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| Giacchino |
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story: (Michael Giacchino)
For those who grew up on the original trilogy of
Star Wars films
and "survived" the prequels, the notion of witnessing a new feature film
in this franchise every year because of Walt Disney Studio's purchasing
of Lucasfilm was strangely unsettling. The Hollywood cash grab
phenomenon is disturbing enough without seeing it sully such a storied
franchise as this, though under the guidance of producer Kathleen
Kennedy, a diminishment in quality hadn't materialized as of 2016's
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The first entry in a series of
spin-offs based on the
Star Wars universe that was killed off on
the big screen by 2018's
Solo: A Star Wars Story,
Rogue
One expands upon the backstory described in
Star Wars: A New
Hope about the stealing of the original Death Star's plans. The
film's admirable exploration of George Lucas' canon is its highlight,
propelling the movie to positive reviews and massive box office returns.
On the other hand, it squeezes too many characters and locations into
one story, yielding potential confusion (this is the first
Star
Wars film that required title cards for each planet, minus Darth
Vader's Mustafar, returning from
Revenge of the Sith, and a brief
flashback to the galactic capital on Coruscant) or dissatisfaction with
the lack of depth in character backstories. There are also issues of
massive logical fallacies in the story (think for a moment about the
catastrophic data loss the Empire willingly committed on Scarif),
something
The Force Awakens certainly didn't mind perpetuating.
Fans won't care, though, as the space battle at the climax of the film,
highlighted by a Hammerhead corvette encounter with a Star Destroyer,
and the stunning digital resurrection of Peter Cushing as Governor
Tarkin aboard the Death Star are well worth the admission price. As
Rogue One debuted, composer John Williams was recording his score
for the eighth episode of the franchise's proper chronology, and while
he was never attached directly to this film, his legacy clearly loomed
large.
Director Gareth Edwards had originally selected his
Gozilla collaborator, Alexandre Desplat, to compose the music for
Rogue One, the French composer accepting on the condition that he
not write music that aped Williams' style. By the time of the highly
publicized reshooting of the film (the amount of mass character casualty
at the end was a running debate within the production team), however,
Disney changed its mind and demanded a Williams-like score, forcing
Desplat to abandon the project (scheduling reasons were cited as a mere
courtesy). With time running short, Williams himself was apparently
irked that he was not asked to score the picture, and he was not happy
with the last-minute score provided by replacement composer Michael
Giacchino even though he was unquestionably the most logical choice to
continue any franchise helmed previously by Williams at the time.
Soundtrack collectors had known this since Giacchino's accomplished
"Medal of Honor" video game scores beginning in 1999 confirmed
suspicions that he was a master emulator of Williams's style and the
Indiana Jones voice in particular. When Giacchino stepped into
the
Jurassic Park franchise in 2015 with
Jurassic World,
his adaptations of the Williams mode and themes, while somewhat
inarticulate due to meddling by the filmmakers, were about as good as
anyone could have expected. With the
Star Wars franchise,
expectations are infinitely higher, and Giacchino only had about a month
to score the picture, forcing him through many sleepless nights in an
effort to deliver for a concept he had loved so much as a boy. With the
help of Williams orchestrator William Ross and the study of the
maestro's longtime orchestrator, Herbert Spencer, Giacchino sought to
create the right instrumental techniques and pairings to ensure as close
a resemblance to Williams' style as possible. A clear knowledge of
Williams' original three scores for the franchise is also on display,
though slightly disappointing is the lack of more tangible connections
to
Revenge of the Sith given this film's placement in the
chronology, especially in the only rather vague similarity to Williams'
handling on deep brass of the planet of Mustafar. Largely, though,
Giacchino succeeds quite well at times in the task of perpetuating
Williams' tone in
Rogue One.
There are some differences to note between the two
composers that are inevitably conveyed in the music for
Rogue
One. Giacchino's action music has never been as accessible as that
of Williams, in part because of the younger composer's reliance on
different types of anticipatory chords, his less tonal, broken-chord
choices simply not as melodically enticing as Williams' seemingly more
nuanced balance between conflicting notes and heartening tonalities.
There are times when listeners will equate Giacchino's music, especially
that for the Imperial forces in this story, with Nazi Germany from the
"Medal of Honor" games rather than Williams' prior
Star Wars
efforts more directly. The moments when Giacchino really flourishes in
Rogue One are those when he nails particular instrumental and
tonal applications to closely resemble some particular sequence in
either
A New Hope or
The Empire Strikes Back. Even here,
however, as in the deceleration of the Imperial March at the end of
"Krennic's Aspirations", the execution sounds slightly off. The novice
ear may not particularly care about any of these finer points of
orchestration and mixing, leaving the themes as the more important
takeaway from the score. Here, there's a balance of good and
unnecessary. Giacchino has, despite conjuring some outstanding melodies
ranging from the solo piano tear-jerking in
Up to the sweeping
expanse of fantasy in
Star Trek Beyond, never been associated
with mainstream melodic embrace. In other words, you won't hear his
themes performed in sports stadiums like you do with Williams. To expect
Giacchino to compete on that playing field is indeed unfair, but it has
to be raised as a topic in this score, because the thematic applications
in
Rogue One are a curious lot. The fresh identities are
seemingly as numerous as the new character introductions, and that
muddies the score to an extent. You have six or seven returning (or
heavily suggested) motifs from the Williams scores with a full slate of
new identities that are themselves typically informed by one of
Williams' existing themes. On screen, this plethora of identities
becomes something of a wash, leaving listeners inevitably grasping at
the direct quotes of the Williams classics. The least satisfied listener
was Williams himself, who disapproved of Giacchino's use of the old
themes so much that Disney forced Giacchino to remove some quotations of
them in his final product.
Nowhere is
Rogue One as unnecessarily bloated as in
the musical identities for the villains. Kudos to Giacchino for
resurrecting both Imperial themes from
A New Hope, the original
Death Star's brief fanfare heard in "When Has Become Now" and
"Confrontation on Eadu" and the broader Imperial motif heard twice in
"Krennic's Aspirations." Of course, the Imperial March for Vader is
heard in "Krennic's Aspirations," where you also receive a strong
allusion to the Emperor's theme, and in nearly humorous, bombastic form
in "Hope." The over-the-top choral rendition of the idea for Vader's
massacre scene is perhaps justified by
Revenge of the Sith, but
it's simply too overstated to be taken seriously. On top of these
returning favorites, Giacchino supplies two additional new themes when
only one, if even that, was necessary. Rather than associate the
Imperial March with the villains in a general way in
Rogue One,
Giacchino supplies them the appropriately narcissistic, Nazi-inspired
march as summarized in "The Imperial Suite" and best heard in the film
in "When Has Become Now" and the introduction of the lovely Imperial
data center on Scarif. The spritely spirit of this material's major
pronouncements is awkwardly overhyped, offering the Empire a somewhat
cartoonish feel. In the middle of the concert arrangement of "The
Imperial Suite" is the formal representation of the theme for the
villain Krennic, and you receive extended treatment of his theme (again,
clearly using minor thirds like the Imperial March) in his most potent
scene, the opening landing in "He's Here For Us." Arguably, this theme
is more alluring than the primary Imperial identity from Giacchino,
which is a shame given that it disintegrates over time as the character
is frustratingly marginalized; in "Get That Beach Under Control," his
theme is a subdued presence compared to the main Imperial idea. A better
approach to the picture might have been to allow one of Williams'
existing Imperial themes to represent Tarkin, the Death Star, and the
various Imperial installations while the one dedicated theme for Krennic
first augments and then clashes with that prevailing identity. At times,
as in "Are We Blind?," Giacchino achieves his best material for the
fighting Imperial forces when he isn't confined to this mess of Imperial
identities. The sequence reprising the Hoth battle from
The Empire
Strikes Back in "AT-ACT Assault" is outstanding, all the way down to
the familiar handling of percussive strikes.
The themes for the rebels and the force in
Rogue
One are also too numerous, often times distracting in their
references to past Williams or Giacchino ideas. Returning is arguably
the franchise's most important and perpetually unavoidable theme, that
for the Force; despite the lack of any Jedi in this film, the Force
theme is littered throughout. Although odd on the surface, it actually
makes fair sense in the narrative because the characters' references to
the Force are frequent, and Giacchino uses each instance to state the
theme in some form. Also at work is the planet of Jedha, a historically
important base of operations for the Jedi, and when two guardians of the
Whills (a concept never detailed to satisfaction in this film) join the
main rebel gang, they are accompanied by the official "Guardians of the
Whills" theme that is a clear offshoot of the Force theme in progression
and provided a mystic tone to accompany mostly Donnie Yen's blind
character as he chants his way to heroics. It's a nice melody but not
entirely necessary. On the other hand, the theme for the main heroine,
Jyn, is vital to the film's melodramatic appeal. Here, Giacchino
suffices in offering a dramatic winner for the character, though that
success is tainted by a couple of misplays. First, the melody is a
distracting merging of his Yorktown theme from
Star Trek Beyond
and Rey's theme from
The Force Awakens, and, secondly, its choral
performances at the end of the film are a bit too saccharine to handle,
even after Williams also set the table for such levels of outward
musical tragedy in
Revenge of the Sith. In the concert
arrangement of "Jyn Erso and Hope Suite," as in the finale of the film,
her idea is provided a poignant solo string performance, and the second
half of that recording summarizes a nascent Luke Skywalker theme simply
denoting the concept of "hope" that accompanies Jyn's transformation
from cynic to believer in "Rebellions Are Built on Hope" and elsewhere
later in the picture. The franchise title theme clearly guides this
identity and makes it, again, a bit unnecessary. Why not just use the
main rebel fanfare of original trilogy fame in more dramatic form? That
main franchise theme does receive due airtime in the more substantial
rebellion sequences, including "Scrambling the Rebel Fleet" and "AT-ACT
Assault." The film features the main theme in its usual, bracketing end
credits placements as well, and look for its reprise from the rebel
blockade runner sequence in
A New Hope at the end of
Rogue
One.
As expected, there is some more obvious spotting
controversy involving themes in
Rogue One. While small quibbles,
like the lack of Leia's theme at the end, are not significant, the
handling of the opening and closing titles are impactful. The end
credits take Williams' standard fanfare placements of the main rebel
theme and push the three new concert suite arrangements in between, and
that's fine. The lack of a representation of the final credits sequence
on the original album is unacceptable, especially given the more
customized, soft ending to close out that arrangement. But if steam is
going to come out of the ears of
Star Wars fans in regards to the
music, it'll be because of the opening of the film. Gone is the yellow
crawl and big "STAR WARS" letters, the single title card instead shown
after the opening Krennic landing sequence and the escape of Jyn.
Giacchino blasts one chord at the outset of "He's Here For Us" that is
too discordant with the
Star Wars universe to be satisfactory,
and his sudden statement of the Hope theme over the main title at the
end of "A Long Ride Ahead" is rushed and, quite frankly, really odd in
context. For film music collectors, there are also some other
curiosities that are distracting, such as the blatant similarity to the
song melody from Williams'
Hook in "Rogue One." Perhaps
forgiveness must be allotted Giacchino in this discussion of themes,
however, because of all the films in the franchise, the third and fourth
episodes were the most often to feature totally nonsensical thematic
attributions (who can forget the rebel fanfare when the Millenium Falcon
is captured or Leia's theme when Obi-Wan is killed?), and this film
resides in between those works in the chronology. In the end, the
orchestration and rhythmic figures are more likely to sink or float this
score for you, and it's often in these portions that Giacchino hides his
most intelligent Williams references. There are a few trademarks of
Giacchino himself in the score, whether in the solo piano of "Star-Dust"
or the groaning percussive sound effects akin to
Doctor Strange
in "Trust Goes Both Ways" and "Jedha Arrival," and these are a net
neutral. One could argue either way about the solo cello and mass choral
applications. It's easy for these elements to get lost in the warm
French horn lines, chomping bass string rhythms, or trumpet triplets
that will more likely gain your attention. The timpani accents are an
expected delight in the late action cues like "Entering the Imperial
Archives" and "We Have to Press the Attack." Giacchino also pays special
attention to the lighter woodwinds that were prominent in
A New
Hope, particularly the flute.
Walt Disney Records' assumption of franchise album
rights from Sony did not yield more satisfactory albums, aside from
their refusal in this case to allow Giacchino his usual asinine cue
titles for the album tracks. (They were published separately for fans to
enjoy, however.) As with
The Force Awakens, an online awards
promotional stream was presented by Disney for
Rogue One with 26
minutes or so of additional material that didn't make the 70-minute
album, and even when their contents are merged together, they are not
complete. You won't, for instance, find the full end credits, even if
they did happen to be cobbled together artificially. Some of the awards
promo tracks are negligible, including the atmospheric "Hearts of Kyber"
and "Today of All Days" cues on Jedha. But there are entire sections of
the movie not represented on the commercial score album, and the portion
bridging the escape from Jedha and arrival on Eadu is among those. The
four or so cues from those scenes include the exciting and dramatic "An
Imperial Test of Power," the "Asteroid Field"-like "Approach to Eadu,"
and the forceful Krennic theme reprise in "Jyn's Path is Clear." More
impressive development of Krennic's theme exists on the promo cue "Good
Luck Little Sister" (this theme's presence on the commercial album was
woeful), including his boisterous arrival at Scarif. The action material
in "Are We Blind?," "Entering the Imperial Archives," "Get That Beach
Under Control," and "We Have to Press the Attack" is entertaining and
sadly absent on the main album. If any cue really needed to be included
on the commercial release, it was "Project Stardust," the data tapes
shaft scene in which Giacchino offers some of his most rousing
Williams-like material. Disney finally released 144 minutes of music
from
Rogue One in a digital and vinyl-only expanded edition in
2022 without much hype, but that presentation has downsides that remind
of the label's terrible 2021
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
expansion. It provides only stunted fragments of the end credits and
suffers awkward, long silences in the middle of two tracks; it also
annoys with a sudden start to the final bonus cue. The sound quality
remains dull and flat on the product, extending the composer's usual,
awfully dry sound. Much of the newly revealed material is not
interesting and exposes this score as uneven in quality. Given the time
crunch for the task,
Rogue One still has to be labeled a success,
but that doesn't exonerate the score's melodic deficiencies. This was a
no-win situation for Giacchino, but he handled it better here than in
Jurassic World. Disappointed listeners must recognize that while
Giacchino is not and never will be John Williams, his heart is in the right
place.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Michael Giacchino reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.46
(in 43 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.21
(in 23,411 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert of the 2016 commercial product includes a list of performers, a note from
the composer about the score, and his usual pun-laden alternate track titles. The 2016 Disney
promotional album and 2022 expanded album are primarily digital products with no official
packaging.
