20. After Earth
(James Newton Howard)
Howard can usually be counted on to write superb scores for
the films of M. Night Shyamalan, but for the first time, we have to settle with
a merely OK one. The middle of the score is undoubtedly the weakest, filled
with mostly uninteresting atmospheres. But the beginning and especially the
last three cues (“Ghosting,” “I Wanna Work With Mom,” and “After Earth”) hint
at the kind of music that made me fall in love with JNH’s scores 14 years ago.
No one can do mystic grandeur quite like Howard can, but there are only traces
of that beauty in this score.
19. Rush (Hans
Zimmer)
After writing an underwhelming score for Man of Steel,
Zimmer partially redeemed himself with his score for Ron Howard’s Rush. The
score harks back to his “glory decade” of 1988-1998, with effective, memorable
themes, propulsive action music, and moments of haunting simplicity. It starts
out with entertaining, rock-based cues before moving on to the more serious
action and intense emotion of cues such as “Nürburgring,” “Lost But Won,” and
“My Best Enemy.” Though it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Zimmer’s best,
it’s still his best score since Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.
18. Monsters
University (Randy Newman)
Newman’s score for Pixar’s first prequel is almost
completely different from his score for Monsters, Inc. Eschewing the jazz angle
he employed for the first film, Newman writes a noble tune for the university,
new themes for Mike and Sulley, and marching band music, complete with drum
corps. I happen to love the sound of marching band drums, and the upbeat cue
“Rise and Shine” uses them to brilliant, rip-roaring effect (despite the end of
the melody resembling John Williams’s theme for 1941). The score lacks the
emotion of the original (namely Boo’s theme) and the action music is a little
haphazard, but it definitely has its highlights.
17. Frozen
(Christophe Beck, songs by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)
This was my first time hearing a feature score from
Christophe Beck (I had only heard Paperman previously), and his score for this
remarkable Disney film is solid, yet I can’t say there are any particular
highlights. What brings it up are the songs—especially “For the First Time in
Forever” and “Let It Go” (the Idina Menzel version), with “Love is An Open
Door” and the melody for “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” not far behind.
Though not on par with the best of Alan Menken, they are still surprisingly
potent. My favorite track, though, is “Vuelie,” a choral track using the melody
by Forde Fjellheim; its use under the film’s opening logos and title seems to
herald a magical event.
16. Jack the Giant
Slayer (John Ottman)
Ottman has never been one of my favorite composers, but this
score proves he’s come a long way from the bland noodlings of X2. Ottman writes
a commendably adventurous theme, though it still suffers a bit from his
characteristic nebulosity. His action music is fine and frenzied, though
somewhat diminished by references to other composers’ music. “Logo Mania,”
underscoring what I presume is the logos, is my favorite cue of the score (much
like the logo music for Frozen, Charlotte’s Web, A Beautiful Mind, and Kick-Ass
2).
15. Turbo (Henry
Jackman)
Creating a score that merges full-bodied orchestral optimism
with techno and dubstep beats may seem like a disaster from the pen of any film
composer not named Elliot Goldenthal. Yet the versatile Henry Jackman manages
to create a highly entertaining score that doesn’t skimp on either the
orchestra or the electronics. The sheer delight and enthusiasm of the
orchestral themes in cues like “And It Looks Like the Winner Is” combine with
the high-octane beats of tracks such as “Indy 500” and “Supersnail.” “Turbo,”
the final track, features a confluence of the two qualities in a score that is
brought down only by its slight themes. It’s no Wreck-It Ralph, but it’s still
impressive. Turbo-tastic!
14. The Croods (Alan
Silvestri)
Alan Silvestri has three great themes in this colorful
score: the Croods family theme, the cave painting theme, and a theme based on
the film’s song “Shine Your Way” (though the attribution of these themes in the
film itself is somewhat arbitrary). The song features a bridge that matches the
structure and shape of the cave painting theme; both are laden with the
poignancy that Silvestri habitually delivers in scores such as Forrest Gump,
Contact, Stuart Little, and The Abyss. The family theme is more malleable,
often molded into a more lighthearted guise and featuring an opening horn
statement drawn right out of Back to the Future III. The major weakness of the
score is that, until the third act, Silvestri barely uses any of these themes,
opting for the cartoony, stop-and-go type of music that Randy Newman, the old
scoundrel, is so inveterately fond of.
13. Star Trek Into
Darkness (Michael Giacchino)
Giacchino’s score reflects the wall-to-wall action in the
film and, to be truthful, the composer has written better action music. But he
has set such a high standard for himself that one can forgive him for writing
something less than sublime. His anthemic main theme is fully established now,
and he pushes Spock’s yearning theme into darker corners. The Klingons are
treated to vigorous choral blasts in “The Kronos Wartet” while John Harrison (one
need only read the back of the Blu-ray or DVD to find out his true identity) gets
a slithering, percolating winner of a theme. Unfortunately, the complete “Ode to Harrison”
track is not available on the CD. Instead, we get a hideous track called “The
Growl” (thankfully not composed by Giacchino) that is a disgrace to electronic
music. “Warp Core Values” and “Buying the Space Farm” provide ample doses of
pathos, and the frantic “San Fran Hustle” includes the rather infamous fight
music from the original TV series composed by Gerald Fried. There are no
chances in the film for wonder and awe, which is a shame as I know Giacchino
could write grand cues for such moments. But as it is, he delivers a great
action score.
12. Now You See Me
(Brian Tyler)
Let’s get this score’s weakness out of the way: it’s
incredibly repetitive. Yet the prolific Tyler composes an invigorating, stylish
main theme that’s more magical than the rather flat movie it accompanies.
Churning low strings, a catchy ostinato in higher strings, economic use of
electric guitar, a mystically yearning melody, and top-notch drum-kit work
performed by Tyler himself combine to create an irresistible theme. Some of the
action tracks, like “Battle of the Cards” and “Bridge Pursuit,” do feature more
varied work, highlighting more of the composer’s impressive percussion writing
and performance. If you don’t like the main theme, you won’t like the score. But
I did. (Sorry, no pithy comment).
11. Epic (Danny
Elfman)
The opening track, “Leafmen,” recalls some of Elfman’s more
sprightly work on Charlotte’s Web and Black Beauty. An acoustic guitar backs a
patented Elfman jig before introducing the main theme. The strengths of this
score are the beautiful, ethereal moments found in cues like “Tara’s Chamber,”
“Tara’s Gift,” and “False Start” as well as the thrilling action of “Pursuit,”
“Escape,” and “Epic Final Confrontation.” Elfman uses choir better than
probably any other Hollywood film composer alive, and choral passages are
liberally strewn throughout the score. There’s nothing as striking as Alice in
Wonderland or Edward Scissorhands, but there’s still much to feast on. As
expected, Elfman puts his theme through the wringer, playing it in various
settings to reflect different moods and developments in the story (I assume; I
haven’t seen the film and don’t plan to). My appreciation for Elfman continues
to grow after every score of his I hear; even if a score isn’t a divine
masterpiece, it always has moments of quality.
No comments:
Post a Comment