Hook is John Williams at his most John Williams-y. At times, it’s almost like a parody of Williams’ scoring, with somewhat-reedy trumpets and fluttering flutes. Although it does evoke memories of a dreadful movie (perhaps Spielberg’s worst), Hook has become, predictably, a highly-beloved score of Williams’ (although, let’s face it, there are many people who love anything Williams does). There’s a somewhat cheesy feel to this score at times, almost like it were being performed by a marching band.

The score’s “Prologue” was originally written for the theatrical trailer for Hook. It’s fun, though in a shallow sort of way. The main theme is sort of cheesy, and this isn’t helped by the tinny sound of a lot of the instruments, particularly the brass. Also, it’s trying to jam too many themes into one piece of music. It’s listenable, but in the way of a New Year’s “top songs of the year” mix…a snippet here, a snippet there. Granted, Williams is the best composer for capturing the Erich Wolfgang Korngold swashbuckling sound that no doubt Spielberg wanted and was appropriate for the film’s light-hearted, adventurous tone.

The second track and I’m starting to get a little pissed off. Film score fans always bitch about how much great score isn’t included on the album, and they sacrifice five minutes for two ing songs sung by small children? I guess this is either to showcase Williams’ songwriting ability (he should stick to scoring) or to make the score appeal to kids, although neither song is particularly “poppy” and the rest of Williams’ score would sound too dreary for most kids.

“Banning Back Home” continues the downward spiral. Williams is a great composer, he is a very popular composer, but he is not a very cool composer. Whereas a composer nowadays like John Ottman or Marco Beltrami might use a scene like this (Peter Banning dealing with the pressures at work while his son plays baseball) to write some cool montage music, Williams gives us cheesy ‘50s jazz that sounds like it was written either for an advertisement for a new supermarket or for those “weather on the eights” forecasts on The Weather Channel. This stuff probably sounded dated by the early ‘60s.

“Granny Wendy” has a bit of the famous “Williams’ magic” that has been used to great effect in his Harry Potter scores. Composed with celeste in mind, it beginning conveys a marvelous sort of childlike wonder, setting us up for the fantasy at hand. However, it gets boring before long and you start to wonder what’s up next.

It’s worth the wait, though. Things begin to improve with the witlessly-named (one of many) “Hook-napped”, carrying a certain tone of dread while still being slightly comical, this piece is perfect for setting up the ridiculous-yet-dangerous nature of Captain James Hook himself. Halfway through the track, we get a wonderful performance of the first part (and the best) of the earlier prologue, a windswept, dread-filled masterpiece that harkens back to The Empire Strikes Back’s grand marches for Darth Vader.

“The Arrival of Tink and the Flight to Neverland” starts out sprightly, descriptive, and yet unmemorable, but about two minutes in, we are giving a treat. Perhaps Williams’ most magical music ever, reminiscent of both his own Home Alone score and Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker”, Tinkerbell’s theme is mysterious, magical, and perfect for a children’s film. Like the preceding track, it sets you up for the adventure to come. The track seems like it would work better if split into two separate tracks. We end with an energetic rendition of the Neverland theme, climaxing as the second star to the right shines in the night to guide them.

“Presenting the Hook” is a whole lot of fun, totally evocative of buccaneers and the sea. Williams manages to make a fiddle sound appropriately sleazy and hornpipes are given some time here to contribute their particular sound. Williams can create great comic marches, and Hook’s theme is equal to anything Williams has done, a silly romp that is part “The Imperial March” from The Empire Strikes Back and half “March of the Villains” from Superman.

“From Mermaids to Lost Boys” is sort of pretty, but kind of clichéd. There’s no real theme here, just a lot of choir trying to evoke “magic” and “wonder”. In a way, it sort of fits the desperate, generic, anything-to-add-a-little-more-fairy-dust feel of Spielberg’s film. Chorus is still probably the most effective way to create the feeling of fantasy, but similar efforts by composers like Danny Elfman have been doing it a lot better since Williams’ Empire of the Sun.

“The Lost Boys Chase” uses a sort of secondary theme that bounds along clumsily, never finishing. It sounds like it gets about halfway through and then somebody trips over a branch or something. It doesn’t help that the Lost Boys scenes are the most obnoxious in the film, either. After awhile, you realize that that early pumping low brass isn’t going to develop into much of anything. For this I blame Spielberg more than Williams, who had an obligation to play to the action onscreen.

“Smee’s Plan” features another rendition of Hook’s theme. It’s enjoyable enough, but too understated to compete with Hook’s “grand entrance” from before.

“The Banquet” has a proud, pompous feel to it, similar to Jurassic Park’s main theme. It works well in the film, underscoring the incongruity between the boys and the banquet. It’s not quite as satisfying on the album, but it’s still pleasant, especially for fans of Williams’ “Menu” cues from Jaws and Jaws 2.

“The Never-Feast” uses parts of the earlier banquet theme and Granny Wendy’s theme, but it doesn’t really take flight until the banquet music takes full precedence, with a grand march that alone makes it worth inclusion on a compilation. Said march culminates with the best performance in the score, a wonderful flourish of brass.

“Remembering Childhood” is clearly a highlight of the score. A full eleven minutes, which explores Peter’s past and ends as he discovers the child within him (and, apparently, a home perm kit), gives Williams time to stretch out a little and compose some serious dramatic music that sounds at times almost like a love theme. There is a childlike, lullaby feel to this cue. Just before the nine minute mark, we switch gears into a marvelous performance of the main theme that sounds far less cheesy than ever before.

“You Are the Pan” is more good news, totally making up for its stupid title with a whole new theme with chorus and some wonderful trumpet work. This secondary theme evokes more triumph and wonder than anything else earlier in the score. However, this cue trumps the rest of the score not only in heroism, but in childlike wonder, with a gorgeous, melancholy flute-driven theme as the Lost Boys welcome Pan back to Neverland and Peter takes his place as their leader.

I did most of my complaining about the songs in the film back during the second track. Predictably, this song got nominated for an Oscar. Originally to be used in the musical Williams and lyricist Leslie Bricusse were going to make about Pan in the mid-‘80s, it would probably be more tolerable on stage. Here, it just plain sucks.

“The Ultimate War” has some fun bits of percussion at the beginning, but the cue is too fast-paced and jerky. It sounds like one of Alan Menken’s Disney cues from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s.

“Farewell Neverland” is the second longest track on the album, clocking in at over ten minutes. There is some beautiful choir that reminds me of Alan Silvestri’s (or, rumor has it, James Horner’s) music for The Abyss. However, overall, it’s meandering and, like the film itself, you’re glad when it’s over.

With this score, Williams threw together a large amount of themes, but not all of them were worth restating. It’s odd how…obsolete Williams sounds here. While composers like Hans Zimmer and Danny Elfman were starting to make their mark with innovative scores, Williams’ work sounds conventional and a bit boring. There are some wonderful moments in Hook, but they are often buried in overlong tracks or overshadowed by clumsy themes that are used more often.

All in all, Hook is a slightly-above-average score by sheer wealth of themes only.