: (John Williams)
Whether you like it or not, this is the ending to the original nine
episodes you're going to get. After earning critical
buzz and audience derision, 2017's
forced the franchise to turn back to uber-filmmaker J.J. Abrams to
salvage its destiny in 2019's
.
While critics and audiences alike expressed initial dissatisfaction with
Abrams' resolution to the Skywalker saga, the film ultimately grossed
over a billion dollars in cinemas and offered more than enough
crowd-pleasing attractions to suffice. Its story could have inhabited
the running time of both the prior film and this one, postulating that a
surviving Emperor Palpatine has been resurrecting the Sith and their
former Galactic Empire while the remnants of interstellar society tried
to pick up the pieces after the wars of the prior generation. The
convenient pivot back to the original
trilogy allowed
for a wealth of old concepts to grace the screen, and explanations to
the sequel trilogy's mysteries almost inevitably point back to the
franchise's brighter days. Palpatine, for better or worse, has been
guiding the events of this trilogy, eventually returning to true form by
the end of
. His fleet of legacy-inspired
Star Destroyers, each now with the capability to explode a planet (why
were they ever called "star destroyers" before if they couldn't destroy
a star?), is about to launch from a hidden Sith home world, and the
rebel alliance known as the resistance in this trilogy is tasked with
stopping them. Meanwhile, the Rey and Kylo Ren storyline, ever the topic
of curious sensuality, reveals its origins and fate. Luckily for weepy
audiences, the two undersexed youngsters ashamed of their names have
developed the Force's ability to heal wounds, allowing them to be killed
by lightning but emerge later to reveal a goofy grin. As a make-good for
wasted time in
, the franchise brings a bevy of
mostly spoken cameos to this project, allowing, at the very least, the
ever-disgruntled Samuel L. Jackson some fleeting semblance of the return
he's been pleading for ever since
is
lovingly obliged by composer John Williams, who had announced that this
project would represent his final foray into the galaxy far, far away.
In his late 80's at the time, Williams was partly retired and balancing
his limited energy between occasional concert appearances and special
compositions, including one for a new
theme park. While
these
films do not garner much attention from awards
bodies, their music (along with sound and visual effects) do continue to
bring nominations --but not wins-- to Williams more than four decades
after his debut in the franchise. His involvement in the sequel trilogy
was never assured in the first place, and regardless of the thousands of
words to follow in this review, one must remember that hearing a new
Williams
score in the year 2019 is extraordinarily
special regardless of any quibbles you might have with the music or how
the filmmakers utilized it on screen. The maestro even found his way
into a very brief cameo as a bartender with a mechanical eye on screen,
certainly a first for Williams. Although
marks simply a sentimental end to the sequel trilogy's storyline for
most movie-goers, it is also a triumphant goodbye to an era for film
music enthusiasts. The amount of work that Williams put into this score
is immense, with reports of more than three hours of music composed and
recorded, some of it by the request of Abrams for the post-production
mayhem that required rearrangements. There will undoubtedly be criticism
of Abrams for the manipulation and outright dropping of portions of
Williams' music for this project, though the composer did provide him
with more than enough material from which to edit. There is a fair
amount of tracking from prior scores in the franchise in the final cut,
some of it surely for expediency, and the choices are not all that bad.
Assembling an analysis of this score based upon only the material
available on the two soundtrack presentations for
, one of them being the "For Your Consideration" album only
fleetingly available from Disney, is uniquely challenging, because even
the music as heard in the final film leaves more questions than
answers.
will remain something of a
frustration until a proper 225-minute album can be released. But until
that day, most fans will find peace in the highlights of Williams' work,
many of which available up front on the first commercial album. The
maestro's attention to detail shines in even this constrained
presentation, his new themes and adjustments to old ones as masterful as
always. The intelligence of his constructs and orchestrations have not
diminished significantly with his age, and he remains keenly aware of
the need for guilty pleasure moments in this particular score. The work
is a loving farewell by Williams to the 40+ years he has spent in this
galaxy, and he reprises a slew of favorite old themes in their original
forms as a result. Just like the film, the music is nostalgic, content
to restate existing themes in their familiar arrangements while
providing a few intellectual nuggets of development to newer ideas. One
knock on Williams has been his tendency to regurgitate several bars of
music almost wholesale from previous scores into these sequels; that
habit is exacerbated here. Some cynics in the crowd may go so far as to
assume that Williams was too tired to write new arrangements for these
scenes. Another persistent complaint is that Williams tends to apply
themes to scenes in ways that don't always make sense; his applications
have often intended to match an appropriate emotional response rather
than pinpoint accuracy in the representation of a particular person or
concept. It doesn't make sense for Yoda's theme, for instance, to make
an appearance in a scene in which the character has no relationship
whatsoever. But at a time when the franchise needs this kind of
nostalgic influence, one cannot help but excuse such sentimental usage.
Remember, the mass audiences aren't looking for Williams to re-structure or
re-orchestrate a theme; they simply want to be reminded of better times.
The composer did write and conduct all of this material himself, relying
only upon trusted collaborator William Ross to assist him in
orchestrations. Williams chose his standard album arrangement, albeit
one that is somewhat out of chronological order when compared to the
story. The listening experience succeeds, for the most part, but expect
several of the most memorable cues in the film to remain unheard on
their own.
The general quality of Williams' music for the franchise
persists through these later years, the complexity of his melodies and
subtle structural connections between themes remaining as commendable as
ever. Few composers can match the maestro's ability to execute a musical
payoff, his penchant for shameless expositions of heroics in his music
unrivalled still. There are fewer self-contained explorations of new
themes in
than prior entries, the kinds of
cues that introduce a theme strictly for that one scene. Ironically,
"The Speeder Chase," the most notable such piece in this score,
including its momentous Williamsesque closing, was almost completely
removed from the film edit. But the composer rarely allows an extended
passage to exist in the score without continued development of a new or
previously existing theme. Don't expect any significant alterations to
these identities, as Williams reprises them faithfully more often than
not, but there are joyous exceptions. The primary melody and chime-led
intro for Rey, for instance, matches the character's consistent values
by remaining largely static in development in
, though the references to her material are frequent. On
the other hand, Kylo Ren's primary descending theme experiences a shift
to the major key late in the picture, a significant change. In
execution, the themes are afforded the orchestrations you would expect,
flowing high strings occupying the new themes for friendship and victory
while stoic lower string and choir present the fresh villain's identity.
Surprising diversity is provided the Emperor's theme in this score,
though some of these passages were tracked in from
. This score marks the most triumphant development of that idea,
along with a frequent return of the Imperial March as well. Together
with Leia's theme, the usual dominance of the Force theme at times, and
a remarkably resurgent title theme (essentially Luke's theme), the
balance of air time in
is satisfyingly
divided between ideas old and new. On the other hand, Finn's chase theme
from
are entirely absent, as are some of those scores' most
memorable action motifs. Williams surely could have dropped snippets of
a few of these ideas into this work, and their total disappearance is
unfortunate.
Before diving into the analysis of themes from
The Rise
of Skywalker, please remember that the two album arrangements of the
score, as well as the music as edited into the film, are a frightful
mess, especially with all the music from
Revenge of the Sith and
The Force Awakens sprinkled throughout the film edit. The all-new
major themes are provided most (but not all!) of their prominent
recordings as heard on screen, and there are debuting secondary ideas
that may get lost in the shuffle for most listeners. Rising above all
the fray is Rey's theme, the most lasting music from the sequel trilogy.
The triumphant highlight of Rey's identity in this score is, of course,
not on any album; heard during her early training sequence, both her
chime and primary melodies are developed into rousing action fare.
Another victorious statement of her theme comes at the end of the film
version of "Speeder Chase," again not revealed on album. A few others
are neglected on the releases for listeners, including the integration
of her theme into the intelligence briefing scene, the snake healing
scene, her arrival on Exegol, and another moment of heroic significance
when she teams up with Ren near the end. On the albums, though, her idea
can be heard alluded to on Ren's first journey to Exegol (it's possible
this cue was originally meant to accompany Rey's same, later journey and
the recording was used earlier instead), tentatively on strings or
woodwinds in the middle of "We Go Together" and late in "To Kimiji"
before Williams takes the idea into darker territory in "Join Me," where
the idea's structural connections to the Emperor really become evident.
This sinister exploration continues briefly in "Approaching the Throne"
before the catharsis experience in "The Force is With You" (or "Seeing
Sights") consolidates her material to solo piano and a cymbal-tingling
expression of nerves for full ensemble. Williams offers the theme in
both "Farewell" and "A New Home" with sentimentality, the latter keenly
aware of the character's original habits. Williams only revists the
full-ensemble optimism of Rey's original thematic shades in a brief
moment during her return in "Reunion" and in the obligatory "Finale" end
credits suite. Throughout the sequel trilogy, the best performance of
the idea comes in the end credits of
The Force Awakens, though
the training sequence development in this score is a notable evolution,
and its absence from either album is unforgivable.
Balancing Rey's theme in
The Rise of Skywalker is a
substantial journey for Kylo Ren's theme. After prominent placements
heard in the frenzied scene on Mustafar at the beginning and Ren's
subsequent flight to Exegol, his primary descending identity continues
to dog the protagonists as they flee from him in this story. Ren's two
secondary motifs, which had originally bled over as representations of
the First Order and Snoke in
The Force Awakens, continue to
recede here, though they are not totally gone. The menacing tones of the
main motif are prominent in "Fleeing From Kimiji" before taking a more
tentative stand in "Join Me" and "The Final Saber Duel." Nearly all of
these familiar statements are available on album (one exception comes
during the reforging of the character's helmet), but an injustice exists
in the lack of availability for the redeemed version of Ren's theme.
Williams twists the key of the theme slightly to give it a robust,
optimistic stance as Ren switches allegiances, and the first hint of
this transition comes, intriguingly, during Ren's interlude during Rey's
training sequence early in the film. In the awards promo cues "Parents"
and "Coming Together," as well as the unreleased cue for the moment Rey
and Ren team up, the evolution of this theme is immensely satisfying and
synchronized well with the film's shots of Ren. The other stalwart of
The Force Awakens returning here is the "March of the Resistance"
theme, making a significant splash at several points in "Falcon Flight"
before taking on a lighter role in "In the Desert" and "Hallway
Shooting" (all cues only heard on the awards promo). The idea doesn't
have as much of an impact upon the final battle as one might expect,
though it is given its dues in the preparations of "They Will Come" and
the fight sequence concluding "Approaching the Throne." The theme does
not feature again in the end credits, as it had done in previous films.
The only other theme from
The Force Awakens to return is Poe's,
though it is supplanted by a more generally heroic variant in parts of
this score. In its original form, listeners will note it in the film
(and awards promo) version of "The Old Death Star," during the
unreleased cue for the conversation after Poe visits Leia's body, during
the unused first minute or so of "Battle of the Resistance," and at 1:02
into "Reunion," though that last gorgeous performance is omitted from
the film, perhaps indicating that a romantic rekindling between Poe and
the mysterious Zorii was a late cut. Nothing else explicitly carries
over from the two previous scores.
Plenty of material from the original
Star Wars
trilogy informs
The Rise of Skywalker; in fact, the original
franchise fanfare has more of a role in this score than any other in the
prequel or sequel trilogies. The opening scroll has its usual placement
of the fanfare, though its segue into action seems carried over from
The Force Awakens. The rebel fanfare accompanies the Millenium
Falcon twice in "Falcon Flight" while the main theme (for Luke
originally but essentially the whole galaxy by this point) spotlights
original characters as C-3PO and Chewbacca deal with life and death
during the Kijimi sequence. (Both of these moments are totally
unreleased, though a later moment of relief involving Luke's theme
representing Rey can be heard at 2:20 into "Fleeing From Kimiji.") A
brief moment of Luke's theme heard for Poe piloting the Falcon to Rey's
rescue was actually tracked material. The theme is retained as Luke
encourages Rey in "Destiny of a Jedi" and in action mode during "Battle
of the Resistance." The most obvious cue missing from any album is the
concert-like
A New Hope arrangement of the franchise fanfare as
Lando arrives with the new resistance fleet; this cue is extremely
impactful in its placement and length during the scene. The rebel
fanfare returns a few times for the Falcon as it conducts a late rescue
in "The Force is with You," and that exuberance extends to the Luke
theme performance early in "Reunion." A dedicated four minutes of the
theme closes out the franchise's music on either end of "Finale." The
regular use of these themes once again supplants that of the Force as
the primary musical identity for the entire concept; in the absence of
obvious Skywalker or
A New Hope references, the franchise has
used the Force theme for the Jedi as its overarching connector. It is
used frequently here, as expected, initially during Rey's training
sequence and accompanying her conversations with Leia in both that
unreleased cue and in "We Go Together." The theme simmers during the
intelligence briefing, as Rey heals a snake, while Poe ponders Leia's
death later in the picture, and during the backstory conversation
between Finn and Jannah, all unreleased cues. The somber rendition early
in "Healing Wounds" is available on the awards promo. Notable highlights
of the theme come during Luke's return in "Destiny of a Jedi" and
"Battle of the Resistance," the latter in action mode akin to its
glorious placements in the prequel scores.
The Force theme has an understandably outsized role in the
final cues of
The Rise of Skywalker, beginning with the important
mental communication between Ren and Rey in "Coming Together" as she
passes a lightsaber to him. While Rey's inspiration from Jedi of the
past is scored with her own theme, her actual defeat of Palpatine is
afforded a full-scale, accelerating performance of the Force theme,
heard in "The Force is With You." In the immediate aftermath, additional
Force theme material is applied, though this music seems to have been
tracked in from "Peace and Purpose" in
The Last Jedi.
Interestingly, the Force theme is not a factor in the "Farewell" cue
despite the healing implications of the scene. Instead, the idea is
provided joyful life early in "Reunion" and is reprised wholesale from
the end of
The Force Awakens as Rey watches the binary sunset to
conclude this story. Unfortunately, the theme is missing in the end
credits suite. Two major themes from
The Empire Strikes Back
return with substantial impact, though, ironically, Williams chose not
to even allude to Lando's theme from that film despite his direct
presence in this plot. The theme for Yoda was appropriately contained to
his scene in
The Last Jedi, though here it is reprised broadly in
both "Destiny of a Jedi" (as Luke raises his X-wing from the ocean) and
in "Reunion," where its concert arrangement makes a totally senseless
appearance. (Part of this music was cut from the film, thankfully.) The
Imperial March, meanwhile, is all over this score, and Williams seems to
be applying it to old Imperial hardware just as the rebel fanfare has
come to represent the Millenium Falcon. Ren's initial meeting with
Palpatine is offered a rather sudden expression of both the first and
second phrases of the theme at deliberate pacing as Star Destroyers
ascend from the Exegol surface. This exact recording seems to have been
tracked later in the film as a Destroyer wipes out Kijimi. A brief
moment of Ren with Darth Vader's helmet interrupts the fantastic
"Training Course" cue, and this performance of the theme is powerfully
resolute on low brass. As Rey encounters the helmet in person, a softer,
unreleased reprise of the idea is heard. The Vader death scene cue from
Return of the Jedi is seemingly tracked in to the Death Star
throne room exploration scene here, which is an odd choice until you
think about the emotional context. The "Finale" suite offers the theme
in its original "Imperial March" arrangement from the end credits of
The Empire Strikes Back, though it is cut down in length on
screen.
The most extraordinary thematic usage in
The Rise of
Skywalker has to be the absolute prevalence of the Emperor's theme
from
Return of the Jedi. Although it had made a token (and
perhaps pointless) appearance in
The Last Jedi for Snoke, the
idea permeates
The Rise of Skywalker in fascinating incarnations
both subtle and overt. Announced on usual low woodwinds in "Prologue,"
the idea explodes in action mode as TIE fighters begin their pursuit of
the Falcon in "Falcon Flight," a peculiar but resounding usage perhaps
openly revealing that Palpatine is behind everything in this story. The
intelligence briefing scene utilizes the theme on ominous woodwinds as a
ghostly presence, one of several such applications of the theme in this
score that include the conversation in which Ren informs the First Order
commanders of Exegol and the scene in which Rey discusses her past with
Finn, all of which unreleased. This softer touch to the theme is
fascinating, and it continues in "Hard to Get Rid Of," prior to a very
brief Vader reference. As the Emperor transmits his ultimatum to the
galaxy, it seems like a passage of this theme from
Revenge of the
Sith is tracked in, and this usage may even extend to Rey's arrival
on Exegol. The "Falcon Flight" version of the theme is reprised as the
first resistance fleet arrives and the "Prologue" recording reappears as
Rey explores the Sith temple. Unreleased is this theme's menacing
presence as Palpatine defeats Rey and Ren, though a highlight of the
work is released: the fully victorious, choral rendition of the idea
late in "The Force is With You." Finally, Leia's theme from
A New
Hope, "Han Solo and the Princess" from
The Empire Strikes
Back, and the "Luke and Leia" theme from
Return of the Jedi
all make cameos. The Leia theme is of particular importance, hinted in
the unreleased cue as Lando tells the heroes to convey his affection for
her but really taking hold as she prepares for death. Her deathbed scene
is scored with a full flute and choral performance in the latter half of
"Healing Wounds." A later scene with that theme in which Poe visits
Leia's body is another likely tracking from
Revenge of the Sith.
Her idea returns in the flashback training scene and can be heard in
"Destiny of a Jedi." The one use of the Han and Leia love theme comes as
Leia lies down to die and Maz narrates about what she must do to connect
to Ren; this use is probably tracked from
The Empire Strikes Back
or
The Force Awakens. And while one might expect the "Luke and
Leia" theme to exist briefly during their appearance as ghosts at the
end of the movie, it instead occupies the Jannah and Lando portion of
"Reunion." This usage might have addressed a deleted backstory
connection.
Williams' all-new themes in
The Rise of Skywalker
include three primary melodies and several secondary motifs that, to
some extent, replace similar representations of the same concepts heard
in his previous scores for the franchise. The two rousing themes written
for the heroes are combined effortlessly in Williams' "The Rise of
Skywalker" album suite that informs portions of the "Finale" end
credits. The most prevalent is the friendship theme, heard in the above
suite at the 0:53 mark and existing mostly to mark the bond between Poe,
Finn, and Rey but also the plight of democratic civilization as a whole.
Briefly heard in "Falcon Flight," the friendship theme dominates "We Go
Together" with a string-based, wholesome character that would be
comfortably at home in Williams' Harry Potter scores. The theme
accompanies Lando as he introduces himself and is later tortured by
nerves in "A Prisoner." It takes on both a stoic and hopeful personality
early in "To Kijimi," and (unreleased) fragments continue as Rey earns
the respect of Zorii. Snippets of the theme continue in "Destiny of a
Jedi" and soon after in another unreleased cue as Poe and Finn realize
that Rey is leading the way to Exegol. The theme is curiously absent
from the actual coming together of resistance forces at the major battle
on Exegol, but it closes out "Reunion" with dramatic depth. It is the
first of the parade of themes following the usual opening to the end
credits in "Finale." Meanwhile, its sibling theme for this film, that of
victory, is more compellingly memorable. Opening and closing the suite,
"The Rise of Skywalker," the victory theme offers some of the score's
most satisfying moments, its epic sway concluded by a certainly
intentional but rather strange nod to the "Han Solo and the Princess"
theme in its final phrase. Hinted as Poe asks Zorii to join the cause in
"Fleeing From Kimiji," the idea literally takes flight in "They Will
Come," though the performance that graces the end of that cue, straying
towards David Arnold's
Stargate territory in its melodramatic
lines, is sadly dialed out of the film. The trumpet variant of the idea
in "Approaching the Throne" (on both the commercial album at 3:10 and
awards album at 3:17) was also removed from the picture. The brief
interlude for the theme at 3:02 into "The Force is With You" is
retained, however. Among the highlights of the entire score is the
victory theme performance with choral backing to close out "Farewell,"
punctuating the relief of seeing the First Order ships destroyed and
subsequent celebrations across the galaxy. (Death to Ewoks!) The theme
is offered in the second half of the "Finale" in a largely redundant
arrangement compared to other recordings.
Perhaps the most intriguing new development in the music
of
The Rise of Skywalker is Williams' decision to craft a new
villain's theme to represent all things evil in the story, from the
Final Order to Ren's persistent attempts to sway Rey to the dark side.
Appropriately named "Anthem of Evil," this idea is summarized by the
track of that name and is a fascinating collection of thematic
constructs representing Rey, Ren, Vader, and the Emperor all rolled into
one new melody that once again sounds as though it would fit snugly
within the Harry Potter musical universe. Its extent is not fully
realized at first, introduced in the film version of "Prologue," hinted
during "In the Desert" to represent the Sith dagger and briefly in "To
Kijimi," but it eventually finds its place in the confrontations between
Ren and Rey. The "Join Me" cue in particular explores this material,
though some of it was dialed out in the movie. It appears again in the
throne room scene on the Death Star as Ren again tempts Rey. Not
available on album as well is the grandiose performance of the theme
during the scene in which Kijimi is destroyed. Sadly, the theme doesn't
make a significant impact upon the final conflict, and it only arises in
full again in the "Finale" suite. Two other motifs of evil debut in
The Rise of Skywalker, one for the Sith Wayfinder device and
another for the Knights of Ren. The Wayfinder motif is a series of
pulsating string notes in a churning, hypnotic rhythm, heard on album
first late in "Journey to Exegol." (It actually belongs in the
"Prologue" sequence.) The motif has a brief flourish when Ren destroys
the second Wayfinder in the throne room (again unreleased) and in the
middle of "Approaching the Throne." Interestingly, Williams neglects the
theme at other obvious reference points, including "The Old Death Star"
as the dagger is used to locate one of the Wayfinders. Also not entirely
clear is the point of the new Knights of Ren theme, which supplants one
of Ren's own motifs with a similar but distinct melody. This two-part
idea with brutal emphasis on the repetition of its opening note is heard
first in the "Prologue" and, for some reason, punctuates the first shot
of the Sith temple on Exegol. (There is a suggestion that the Knights
actually reside at this temple by some point.) The theme accompanies the
gang of baddies as they observe the reforging of Ren's helmet and is
later emphasized three times as these goons stand atop a desert bluff
looking for Rey. (Both cues remain unreleased.) It is offered briefly at
0:40 into "To Kijimi" as the villains' ship is spotted following the
protagonists. Where the Knights of Ren stomp around on Kijimi, their
theme follows. The final rendition of the theme exists in "Coming
Together," as Ren confronts his old clan.
The final new theme of interest in
The Rise of
Skywalker is one for heroic antics that is most associated with Poe,
which makes sense given that the melody is remarkably similar to his
proper theme. In a way, the switch from minor to major mode in this
theme represents a character that has turned from criminal activity to
dedicate himself to the resistance. That is why you hear this theme the
moment you see Lando this time around, too. The first major expression
of this theme occurs at 1:13 into "Falcon Flight" and is reprised a few
times in the film version of "The Speeder Chase." In the latter, it
accompanies the "They fly now?" line. This idea exemplifies Williams'
masterful connectivity between themes, whether it's manipulating Poe's
for new duty or revealing shared progressions between the Emperor's and
Rey's themes. The "Anthem of Evil" alone is so rich with structural and
rhythmic connections to Rey, Palpatine, Ren's major theme, and the
Imperial March that the maestro's wizardry boggles the mind. The pacing
and emphasis on certain notes in the Knights of Ren theme tie it closely
to Ren's own material as well. On the lighter side, the friendship theme
shares fluid melodicism that dates back to
Hook on the surface
but shares its mode with the themes for Yoda, Anakin, and Rose from
prior films in this franchise. The victory theme is a smart
collaboration of both Rey's chimes motif and the main Luke theme, the
former influencing the progressions and pacing of the initial phrase.
The second half of that phrase is suspiciously similar to an inversion
of Luke's theme. And, as mentioned before, the concluding bars of the
victory theme are identical to those of the "Han Solo and the Princess"
theme. While many of these connections won't explicitly click with most
listeners, they nonetheless offer important intellectual clues to how
the music is woven together over all these films. There are also a few
singular themes for individual scenes in
The Rise of Skywalker, a
technique Williams has used in this franchise since the throne room
scene in
A New Hope and the asteroid chase in
The Empire
Strikes Back. Here, the composer pens unique ideas for "The Speeder
Chase," including the score's most rousing conclusion to any cue;
unfortunately, all but a few fragments of this recording were replaced
in the film with a more anonymous alternative (outside of Poe's new
theme). The other singular new theme in this score builds from a
combination of the concluding cues in the previous two scores, the
rhythmic harp motif of "A New Home" (is Rey going to live there?)
serving as a stark backdrop for a weighty string melody reminiscent of
Schindler's List.
One of the consternations bound to arise for Williams
enthusiasts is the composer's unease in making some obvious thematic
connections when merited. The lack of the Ahch-To Island theme for even
a brief moment in the scene there in
The Rise of Skywalker is a
missed opportunity. Cues totally devoid of thematic reprises or
development, such as the pivotal "Advice," are odd reminders that some
of the references we are hearing are being dropped in place by the
filmmakers, not Williams himself. In the case of that heartbreaking Han
Solo scene, Williams offers no connections to the equivalent
conversation in
The Force Awakens or the Han and Leia theme.
Instead, Williams explores disconnected high strings and grim French
horn resolution that foreshadows Ren's death scene. The prologue
sequence is extraordinarily messy in its music, and a reprise of the
Mustafar arrival motif from
Revenge of the Sith may have helped
place that location. That said, there are nuggets of references Williams
makes that are unnecessary but nice touches. Three of them come in
"Falcon Flight;" a subtle nod to the chase motif from
The Last
Jedi is heard at 0:15, the hyperspace motif returns from
The
Empire Strikes Back at 1:47, and the ensemble hits at the end of the
cue harken back to the destruction of Alderaan in
A New Hope.
During the conversation between Poe and Zorii about resisting the First
Order, Williams employs a suspense ostinato familiar to
Attack of the
Clones. Most remarkably, at 1:35 into "Approaching the Throne,"
Williams reprises the Palpatine persuasion motif from
Revenge of the
Sith as the Sith Lord uses his power to influence Rey just as he did
Anakin. Not all of these applications are tracked in, though certainly
no complete album of music as heard in the film presentation of
The
Rise of Skywalker would be complete without those moments as well.
It is, on the whole, another frightfully microedited score in context,
and it's challenging to determine how much music Williams wrote with the
album specifically in mind. So many of his best recordings were not
featured in the film that one must deduce that either the film was
irreparably rearranged after the score was recorded or Williams had
concert halls in mind when writing. The "Finale" arrangement certainly
smells like Williams favoritism through and through, and his choice to
score the closing scenes of his last four
Star Wars films with
the same two renditions of the Force theme shows a measure of
inflexibility. In all of Williams' music for the prequels and sequels,
it is
Attack of the Clones with the most effective closing cue,
if only because it emulates the agonizing dramatism heard at the end of
The Empire Strikes Back.
The album situation for
The Rise of Skywalker is
inexcusable, and some of the blame must be placed on Williams'
insistence upon his preferred album arrangements. The commercial product
of 77 minutes contains a wealth of strong content from the score, but it
is missing key sequences and is badly out of order. Disney made
available the "For Your Consideration" promo on its awards site for just
a matter of a few hours before pulling it down; it did eventually return
around the Academy Awards, though by then it had already experienced
extensive bootlegging. This 51-minute presentation contains about 21
minutes of unique music, and its sound quality is extremely poor. The
"Prologue" and "Journey to Exegol" cues are incomprehensibly arranged on
the albums and in the film; the promo's "Prologue" is superior in
arrangement to the absolute butchering on the commercial product.
Likewise, you have cues like "Approaching the Throne," which differ on
all three versions: in the film, on the commercial album, and on the
promo. This mess is compounded by the lack of so much fantastic material
on the primary album, not to mention some key cues not even included on
the promo due, in all likelihood, to the inclusion of older franchise
themes. The commercial album contains the opening and closing cues and,
of course, the three suites (assuming "The Speeder Chase" is a concert
piece). The promo contains the absolutely necessary "Falcon Chase" and
duo of "Parents" and "Coming Together" in which you hear the Ren theme
turned heroic. Missing from all of this is the "Training Course"
montage, the destruction of Kimiji rendition of the "Anthem of Evil,"
and the phenomenal reprise of the main franchise theme from
A New
Hope when Lando arrives with the full fleet. The omissions are
devastating, as they represent some of the most memorably successful
cues in the film. The sum of Williams' work for
The Rise of
Skywalker is still immeasurably impressive, regardless of these
frustrating flaws inherent in the album and film edits. Two source
songs, one by Lin-Manuel Miranda and the other by Ricky Tinez, with both
co-written by J.J. Abrams, are exempt from the Williams equation. If
there was truly over 225 minutes of music recorded for this film, then a
3-CD set will be necessary to illuminate the greatness clearly on
display in this final venture for Williams into the
Star Wars
universe. Expectedly, the maestro's work did not receive the mainstream
awards it deserved, but its monumental complexity of thought and
transcendence beyond modern fantasy fads ensure its place among
Williams' finest efforts. This music marks the end of an era, and it's
not hard to imagine that history will view these sequel scores as modern
classics unparalleled by their contemporaries.
@Amazon.com: CD or
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- Music as Written for the Film: *****
- Music as Heard on the Albums: ****
- Overall: *****
| Bias Check: |
For John Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.68
(in 91 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.54
(in 363,499 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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