Every blockbuster franchise makes a critical decision about how they handle their action scenes. Star Wars answers the question with several options. The series offers massive military engagements, with thousands of blasters and explosives firing wildly. Aerial or space-based battles involve iconic vehicles like X-Wings and TIE fighters. One-on-one duels tend to come down to two Force-sensitive warriors with lightsabers. The Acolyte nails down the nascent idea of downplaying the laser swords in favor of a contest of Force-fu.
Iconography is a dangerous tool. Star Wars established a thousand fun and interesting details about the universe in the first trilogy. While these helped the franchise stick in fans’ minds, they also created restrictive boundaries about what a Star Wars film could or couldn’t be. Risk-averse as always, Disney is happy to rely on old material. Only now, facing diminishing critical returns and an ever-worsening reputation, can the studio move past familiar elements into new territory.
The Acolyte uses Force-Fu frequently
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Creator |
Leslye Headland |
|---|---|
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Stars |
Amandla Stenberg, Lee Jung-jae, Charlie Barnett, Dafne Keen, Carrie-Anne Moss |
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Episodes |
8 |
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Release Date |
June 4, 2024 |
The Acolyte takes inspiration from martial arts movies. Its first episode features a fantastic fight sequence with a ton of nods to classic Wuxia films. The central antagonist of the piece so far is Mae, an assassin seeking retribution against four Jedi present during the event that killed her family. Mae takes instructions from a man in a distinctive black ensemble, a character who can’t help but read as a Sith practitioner or devotee. The special condition on her quest to kill several superpowered space cops with laser swords and telekinesis is that she is obliged to eliminate at least one of them bare-handed. She tries to take Carrie-Anne Moss’s Indara down with her fists and feet, but the Jedi Master proves too skilled to defeat without knives. Ditto Dean-Charles Chapman’s Torbin, who hides behind a forcefield too thick to penetrate. The stated goal of beating a Jedi with nothing but martial arts skills and an indomitable spirit guarantees several battle sequences dominated by a relatively new fighting style colloquially known as Force-fu. The Acolytedidn’t invent the idea, but it does seem to be perfecting it.
Star Wars‘ lightsaber fights can get boring
The history of the lightsaber fight scenes throughout Star Wars is well documented. Every film in the Skywalker Saga features at least one lightsaber duel. The first example, the bout between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader in the original film, is a quick, austere, straightforward affair. The two warriors slap swords together until Luke appears, prompting Obi-Wan to sacrifice himself. It’s bizarre to look at that sequence alongside something like the jaw-dropping fight in Snoke’s throne room from The Last Jedi. Hollywood swordmaster Bob Anderson choreographed the duels from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, adding a classic swashbuckler feel to the battles. He also donned Vader’s costume for each of his fight scenes. The prequels deliberately escalated the encounters, but this turned out to be a double-edged sword.
The classic fight between Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, and Obi-Wan Kenobi stands out as a high point of The Phantom Menace. Stunt coordinator Nick Gillard did his best to let his fight scenes enrich the story. They were meant to establish details about the characters through the way they fought. They also existed to demonstrate the power of a Jedi in their prime, where the first trilogy only featured withered old men and well-meaning upstarts. Unfortunately, the mess of CGI effects, comical acrobatics, and frequently excessive running times left most of the prequels’ lightsaber duels feeling like empty spectacles. J. J. Abrams set out to move toward the original trilogy’s vision of primal, immediate combat with mixed success. It’s hard to imagine many new frontiers for lightsaber combat, prompting The Acolyte to try new things.
Force-Fu can add a lot to the franchise
Most Jedi incorporate Force techniques into their lightsaber combat. There’s a comical moment in the final battle between Obi-Wan and Anakin in which both men extend their hands toward each other and exert themselves for a few seconds before returning to spinning and slashing. It’s an additive element that should help to break up the duel, but it frequently feels awkwardly wedged in. Force-fu is a fighting style dedicated to using telekinesis and other related powers as the primary method of attack and defense. This is a relatively new idea, as most Force masters either throw out an occasional push between sword strikes or stand perfectly still while summoning earthquakes or shooting lightning. Force-fu involves fighting bare-handed while using Force powers to move, block, attack, and otherwise change the environment. It’s a fascinating way to escalate otherwise straightforward encounters. Perhaps more importantly, it’s another way to accomplish the goal of storytelling through combat.
Force-fu can say a lot about the skills, limits, and goals of its users. A warrior who wields no weapon but relies on their connection to the Force might make for a fascinating character. Adding options to fight scenes might be a great way to keep Star Wars engaging as an action-adjacent franchise for decades to come. Let every new Jedi bust out a new fighting style. Treat it like a fighting game. Everyone has seen the clashing of swords. Perhaps a meeting of minds will spice up the next clash of fists.
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