The weakest of the original trilogy - Return of the Jedi Reviews

While this film was enjoyable to watch and had wonderful special effects, I personally consider it to be the weakest of the original trilogy and a herald of the more glaring flaws of the prequels. There are a few reasons for this: 1) The Ewoks, besides being too cutesy and an obvious and lazy way to appeal to young children, were also an unrealistic addition to the series. The idea of small teddy bear creatures defeating a battalion of highly-trained Storm Troopers was a little hard to believe. 2) Lucas' "fall from grace" was also present in the form of Boba Fett's demise. Instead of treating the character seriously, Lucas decided to once again pander to children by killing off the bounty hunter in a silly and comical way. 3) Another example of lazy writing is evident in Obi-Wan Kenobi's weak explanation as to why he did not reveal Darth Vader to be Luke Skywalker's father. There were several believable scenarios that Lucas could have used, and he didn't take any of them. "What I told you was true... from a certain point of view" turned an otherwise superb character into a patronizing old man. In conclusion, this film was a significant drop in quality from its predecessor, The Empire Strikes Back, largely resorting to overt humor and kiddie appeal. The problems in this movie, however, were minimal compared to the utter disaster that became The Phantom Menace. Although it's certainly not the most glowing entry in the Star Wars saga, Return of the Jedi closed the book on the original trilogy. Over the course of six years and three films, George Lucas created the most succesful film franchise of all time and a cultural phenominon that endures to this day.