User blog comment:Ireithien/PSA: Daisy Ridley is Pretty Much Flawless/@comment-5111283-20151228043459/@comment-5772846-20160103145621

Ewan McGregor is definitely a bright spot in the prequel trilogy. But almost everyone else had terrible material or was a bad actor. and even if not everyone was a bad actor... Hayden Christensen was and that's a huge part of it.

Secondly, I agree that the choreography was better. However, I'm going to disagree with the sentiment that better choreography makes a better duel. The Episode I Darth Maul duel is pretty sweet, but it really doesn't hold up on repeat viewings. Star Wars is about resonant stories with characters we feel and relate to, not spectacle. The duel is cool and all, but it definitely looks like a well-created dance and not a duel. It's definitely intentional, seeing as the Jedi Order is at its prime, but that doesn't change the fact that nearly all emotional power is lost on the second viewing. And don't even get me started on Yoda's duel in AOTC. Obi-Wan's and Anakin's would have been awesome, except that it was too long and got too ridiculous.

Contrast these duels with Luke vs Vader in ESB. It's still rather tense to watch today because of the way it's staged. A large portion of the emotion, which is actually there, unlike the prequel duels, is conveyed with camera work and facial expressions as opposed to relying on jumps and flips. Doesn't look quite as cool, but I honestly enjoy them more as just an overall part of a story, and not as an "action sequence." By the same token, I loved the duels in The Force Awakens. The lightsabers felt more powerful than they ever have before, the sound was fantastic, and they hit a nice balance between the PT and the ST with choreography. Kylo Ren had some cool moves, but the duel never felt like a dance sequence. It felt like an angry young man battling against a scavenger fighting for her survival. Which is what it should feel like.

Addressing TFA's rehash issue, I definitely felt it. It leaves the plane of callbacks and homage and enters parody territory when they start analyzing Starkiller for one weakness. When I rewatched the film it felt a little less prevalent for some reason, but regardless, it's definitely paralleling A New Hope. I don't disagree. That said, it ranks high in the saga for me because it was a well-made Star Wars movie with a good story, regardless of what parts have been somewhat told before. Even then, it actually does have quite a few unique elements. Finn's character is really a new concept.