Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... only if you acknowledged and enjoyed John Murphy's original ideas in the film itself. Avoid it... if you're simply interested in the adaptation of Jerry Goldsmith's material (the original will suffice). Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Basic Instinct 2: (John Murphy) Only two things exist in common between Paul Verhoeven's entertainingly vulgar 1992 hit film and this lifeless 2006 sequel: Sharon Stone's remarkably youthful physique and Jerry Goldsmith's remarkably seductive themes. Fortunately for Goldsmith, the legendary composer isn't alive to witness the awful wretchedness of the sequel film. The process of bringing Basic Instinct 2 into production saw endless delays and cast changes, and the result is a script that has none of the juicy interest of the original and a lead male star that maintains the same mundane facial expression from start to finish. Both critics and viewers have been disappointed by the lack of shameless gore and sexual content that made the original so enticing, with director Michael Caton-Jones unsuccessfully attempting to turn the franchise into a more sophisticated animal. In so doing, his film suffers from significant pacing problems, a death blow contributed to by John Murphy's score. In the credits of his young career, Murphy has scored several B-films under the radar, transforming himself from a songwriter and performer in British bands to a standard Hollywood composer. While his eclectic electronic talents show in the bonus (presumably source) music for Basic Instinct 2, he plays his role very conservatively. It could be argued that his task was a largely impossible one for this film, for Jerry Goldsmith's score for the original remains a triumph in the definition of "orchestral orgasms," for which he was nominated for an Academy Award. The fact that Goldsmith's score remains so memorable a dozen years after its debut is testimony to its clear identity, and it's no surprise that its appearance and adaptation in the sequel would be mandated. The task must have been delightful for Murphy, for it's not often that you can work such a remarkable piece of existing music into your own material and head new directions with it. Perhaps just another part of the film's overarching failure, however, Murphy's score does little to execute an intelligent design on Goldsmith's inspiration, leaving a finished result that does no more than cause the listener to beg for more of Goldsmith's material, or to send them to the recently expanded CD release of the 1992 score. One of the most consistent criticisms of the film is its ability to put people to sleep, and Murphy's original music falls along similar boring lines. Instead of integrating Goldsmith's themes and instrumentation into his score, he develops a completely unrelated collection of themes and orchestration, and throws in several cues from Goldsmith's original in token fashion. A complete lack of engagement in Murphy's own cues causes listeners to breathe a sigh of relief when Goldsmith's familiar cues inevitably break the monotony. The major oddity here is Murphy's attempt to largely keep his own material separate from Goldsmith's, refusing to draw on the veteran's strength to help elevate his own ideas. Murphy's title theme is a very constraining and somewhat simplistic progression of exotic origins, with chord progressions that could make a casual listener think the film was set in Cairo rather than London. For many of the performances of his title theme, Murphy uses what sounds like a duduk as the primary identity of his contribution, and while it may make sense to extend Goldsmith's idea (an ironic one, given the sensitivity of the instruments) of using woodwinds and lofty strings as the musical source of lurid anticipation, the use of an Armenian instrument (or a manipulation thereof) just doesn't make sense. He also attempts to modernize the score a bit, using drum loops and an excess of faux-sophisticated tingling percussive effects (just a typewrite short of John Ottman's Point of Origin) in a few cues, highlighted by the "120 MPH Sex" title piece, the definitely-Middle Eastern "Soho," and "Racing to Miena's," which is too little life too late. Murphy's own bonus material at the end is decent --as is much of his score-- but the dance cue (among others) furthers the identity crisis in the overall musical picture for Basic Instinct 2 (the annoying "Orgy" piece vocals are performed the film's director). The performances of Goldsmith's material are loyal, for the most part (you might as well listen to the original), though the famous orgasm cue in "Jacuzzi" is cut disappointingly short and the arrangement of the "End Credits" not only fails to use any original Murphy material, but is also tepid in the performances of Goldsmith's themes. Only in "I Smell Blood" does Murphy take an intriguing string-quartet approach to an arrangement of Goldsmith's theme. Overall, there's just no point to any of this, though veteran CD-designer Mark Banning should be commended for sneaking some nudity onto the packaging; at least someone related to project was going out of his way to be creative. ** Track Listings:
Total Time: 61:37
* contains themes from Basic Instinct composed by Jerry Goldsmith All artwork and sound clips from Basic Instinct 2 are Copyright © 2006, La-La Land Records. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 4/15/06, updated 4/16/06. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2006-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
