The Empire Strikes Back (1980) * * * *

Directed by:  Irvin Kershner

Starring:  Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Billy Dee Williams, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Kenny Baker, James Earl Jones (voice)

The Empire Strikes Back is darker, deeper, and more thoughtful than even its brilliant predecessor.    This film continues the saga, introduces more memorable new characters, and gives us a revelation that shifts the nature of what has gone before and will happen in the future.      There are now different layers to these characters than before and different conflicts.     Star Wars did a masterful job of introducing us to this world.     The Empire Strikes Back pushes the story forward.  

The title pretty much tells us that the next film, The Return of the Jedi (1983), will be the rubber match in the ongoing battle between The Empire and The Resistance.     The Empire took a big loss in Star Wars when its Death Star was obliterated and Darth Vader had to lick his wounds and regroup.     The opening sequence is a new battle involving giant walking machines that not only shoot lasers, but could step on things.     The Resistance loses the battle and Luke Skywalker is marooned on a nearby swamp planet.     Here, he encounters Yoda, the almighty Jedi master who trained Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Vader before he was Darth Vader.     Yoda is a puppet, but he is convincingly real.     We never think of him as a puppet, but as a full-fledged, three-dimensional character.      Voiced by Frank Oz, Yoda is wise even at 900 years of age (or so).    It is on this dark, swampy planet that Luke learns how to be a master Jedi.     We see Luke's evolution during these scenes.

We also witness a blossoming romance between Han Solo and Princess Leia, if you want to call it that.   Both are fiercely independent and fighting is their foreplay.     Another major player is introduced in Lando Calrissian (Williams), a gambling buddy of Solo's who can't be completely trusted.    Or can he?    Lando is accommodating on the outside, but may just be laying a trap.     The Empire is omnipresent.   Its evil permeates everywhere.   Everything points to the physical and mental showdown between Luke and Vader.    This where The Empire Strikes Back becomes more than just a good vs. evil conflict and becomes something more.    

If you have managed to escape the news that Darth Vader is indeed Luke's father, then I'm sorry to have penetrated your seclusion in that comfy cave you have lived in for the past 36 years.     A lesser film would have simply had the two duke it out with light sabers.    We see Vader's complexity here.    He urges his son to join him on the dark side.     He truly does not want to kill Luke.     Underneath the blackness, there may be a faint remnant of humanity in Vader.     For many years, people misquote this scene to have Vader simply blurt out, "Luke, I am your father."     The script handles this tricky sequence much more deftly.

Vader:   "There is something Obi-Wan didn't tell you about me and your father."

Luke:     "He told me enough.   He told me you killed him."

Vader:    "No.  I am your father."   

We see the horror on Luke's face and he chooses to jump into the abyss instead of living to be the son of Darth Vader.    He survives and after his escape, he feels his father reaching out to him.    The stage is set for Return of the Jedi.     There is now a heart in the series as well as raging inner conflicts.    Things are no longer simple.    Characters and situations are usually more intriguing when they are not black and white.    Star Wars told this saga in black and white terms and it was awesome.    The Empire Strikes Back adds the gray and the shadows.