Soundtrack Review: Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002)

Posted by Jon Blough

September 20, 2009

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This is a review of the motion picture score Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones by John Williams.

“Its exceptional love theme, robust action, and fine presentation easily make the best commercial album of the prequel trilogy.”

I am stunned that Natalie Portman is so wooden in the prequel trilogy. Anyone who’s seen Closer knows she’s an award-caliber talent. Maybe it was Lucas’s uninspired direction for the more human side of the films, or perhaps Hayden Christiansen’s inability to sincerely emote made her mail it in like bad NBA teams do at the end of seasons to try and get the #1 draft pick. Regardless, she and Hayden make for one of the most disappointingly wooden screen romances of all time, a point most film critics lambasted the film for. Thankfully, John Williams is immune to such idiocy, and the otherwise disappointing film helped him fashion one of the finest romantic scores of his career.

Across The Stars

Obviously with a lead-in like that I have to start my review by raving about “Across the Stars”. It is undeniably epic, along the sweeping lines of the love theme for Han and Leia, and gives off a timeless, undying air. I personally think it’s a bit stronger than the Han and Leia theme due to its more flowing structure and how much weight Williams puts behind it, especially in the concert arrangement. Every performance of the theme, whether flighty in “The Meadow Picnic” or more rapid in “The Arena”, proves enrapturing. I could hear this theme over and over and never tire of it, and for the longest time it proved difficult for me to accomplish much when the album’s second cue played. When I saw the composer in concert over Thanksgiving break (a superb opportunity to hear a second symphony play the composer’s music that proved why the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is arguably the best city symphony in the country thanks to its brilliant collection of brass players) I was bummed that I didn’t get to hear it played.

Avoiding Romance

And yet the score succeeds just as well by avoiding romance. Sure, there’s the wonderfully charming “Yoda and the Younglings” with Yoda’s theme and a gorgeous choral interlude as well as the exuberant close to “Departing Coruscant”, but the remaining focus is clearly on the rising unease in this far and away galaxy. Rather than featuring an uplifting fanfare after the main titles as The Phantom Menace (TPM) did, here we get a more uncertain air of suspense, fed by the dark majesty of a secondary “mystery” theme and equally mysterious woodwind work. This gets mirrored in the second half of “Bounty Hunter’s Hot Pursuit” and parts of “Return to Tatooine” and would probably have been more prominent if other parts of the film hadn’t been temped to death (more on that later). Eventually the darkness starts to creep into Anakin’s material; “Anakin and Padme” explores more somber string work in its second half, while “The Tusken Camp/The Homestead” takes the saga to some of its most ominous suspense territory.

Furthering that darker slide are the driving action cues, more powerful and lengthier than any orchestral elements in TPM. “The Chase Through Coruscant” is almost 11 minutes of relentless brass and clacking, exotic percussion that maintains a consistent intensity probably not felt from Williams since “Visitor in San Diego”. Even the electronic guitar wails prove shockingly tolerable. “Jango’s Escape” takes the brass to more relentlessly hammering levels, while “The Arena” features a 5+ minute workout on the droid theme with richer brass and a wide array of new percussion thwacks. I’m amazed that even though Williams work is still so thoroughly coherent and engaging even though it is more frenetic and dense (and a bit lesser) than his original trilogy opuses like “The Battle of Hoth”. Only “On The Conveyor Belt” seems slightly pedestrian since its construction is similar to the Coruscant music.

Conclusion

On those elements AOTC could be better than TPM, but its thematic diversity holds it back a bit. Outside of the primary love theme and the secondary mystery theme, no significant themes emerge, with Jango’s theme supposedly lost in Lucas’ editing. The thematic holdovers from the original trilogy are far less numerous and impressive here than in TPM, with only the stagnated use of The Imperial March in “The Tusken Camp” sounding new. Outside of the end credits Anakin’s theme is thoroughly shortchanged. Perhaps these are amended in the complete compositions. Yet Williams composed nothing for the final battle, and anyone looking to correct the above issues through DVD-rips will find a mess of temp-tracking more aggravating than the mutilation of the Battle of Naboo, not to mention loud sound effects and voices that would remain absent in the partial-rip bootlegs for Revenge of the Sith. Still ATOC’s exceptional love theme, robust action, and fine presentation (real narrative momentum, no major highlights missing) make for another great score for the composer, and its album is easily the best commercial album of the prequel trilogy.

Album (76:36)
1. Star Wars Main Title and Ambush on Coruscant (3:46)
2. Love Theme from Attack of the Clones (Across the Stars) (5:33)
3. Zam the Assassin and the Chase Through Coruscant (11:07)
4. Yoda and the Younglings (3:55)
5. Departing Coruscant (1:44)
6. Anakin and Padme (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)
11. The Tusken Camp and the Homestead (5:54)
12. Love Pledge and the Arena (8:29)
13. Confrontation with Count Dooku and Finale (10:44)
14. On the Conveyor Belt (3:02) – Only on Limited Edition Albums