They should hire a proper fight choreographer. It makes all the difference, regardless of the lightsaberform.
This shits all over the prequel fights
The prequel lightsaber battles, in terms of immediate style and choreography I had no problem with. Stroke for stroke I thought that shit was pretty impressive: fast paced, high energy (higher energy than anything else in the films) and it reflects the immense amount of skill and focus a Jedi would have to have (once again, moreso than most of the rest of whatever the Jedi are up to in these films).
The problem is that beyond that it really isn't used to tell story in any way. They begin at the same high energy, the same flashy, dipshitty moves, they sometimes move from room to room but there's no significance to that. There's not often a change in tone. There's not often a turn of character. They just fight and fight until someone loses because the script says so. There are very few examples of the prequel fights developing in any way.
Compare it to the masterful ESB climax. Luke walks into a metaphorical hell (perfectly set dressed) and he'll begin by nervously jabbing at Vader who takes the time to size him up. Eventually Vader decides to prod Luke's ego, and forcefully knocks him back - a taste of Vader's real power. Luke and his saber part ways, and he has to use his wits to get out of the sticky situation. He does and this impresses Vader long enough to distract him so Luke can slip away. A win for Luke.
This angers Vader and he decides to step it up a notch. Luke descends further into this dark abyss. The scenery is becoming increasingly unsettling - we can hear the faint, chilling sounds of Vader's breathing. Vader steps out of the shadows, bringing us to the 'force throwing shit at Luke' sequence where Vader, Luke and the audience realise that Vader is sternly in control, and that at this point he's just about toying with him. How the hell can our hero compete with this relentless power? It's frightening and tense and Luke seems helpless. He gets knocked out the window, almost to his death.
He climbs up but now we're in this massive void of a room - a desolate, hopeless place. Vader comes hulking out of the shadows, wailing on Luke (complete with the 'intense breathing' - scary shit). Luke can only block and block - there's really nothing more than he can do, firmly on the defense. He continues to be pushed back and back and while he tries to get in some kind of defiant push back, Vader's strength and intimidation keeps pushing him towards that antenna. Vader's so intimidating at this point he's chopping up the railing - sparks are flying until Luke is ultimately knocked on the ground - nowhere to go. It's no mistake that the spot where he's physically unable to move, literally hanging to the edge is also the place where he has to face his fears and make a real, character defining choice.
Every department has come together to create something really special here. With minimal dialogue, the whole story unfolds perfectly before our eyes. Stakes and power struggles are set brilliantly. This is being told to us through the lightsaber action - a lot of it through the choreography. It's also important to note that the audience understands why Luke has lost this fight - through the action and the choreography, we can see he's massively outclassed by the brute-like Vader who's forced him into a corner. Luke is visibly exhausted; Vader seems like he's just getting started.
The fucking 3-way in TPM is cool and does what I mentioned in the first paragraph, but it's not telling story. No way. They just fight and fight and fight through a hallway, through a big bluesy hangar room (which in no way reflects character state of mind as it does in ESB), through some shields and then in a small room (???) at the same pace, same energy, same attack/defense. When Qui-Gon gets done, for a second it looks as though Obi-Wan has upped his game, and he sorta has, but it's not as though he's really anymore on the offensive than he was before - it's just a touch faster.
Basically what I'm saying is, the style of of the prequel's fighting style isn't the problem - stylistically and tonally you can do this shit in any number of ways. What's important is that it's always being used to tell that story.
