunity to use its predecessor as a
launching pad, a base with which the audience is already familiar, and take off
in bold, new directions.
This particular sequel is fortunate
enough to have been given a whole universe to play with and freely invents new
worlds for its characters to visit and subsequently blast the heck out of. The
planet-hopping begins on an ice world called Hoth where the film’s first act
takes place. There, Luke (Mark Hamill), Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han (Harrison
Ford) hide from the Empire in a secret base with their Rebel Alliance buddies.
The opening sequence concludes with
a spectacularly exciting ground battle in which the Rebels just barely escape
extermination. (The Empire’s small army of four-legged, mechanical colossuses
is a highlight.) The gang is forced to split up and from here the movie follows
two main narrative threads. Luke looks to further his Jedi training by seeking
out a wise, old master named Yoda in the remote swamps of Dagobah. Meanwhile,
Han and Leia, along with furry first mate Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) and
C-3PO, the pesky cyborg with a British accent, navigate the dangers of deep
space after a close call with Imperial ships.
In a number of scenes, the film
adopts a dark, grungy sci-fi style reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s Alien, released in 1979, one year before Empire. The Rebel base on Hoth has the look of a hastily
built safe house – stray wires and power generators are all over the place –
and maintenance on Han Solo’s prized ship, the Millennium Falcon, involves
tinkering behind wall panels with a rusty box of tools.
These sets – along with the
perpetually overcast and bat-infested marshes of Dagobah; the cold, metallic interiors
of the Imperial Star Destroyers; and the industrial inner workings of Cloud
City where the climactic battle between Luke and Darth Vader takes place –
flesh out the Star Wars universe and
reveal it to be an expansive place that is not necessarily always pretty.
Director Irvin Kershner and
cinematographer Peter Suschitzky shoot these locations in a way that suggests
much more of these worlds exists beyond the frame. A number of the fancier set
pieces are filmed with a large depth of field, which allows several layers of
background activity to be seen in a single shot. What was likely a limited set
becomes bustling with life and action. There is always something interesting to
look at in this film.
The movie’s success does not rest
solely on its visual style though. The script, written by Leigh Brackett and
Lawrence Kasdan from a story by George Lucas, is more sophisticated than the
first Star Wars. There are gray areas
between good and evil, and independent agents such as Han’s dashing pal Lando
Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), who picks neither side in the war and acts in
his own best interest. But none of the darkness or complexity of the film
dampens its sense of whimsy. Even in the face of the dark and ominous power of
the Empire, the adventures of our plucky heroes remain lighthearted.
The romance between Han and Leia
adds a new wrinkle of human interest. The flirtatious banter between Mr. Ford
and Ms. Fisher could be from an old Hollywood romantic comedy; the wit and
rhythm of their dialogue recalls that of Bogart and Bacall:
Han: “Come on, admit it, sometimes
you think I’m all right.”
Leia: “Occasionally. Maybe. When you
aren’t acting like a scoundrel.”
“Scoundrel? …Scoundrel? …I like the
sound of that.”
“Stop that.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop that. My hands are dirty.”
“My hands are dirty too. What are
you afraid of?”
“Afraid?”
“You’re trembling.”
“I’m not trembling.”
“You like me because I’m a scoundrel.
There aren’t enough scoundrels in your life.”
“I happen to like nice men.”
“I’m a nice man.”
“No you’re not. You’re—”
They kiss.
The Empire Strikes Back is blockbuster filmmaking at its finest, full of
explosions and excitement but also crafted with care. Far too many of today’s
summer heavy-hitters seem to be going through the multi-million dollar motions
only for the box office. What a shame. Here is a movie that does not take its
profits for granted (and given the success of Star Wars, it most certainly could have) and instead sets a
high water mark for quality in big budget action movies.
- Steve Avigliano, 3/20/12
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