Ewoks: Battle for Endor is slightly more exciting than its predecessor. It has a lot more fast-paced action and battle sequences in it. But it’s still a low-budget unambitious children’s fantasy story about a little girl, her best friend the talking teddy bear, an old man and his pet Muppet coming together to raid a fort full of bad guys and repair their star cruiser so they can fly back home.

Cindel’s father is about to put the finishing touches on repairing their star cruiser when the Ewok village is attacked by marauders. Cindel loses her family, but finds a new home and family in the form of Noah, a crusty but kindly old man who was also marooned on Endor for many years and lost his best friend a long time ago. Cindel is a very courageous little girl; her mother and brother die, her father sends her away and tells her to be brave from now own before he also dies, and while Cindel is very sad about losing her home and her family she doesn’t cry about it even once. There are moments of warmth and tenderness between Cindel and Noah, which are thankfully not saccharine or cloying as they share warm fires, tasty pies and sweet lullabies.

The leader of the marauders and his witch lackey steal the energy crystal from the star cruiser thinking it has the power to reach the stars, but they don’t seem to understand that the crystal isn’t actually magical. However, the marauders do carry blaster guns that shoot lasers and it’s not explained why. They’re quite scary but they’re not very dangerous because the Ewoks still manage to overpower the gun-wielding marauders with sticks and stones, and when an Ewok picks up a marauder’s gun, he’s a surprisingly accurate shot. Ewoks are much more capable than they look.

Once again, it’s not a must-see unless you love Star Wars and like Ewoks. But it’s worth it to see Wilford Brimley come out from his cocoon, eat some porridge and engage in a duel with the leader of the marauders.