Star Wars: Ranking Every Final Battle From Worst To Best
9. The Force Awakens
The Force Awakens is an inspired slice of sci-fi cinema that does an excellent job of reopening the franchise for a new generation, but its finale is a bit limp.
The lightsaber duel between Rey/Finn and Kylo Ren is wonderful and emotionally charged, which just makes it all the more noticeable how dull the aerial fight sequence it's intercut with is. Seeing Poe and his team of pilots essentially just doing another trench run on another giant planet-destroying battle station is one of the more egregious elements J.J. Abrams lifted straight from the original film.
Nothing is really added to the sequence beyond stock TIE Fighter vs. X-Wing action, and Poe inevitably hitting the station's weak spot just in time. There are some really great moments where the action from the aerial fight and the lightsaber duel crossover, like when the planet splits apart, separating Rey and Kylo on opposite sides of a chasm. But for the most part, the bland aerial battle just weighs down what should have been an easily stellar finale.