Hello :-)
Here we are for round 2 of The Incredible Suit’s BlogAlongAStarWars and my own personal
quest to become a proper fan of this hallowed film series (read as ‘quest to
procrastinate as much as is humanly possible’).
As previously discussed I haven’t seen the original
Star Wars trilogy in a long time and even
in my formative years, I didn’t watch them often. The Empire Strikes Back is the film that suffered most from my Star Wars indifference because it’s the
one I’ve seen the least.
Three years have passed since the events of A New Hope and everyone is a little war
weary. Our heroic rebels led by Princess Leia have been chased across the
galaxy and set up a base on the Ice planet Hoth. Darth Vader is hell bent on
finding Luke Skywalker and scatters thousands of probe droids across the galaxy
with a view to finding him and turning him to the dark side.
I’m glad to report that everything is present and
correct from the last film; stirring score, fun space chase scenes (say “space
chase” five times fast), awesome action; but Empire is giving us a bit more than we got before. This feels
like classic ‘second episode in a trilogy’ stuff; the stakes are higher and
everything’s gone darker. It sounds cliché but it’s undeniably effective and by
the end of Empire Strikes Back the
audience is totally on board for Episode VI.
I love that things have progressed; it’s never
spelled out for us but we’re clearly a few years on from A New Hope, not just because the locations have changed but because
our characters have. Everyone seems a bit more mature and the relationships
feel like these guys have been living together for ages, like genuine friends.
It’s really nice to be back in the company of our
central trio. Luke’s still a bit of a whiney bitch but his little brother/ big
brother relationship with Han is so cute I’ll forgive him. Han and Leia’s back
and forth is lovely. Of course she’s in love with him, she was never not going
to be in love with him, LOOK AT HIS BEAUTIFUL FACE. But seriously, their moments
have just the right balance of wit and vulnerability to convince us that these two are destined for each other.
This is the Two
Towers of the series where our central team spin off into their own mini
adventures. Han, Leia and Chewie are trying to evade capture in the Millennium
Falcon (what’s a girl got to do to get a Hyperdrive fixed in that Galaxy?!?!)
meanwhile Luke has swanned off to the Dagobah system because Obi Wan’s
disembodied voice told him to. You really can’t underestimate how ridiculous
that statement is until you write it down but on screen it works. When they
introduce this psychic Jedi Voice messaging system in A New Hope I thought it was a bit odd, but I went with it because
the film had earned my goodwill by that point. Here it works because we
discover Yoda can hear it too and we get a lovely explanation of what being a
Jedi means. It’s a really nice way to expand on that mythology and the idea that
the fastest or strongest are not necessarily the best is a sweet little take
away.
Whilst we’re on the subject, I was utterly
unprepared for how hilariously batshit Yoda is when we first meet him. Why have
I never heard anyone talk about this?!?! Everyone is all “Do or not do, there
is no try” and yes, it’s great when he gets his Jedi Master on and raises the
X-Wing from the swamp but that introduction when he’s poking around Luke’s
stuff and giggling his little green tits off is one of my new favourite things.
They’ve really ramped it up in terms of
environments for this one which is great fun. We got a glimpse of the deserts
of Tatooine in A New Hope but for the
most part we’re in the Millennium Falcon or on a Star Destroyer or in an
X-Wing, not that they aren’t joyous places to be, they’re just a tad samey. It’s
probably a reflection of the increase in budget but Hoth and Cloud City look
fantastic whilst simultaneously being a lovely way to add to the scope of the universe.
Let’s talk about Darth Vader for a minute because I
completely forgot to do that last time. In terms of iconography, there is
nothing more Star Wars than
Vader. The character design is epic,
everything he says sounds badass and that voice is just fantastic (James Earl
Jones = instant gravitas). However, why these Imperial Starships have so many
staff on them remains a mystery to me. If you jump on that Galactic Corporate
ladder you’re pretty much destined to end up with Vader doing his (occasionally
comical) invisible chokehold on you.
The reveal of Vader’s paternity is so engrained in
pop culture it feels like something I’ve always known; however this blogging
malarkey has alerted me to the fact that I’ve never properly sat down and watched
that scene. The reveal itself is iconic but that whole build up and aftermath
makes a massive impact; it’s a demonstration of how powerful Vader is, how
seductive the Dark side can be, it shows far Luke has come, how much he still
has to learn and the fact he’d rather jump into the abyss than join his Father
says so much more than just dialogue. Despite the slightly awkward getaway
(how EXACTLY does he manage to get sucked up by that air vent?), it’s the
definitive turning point of the series.
Without having rewatched Return of the Jedi I can’t say if this is the best of the trilogy,
it’s not as uncomplicatedly fun as A New
Hope, but it feels like Empire
Strikes Back is the reason the series is as revered as it is. This is the heart of the franchise; everything
we care about is expanded on, building a bigger universe with a vim and vigour
that makes wide eyed children of us all.
Final Thoughts: I’m not being funny but the Empire should
have had the battle of Hoth sewn up. That energy shield was more of a hindrance
than a help to the Rebels’ escape, they could only get out through a bottleneck
made by that Ion Cannon so why not position your ships over it and blast everyone to pieces on their way out? FFS Vader!
Surprise Discovery: Hello Grand Maester Pycelle!
Fancy seeing you here!
Goodbye till next time :-)
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