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Hi, I'm Thomas. And I'm Matthew. And this our review for The Empire Strikes Back.
It's a, it's good. The Empire Strikes Back is revered as one
of the best sequels in cinematic history... but is it really?
Let's find out: what's the plot? Imperial forces close in on the Rebel Alliance,
attacking one of their bases on the ice planet of Hoth, Han, Leia, Chewy, and C-3PO are caught
in the sights of The Empire, and the head to the planet of Bespin to escape. Meanwhile,
Luke journeys with R2-D2 to Dagobah, to learn the ways of the force from a grammatically
incorrect muppet named Jedi Master Yoda. As he learns and trains his abilities, and as Darth
Vader enlists the help of bounty hunters to find him, Luke soon begins to feel that his
friends are in danger. So, The Empire Strikes Back, why is it so
good? Well, it builds upon the lore that was established
in the original Star Wars, and it takes the story in a darker direction.
In the original Star Wars film, we got a good idea where our character ensemble began their
journey. The Empire Strikes Back, however, takes this one step further. We see our characters
develop, and we also see our story progress immensely. Han and Leia develop a more romantic
relationship, and Luke's training with Yoda allows to cast aside the shadow of his former
moisture farmer profession, and grow immensely as a character. Speaking of characters, The
Empire Strikes Back gives us the introduction to Yoda. Small he is, but weak he is not.
We see emotional development throughout every single character in the ensemble, from Luke,
Han, Leia, C-3PO, R2-D2, but most importantly, in Darth Vader. In the original film, Darth
Vader is portrayed as just a menacing villain, but in The Empire Strikes Back, we see his
humanity. In scenes like the Breathing Pod scene, where we are reminded that there is
a man beyond the machine. Darth Vader doesn't care who he has to hurt at this point, he's
choking people through a video screen. "You have failed me for the last time, Admiral."
He's being a, he's being a mean guy. The creativity from the first film carries
on into this one, the set design is great, the costume design is also great, you have
all these bounty hunters, you have Boba Fett, you have this robot thing, this reptile guy
who seems to be the only one courteous enough to take off his shoes.
The cinematography's excellent, now it also has one of my favorite soundtracks from any
movie. *Cue The Imperial March*
And now, it's time for some spoilers. Help! My father is the leader of a fascist, intergalactic
dictatorship. The Empire Strikes Back gives us the greatest
twist in cinematic history, in learning that Darth Vader is Luke's father.
And we also get introduced to Lando Calrissian, played by Billy Dee Williams. Who also played
Dillon in Predator, wait no that was Carl Weathers. Who also played, uh, Apollo Creed in Rocky, no that
was Carl Weathers. Okay, well anyway, he's just a darker version of Han Solo. In more
ways than one. Because he betrays him. Well, since it's one of my favorite movies ever,
The Empire Strikes Back gets an "A PLUS." *Cue John Williams's Score*