Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

We are back to another chapter of one of the most known saga's the movie industry offers today. Anybody with a love towards films these days will have one tingling feeling when they find out the premiere of Star Wars is coming to its destiny this month. I myself haven't been looking forward to the movie because my expectations are rather set on The Two Towers, replacing my favorite saga adventures of science fiction to Middle Earth. Now, I recently saw the movie and I know now why my expectations were rather low, despite the movie entertaining me it still isn't the Star Wars magic I wanted. Anyway, with a new breed of movies there belongs a new sound to accompany it and we already found out how different The Phantom Menace was. This was nothing of a surprise because John Williams has evolved as a composer and the style is consistently different from that he composed in the '80. Attack of the Clones, the new episode is equally different from the rest and also different from the first since it uses this time a love theme instead of a choral masterpiece of immense proportions. And that is what you need to interpret very carefully, AOTC is more a dark love story than a kindergarten ride as some have stated the first to be. And with an emotional love story there belongs an emotional love theme, which Williams majestically incorporates in his score.

As with any Star Wars score we can only accept one opening theme and that is the over famous march. While I start to find it enough and perhaps should love a different version of it, it still is what symbolizes Star Wars in general. It then opens the score in 'Star Wars Main Title / Ambush on Coruscant' with emphasis on percussion while the second part introduces a rather fanfare like version of Seven Years in Tibet or it at least feels that way. The main theme of this story is 'Across the Stars', a broad sweeping love theme that kinda states Hook ('You are the Pan') on occasions and is typically a Williams theme, keeps appearing with momentum whenever you want it to. This theme also appears a lot in the score, either short or sweeping on the surface of your theater complex. One of the things I was looking forward at were the action tracks but now I'm not so sure why I did that in the first place. At first, I was disappointed because these are simply not big Williams' themes but simply a rhythmic display of percussion and brass. Yet, they for one reason grow on you and even if they aren't that big, they make you aware of the pace of the story. 'Zam the Assassin / The Chase through Coruscant' is already a giant piece with dark threatening tones a la The Lost World in the begin, percussion a la Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon in the middle and a criticized use of electric guitar which still feels out of place, but I keep accepting it the more I hear it in context. These first three tracks show what Attack of the Clones is made off.

One of the small reoccurring themes is Yoda's one, 'Yoda and the Younglins' states it briefly along with the love theme and a choral use of female singers. 'Departing Coruscant' is noticed for its interesting version of the force and love theme and 'The Meadow Picnic' for the playful music it inherits surrounding the love theme. Between it and after it you have the aggressive actions tracks 'Jango's Escape' and 'Bounty Hunter's Pursuit', I still keep liking the second one because the first is the same rhythmic action track and the second contains the fanfare for the robots used already in The Phantom Menace. Also interesting to know is that the choral theme that was used so extensively in The Phantom Menace is used only one time on the score, most notably for 30 seconds or so during 'Return to Tatooine', just after the force theme. The 'Duel of the Fates' theme is indeed here noticed for its one and only approach but was used much more during the picture, remembering the orchestral versions during the first part of the conveyor belt action scenes. 'Love Pledge / The Arena' is the best action track with versions of the love theme through it. It first of all contains lesser rhythm and occasionally a fanfare for the threatening danger that confronts the Jedi's. The Love theme I feel isn't that well chosen on occasions but it nonetheless sets the track on fire, emotional fire that is, used before some very good statements of the force theme at the end.

While many would believe that 'Confrontation with Count Dooku / Finale' is the last track of the score, it isn't but we'll come back at that later. Here in this track the most pronounced statement of the Imperial March is heard (because already stated briefly during for instance track 11). While this feels out of place for some, I always thought this would accompany the transformation of Anakin to the dark side but it actually represents the beginning of the war between the Empire and the Rebellion army. The track states then the usual fanfare and love theme of the movie, giving you what might be a good closing track. Still, the additional bonus track 'On the Conveyor Belt' is 3 minutes which uses some more orchestral color if you compare it with the rhythmic action approach in the begin. Still, I rather wished the use of the 'Duel of the Fates' which was used extensively during this sequence of the movie. If you haven't noticed it by know, Attack of the Clones is equally different from the first 3 written scores as The Phantom Menace was at the time it received its release. The first time I wasn't thrilled and the second even more disappointed because I couldn't grow with the music. Yet, the 3rd time seemed to do the trick and proves that it still is a good listen with several highlights and an overall good listening interest. Harry Potter might have bored me during 20 minutes but overall this score seemed to keep me focussed on the whole listening experience. Again, Attack of the Clones is nothing of the Star Wars magic of the first three but I must confess that the different approach seems to pay off in time. Don't expect too much, be patient and after time it starts to show the remarkable talent of John Williams in Jedi force fashion.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Star Wars Main Title / Ambush On Coruscant (3.46) Excellent Track

2. Across The Stars (Love Theme From Attack Of The Clones) (5.33) Excellent Track

3. Zam The Assassin / The Chase Through Coruscant (11.07)

4. Yoda And The Younglins (3.55)

5. Departing Coruscant (1.44)

6. Anakin And Padmé (3.56)

7. Jango's Escape (3.48)

8. The Meadow Picnic (4.14)

9. Bounty Hunter's Pursuit (3.23)

10. Return To Tatooine (6.56) Excellent Track

11. The Tusken Camp / The Homestead (5.54)

12. Love Pledge / The Arena (8.29)

13. Confrontation With Count Dooku / Finale (10.43) Excellent Track

Bonus Track

14. On The Conveyor Belt (3.07)

Total Length: 76.55

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=== Link to Composer Site: John Williams ===