‘Star Wars’ is a hot topic these days because of J.J. Abrams’ ‘Star Wars: Episode VII’, but all that talk has lead many to revisit other aspects of the Lucasfilm franchise such as the original trilogy. And despite being busy with ‘Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ and ‘The Avengers: Age of Ultron’, Joss Whedon took some time to talk about sequels, and in that discussion, it came up that he’s not exactly a fan of ‘Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back’. Gasp?! Not just yet.
While speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Whedon talked about some sequels that got it right. Though he did mention arguably the most popular ‘Star Wars’ film among those in that category, the filmmaker presented his argument claiming that it had an unsatisfactory ending that broke a golden rule of the moviemaking process:
“Empire committed the cardinal sin of not actually ending, which at the time I was appalled by and I still think it was a terrible idea. It’s not an ending, it’s a Come Back Next Week, or in three years. And that upsets me. I go to movies expecting to have a whole experience. If I want a movie that doesn’t end I’ll go to a French movie. That’s a betrayal of trust to me. A movie has to be complete within itself, it can’t just build off the first one or play variations.”
If you’re wondering what other sequels Whedon thinks got it right, the rest of the interview is included in the next issue of the magazine hitting newsstands soon, but in this preview, he also talks about the ‘Twilight’ series and how he feels about blazing the trail in that department before the shiny vampires and their offspring did.
But back to ‘Star Wars’, some may declare blasphemy after reading this statement, but I fully agree with Whedon on this one. Even though I enjoyed ‘Empire Strikes Back’ a whole lot, I often reply with ‘Return of the Jedi’ when I’m asked about my favorite installment of the original trilogy. Sure, most of the time it’s because of Ewoks, but the ending of ‘Empire’ plays into my ranking as well. The fan favorite filmmaker just happens to put it into more eloquent words than I have in the past.
Do you agree with Joss Whedon’s assessment of ‘The Empire Strikes Back’? What’s your favorite film in the original ‘Star Wars’ trilogy? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
