This being a prequel score, it absorbs the militaristic mannerisms of the classic Imperial March but given it's largely identified with the new character of Death Star director Krennic (Ben Mendelsohn), avoids full-blown imitation of Williams' theme.
Rogue one soundtrack review movie#
In the first sign that both movie and score are going to shake things up a bit, the first track 'He's Here for Us' skips Williams' famously brassy opening title music (there's no opening scroll in the movie) and launches straight into the imposing new villains theme. The likes of Jurassic World (in which he brilliantly interwove his own ideas with the Williams staples) have already proven his capabilities, and this marks something of a natural progression for the composer.Īs one would expect from any Star Wars score worth its salt, the soundtrack is a leitmotivic masterclass, zipping between themes for the new characters and carefully judged blasts of Williams' heraldic original ideas. Disappointing as it was to see Desplat leave the project (his enormously powerful score for Edwards' own Godzilla was the best of that year), there's no denying that Giacchino's inherently nostalgic tone and unerring ability to emulate Williams' mannerisms is exactly what the film needed. That Giacchino pulled it off is a sign of his professionalism and ability to work under fierce studio pressures (an issue increasingly cited by many of today's film composers) that the score is itself a massively enjoyable work in its own right only solidifies Giacchino as the finest blockbuster composer of the modern age. It then fell to Michael Giacchino to step into the fray and tackle what was arguably the most formidable scoring project of the year: write the first non-John Williams Star Wars feature score in a month and establish his own musical signature on the franchise, whilst also honouring the extraordinary legacy of everything that had gone before. Said reshoots are ultimately what caused so much of a post-production headache towards the end of 2016, causing schedules to fall out of alignment and original composer Alexandre Desplat to step aside. Edwards' approach lends a refreshingly gritty, melancholy and (relatively) adult air to a franchise that has been accused of relying too heavily on nostalgic formula (an accusation levelled at 2015's The Force Awakens), although the production remains somewhat mired in controversy over its widely reported reshoots. Monsters and Godzilla director Gareth Edwards actually makes a virtue of his restrictive story set-up, investing us dramatically in a group of characters whose fate was foretold way back at the start of the franchise when we first saw the Imperial Destroyer loom across the camera. How would it be possible to become invested in the proposed Rogue One narrative, one focusing on the Rebels' do-or-die mission to steal the Death Star plans? Would it be possible to even make a Star Wars movie built around incidental characters? And how would the climax of this movie mesh with the opening of A New Hope? Well December 2016 proved the doubters and naysayers wrong when Rogue One received positive critical notices and stormed the box office. When it was announced that Disney were embarking on a standalone Star Wars story, a prequel to 1977's A New Hope that would (largely) be devoid of familiar faces and unconnected to the wider saga narrative, more than a few eyebrows were raised. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - score by Michael Giacchino
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