It’s very rare to see a sequel that can outdo its predecessor. In the case of Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back is not only just as good as before, but it may have taken the franchise to a whole different level.
A few years after the events of A New Hope, the rebellion fleet along with Luke Skywalker and the rest of the gang has moved their secret base to barren icy planet of Hoth. It doesn’t take long for Imperial forces once again led by Darth Vader to find out the rebelions location as they perform an attack on the rebel’s base. Meanwhile Luke Skywalker gets a vision from Obi-Wan saying he needs to head to the planet Dagobah to find master Yoda to help training him to become a Jedi Knight. Luke along with R2-D2 leave Hoth and head to Dagobah where to find Yoda while at the same time Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, and C-3PO try to escape the imperial forces through the millennial falcon. While training with Master Yoda, Luke gets another vision of his friends in pain and despite his unfinished training, he leaves Dagobah to find his friends in Cloud city unknowing that it is all a trap set by Darth Vader.
The story takes everything that worked in A New Hope and ups the game with its world-building, narrative and even its tone goes a little more intense than before. It doesn’t just repeat the same storyline as the last time, Empire gives us a brand new story with new challenges and adventures for our characters to face. We get to dive deep into the struggles of Luke Skywalker and we also get to see an unorthodox romance between Han and Leia. many different story arcs get addressed and they all come together to form one grand experience. The characters both old and new are just as entertaining if not even more entertaining than ever before. There is much more at stake for our heroes if they don’t succeed which makes the buildup all the more suspenseful.
The Visuals still hold up and they are even bigger and better than ever. Even the added CGI effects added to new versions of the movie don’t distract too much like they did in A New Hope. In fact, the added CGI honestly makes some scenes better like showing off more of cloud city or some more added spaceships rooming about. That in no way doesn’t take away from the practical effects however as they are just as jaw-dropping and masterful now as they were back then. The one scene that comes to mind is the battle on Hoth where there are these huge AT-AT walkers and they are so well integrated that it feels like they are really there on set. There is also some great puppetry not only with the droids but also with Yoda. a strange green creature who is also voiced by the legendary Frank Oz. Finally, the music score is once again done by John Willams. His score much like everything else in this movie is amazingly good and some of the tracks to this soundtrack were so good that they have become part of Pop culture history.
This is not only a great sequel, but it may arguably just be the best Star Wars movie ever made. It’s a fresh and action packed story, lovable characters old and new, visual effects that are some of the franchises best, and an iconic orchestrated soundtrack make this movie a must watch out of this world Sci-Fi Opera.
(Final Grade: A+)