OPINION: Why Was 'The Force Awakens' Score so Underwhelming?

"I don't ever want to be, like, Mini-Me John Williams. I don't think there's any composer—film composer or composer on earth—who's as good as him. I'm always looking at what he does and listening to what he does”- Kevin Kiner (composer on The Clone Wars, Rebels)

Following the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, it was announced that John Williams would indeed, not be scoring Gareth Edwards ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’. Instead, French composer Alexandre Desplat (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, The Danish Girl) is set to take the reins on the 2016 film. This marks it as being the first live-action film in the saga to not feature Williams as composer, an omission that is bound to be felt for better or worse. Williams’ swirling and nostalgic compositions have become their very own characters, as he gave our beloved protagonists and villains a voice before they even spoke.

After a short break for what was confirmed to be ‘minor health concerns’, Williams returned to composing (outside of Spielberg) for the seventh instalment in the saga, ‘The Force Awakens’, helmed by Star Trek director J.J Abrams.

Sitting in the cinema during the midnight premiere of ‘The Force Awakens’, I remember instantly having felt connected to ‘Rey’s Theme’. It was distinguishable, and felt like the first time that the score really poked it’s head out to say hello. It’s one of the only two tracks from the entire 23 piece record that maintained a recognisable quality; the John Williams ‘theme’.

I’m all for “the best score is the one you don’t notice”, under the right circumstances. However, I don’t believe that Star Wars are those circumstances. Say what you may about the prequel trilogy, we were delivered some of Williams’ finest work over The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith. Perhaps the politics, or the melodramatic romance lent themselves to ‘fuller’ orchestrations. There was a much vaster emotional landscape to play with over the course of those three films than there were in what is essentially the ‘rebooting’ of a franchise.

The Force Awakens essentially had two jobs; trigger a sense of nostalgia whilst cementing the future of the franchise through a breed of new characters. We were given the usual Williams’ fanfare, with some fragments of original-trilogy themes sprinkled throughout. Criticise George Lucas all you like, the one thing the man didn’t do was repeat himself. The stories changed, and developed, as did the designs, and as did the music. To avoid speculation, I won’t guess too heavily on why many felt The Force Awakens’ score was underwhelming. However, I’d say that it’d be a near certainty that Williams would have greater restriction working under the 4 billion dollar investment project, than under Lucas. It’s just the way it is.

As Episode VIII enters production in Croatia, it’s yet to be confirmed whether or not Williams will be returning. It’s worth noting though, that despite his omission of Spielberg’s ‘Bridge of Spies’ (First Spielberg film in 30 years that Williams’ didn’t score), he will be returning for The BFG. Hopefully this is a sign that the health-concerns that Warner Bros. seemingly confirmed, are all but resolved.

If Williams does return for Episode VIII, I’ll be interested to see the directions in which he can push the music, especially in conjunction with what Rian Johnson is going to bring to the table. With the unparalleled success of ‘The Force Awakens’ both critically and commercially, I think it’s safe to say that Disney is feeling confident in their movements.

I’m hoping that this will lead to Williams’ being able to have a little more room to breathe. As a score, ‘The Force Awakens’ was perfect. It served it’s characters and story without getting in the way. As a John Williams score, it was pretty disappointing. You want Williams to get in the way, and have his own character as present as the ones we’re seeing on screen. However, considering the state in which our characters were left in the end of Episode VII, I think it’s safe to say that both Johnson and Williams will have some considerably more interesting putty to play with.

Check out our Top 5 Underappreciated John Williams Tracks here.

Check out our 'Episode VII: What George Would Have Done here.

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