The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Empire Strikes Back (1980) -- I. Kershner

In some ways, this is better than the first Star Wars, however you couldn't just jump in without having watched "Episode 4" because the narrative is much more "serial" like. That is, we jump right in where the other movie left off, with no real exposition to introduce the characters. The direction here is often a lot more "fun" and the cross-cutting episodic structure works well (from the ice planet Hoth to Billy Dee Williams' cloud city). The Yoda scenes pay tribute to the film's spiritual kung fu roots, even as we are still squarely situated in an action movie, for better or for worse. The plot does advance in this episode and naturally leaves us hanging for the next installment (another three years later -- a lifetime for a young boy).