5 Things “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Should Learn from the Prequels

Top 5 Ways The Phantom Menace Got it Right


#4: Those Beautiful, Beautiful Sword Fights.

You know, I’m not typically one for superfluous flashy imagery in a film – I’m more old school in that, if a movie is good enough, it can stand on its own and hold the audience’s interest without a bunch of crap thrown onto the screen to make us ooh and ah. That being said… Goddamn.

I challenge anyone to disprove the following statement: none of the Original Trilogy’s fight choreography combined could capture what a Jedi duel should look like as gracefully or as perfectly as The Phantom Menace did in a single scene.

I don’t make this claim lightly. Think through the above statement, and really digest what that means. A Jedi duel is going to be different from any other type of battle one is likely to see in the Star Wars universe. Why? Well, as the brilliant Liam Neeson said as Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn, when speaking about the newly discovered Anakin Skywalker: “He can see things before they happen. That’s why he appears to have such quick reflexes. It’s a Jedi trait” (emphasis mine).

That’s exactly right – Jedi can see things right before they happen, meaning that it’s much more difficult to best one in a fight, because he will usually know exactly what move you’re going to make before even you do. Apply that principle to a duel exclusively between Force users, and you’ve got yourself something that, visually speaking, would be much more akin to a dance than a brawl. The Phantom Menace got that aspect of the lore absolutely correct, and the results are breathtaking to watch. I’ve heard people complain before that the fight choreography in this movie looks too choreographed, but as I already pointed out, that was precisely the point. And it worked. The “Duel of the Fates” from Episode I is arguably the highlight of the entire Prequel Trilogy, and for good reason. Go back and watch it yourself if you need to be reminded of just how much you loved it opening day in May of 1999.

My hope for the fight choreography in The Force Awakens is that it will be, again, something of a middle ground between the two prior trilogies’ styles while simultaneously bringing something equally exciting of its own to the table that we have yet to see in a Star Wars film. Considering that Abrams has been reported to have hired a mix of parkour experts and cutting edge martial artists to work on the film, I suspect that’s exactly what we’re going to get. Fingers crossed.