Star Wars: The Force Awakens - 10 Reasons The Haters Are Dead Wrong
5. The Climatic Lightsaber Battle Is Terrible
The limited technology available during the production of the original Star Wars trilogy meant that lightsaber battles came at a premium. Artists had to painstakingly animate lightsabers frame by frame so duels needed to be well-thought-out without too much fancy footwork. All that changed with the advent of CGI; the prequel trilogy gave audiences highly choreographed acrobatic dance-offs featuring lightsabers. In contrast to Episodes I-III, J.J. Abrams scaled the choreography way back for Rey and Kylos climactic melee. Instead of ballerinas pirouetting through the snow, audiences witnessed a more grounded lightsaber tussle. Some fans consider Rey and Kylo's throw down a colossal missed opportunity. In a recent interview Mace Windu himself, Samuel L. Jackson, proclaimed that the stars of The Force Awakens "needed to go to lightsaber school." Even Jackson missed that the fact that it made sense for the final fight to lack pizazz; it was the first time Rey picked up a lightsaber. The Force Awakens big lightsaber duel hearkened back to the epic bouts from The Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi. Every swipe and parry became a character beat that added to the story.
