Star Wars: Rogue One Vs Solo - Which Is Better?

As great a film as Rogue One is, one of its shortcomings is the film's score, which was composed by Michael Giacchino. In fairness to Giacchino, he is an incredibly talented composer (with several Grammys to his name) who simply had a lot working against him. Alexandre Desplat was the Rogue One's original composer, but had to drop out as a result of the film's reshoots. So, Giacchino had very little time to put his score together. And while the final product was serviceable, much of it was a rehash of John Williams' work from previous Star Wars films and the original pieces didn't really stand out.

On the other hand, Solo's score absolutely soars. The film's composer, John Powell, had a lot more time to put his Star Wars anthology score together and it shows. His original pieces are energetic and fast-paced, which perfectly match the film's tone, in addition to being incredibly memorable. Powell did carry over several fan-favorite motifs from John Williams' scores (including a very nice, subtle nod to Duel of the Fates during the Darth Maul reveal), but at no point did they take priority over the original pieces.

Winner: As far as music goes, Solo blows Rogue One out of the water. Thanks to some production issues, Rogue One's music feels like an homage to the original films first and an original score second. Meanwhile, Solo is the exact opposite, prioritizing the fantastic new songs while classic motifs take a backseat.