The duel in TFA

Rating: 10/10 (26 December 2015)

The problem with TFA, imo, is that there's no deeply invested emotional connection to the new characters, at least not on the level of most of the duels in the other movies. Overall, i'd put TFA near the bottom of the list as far as lightsaber fights go. I felt no emotional connection to Kylo, Rey, or Finn. In ESB, RotS, and RotJ, you feel the emotion during the fight, you're connected to the characters, you're invested. Even in ANH you can almost feel the emotion when Vader confronts Obi-Wan on the DS1, even though the fight itself was not very action-packed and exciting. Knowing what happened in RotS really makes you appreciate that confrontation more. I felt that the emotion was missing in TFA. Sure, Han's death is shocking and tragic, and Kylo Ren is a frikkin weasel about it; but the same level of emotion and connection just isn't there that exists in ESB, RotS, RotJ, and post RotS ANH, or for that matter even TPM. I felt more connection to Qui-Gon than i did the new characters in TFA. Even if you're talking just pure action and excitement alone as far as the lightsaber fighting itself, it's still in the bottom half imo and not as good as ESB, RotS, or TPM; in this regard i'd say the only worse fight is ANH.