I have just read in another very thread that MG is a hack! Really?
I think so, yes. I know that most others disagree, and I don't really care. ROGUE ONE, which you mentioned, I absolutely detest. One of the very few musical scores in history that has actually made me physically angry (rather than just indifferent or annoyed)
I don't consider Michael Giacchino to be is the class of, say, John Williams, Jerry Goldsmith or John Barry, but he is competent and sometimes very good. He did a good job aping John Williams on the Jurassic World films, but Rouge One just never did it for me.
Of his original scores, the Star Trek films are his best and many of his Pixar scores are exemplary. I also really love his scores to Tomorrowland and John Carter. Even though he is extremely busy these days, there's just some intangible something that keeps him from reaching that top echelon of outstanding composers. In my humble opinion at least.
JOHN CARTER. For me the best soundtrack of that year. It just sounds like it was written in the peak of the fantasy scores of the eighties, when we got such great ones like THE DARK CRYSTAL..THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK...EXCALIBUR..CONAN...KRULL..etc.It easily competes with the ones mentioned
Jupiter Ascending is my favourite by him. The sheer amount of music in the picture is admirable and the quality of that music is nothing short of wonderful.
Add me into the group who doesn't understand all the flak thrown at Giacchino. Personally, I feel he's one of the few present-day composers who evokes the spirit of Goldsmith, Williams, etc. from the 1980s and through the mid-to-late 1990s. I also find quite a bit of his themes memorable (particular "The Imperial Suite" from Rogue One and his "Enterprise Theme" and "Ode to Vengeance" from the new Star Trek movies).
As for favorite score, I'd have to say the Varese deluxe edition of Star Trek: Into Darkness is my favorite. That's a nearly two hour score that I've listened to again and again without really tiring of it.
Rogue One would likely rival it...if Disney had released a complete or expanded edition of it so that I could listen to it in its entirety.
I still love Ratatouille and Incredibles. Roar is also a lot of fun.
I listened to his Batman mock up (tho upon further listen, I think he might have had this recorded by a real group- the brass attacks sound more acoustic), and while that i-flat VI is a very common progression, I could hear some other stuff moving around it colouring some of the harmonics. I have supreme respect for the director Matt Reeves and know from a film standpoint, The Batman will be amazing. As long as the score reflects the tone set out, I think it will be good. I'm cautiously optimistic.
I did like Gia's score within WFTPOTA but couldn't really get into it on its own. But that's not what he was called to do so he did his job well from that standpoint (and it's also my own personal preference- nothing will top Jerry's POTA- ever).