Most critics favour The Empire Strikes Back, with praise clustering around Kershner’s direction, the special effects and the darker treatment of familiar characters. Supporters find that the sequel gives its action more emotional weight, allowing character development and philosophical questions to sit alongside the set-pieces. The inventive worlds and creatures are a recurring pleasure, while several reviews argue that the storytelling is tighter and more thoughtful than in the original.
The spread is wide, however, and the disagreements extend beyond whether the sequel feels fresh. Where admirers see greater depth, detractors find ponderous discussions, mechanical plotting and machinery crowding out the people. The Telegraph finds too little characterisation to make the action matter, while Sight and Sound regards the effects as a substitute for story and finds even the Yoda sequence unimaginative. The central division is over whether the added seriousness enriches the adventure or makes it tiresome.