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Composed, Programmed, Arranged, and Co-Produced by:
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John Powell
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Conducted by:
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Pete Anthony
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Release Date:
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June 11th, 2002
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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The Bourne Identity: (John Powell) When Robert Ludlum was sitting and
writing his internationally famed three thriller novels involving the talented
spy Jason Bourne, it is doubtful that he had this music by John Powell in mind.
The first of the trilogy of stories, The Bourne Identity was a bestseller
in its initial release in 1980 and the 2002 interpretation of the story by
director Doug Liman on the big screen follows the same nervous, frenetic, and
action-packed feeling of determination. While blockbuster spy thriller remakes
have dwindled in numbers from Hollywood, the scores that accompany them have
often been an interesting, if not entirely enjoyable combination of sounds from
both the era that the story was conceived as well as the modern era in which the
film is created. In the case of The Bourne Identity, there had been a
Richard Chamberlain television miniseries a number of years ago. But the recent
film version of the story is a 21st Century techno-thriller with all the modern
gadgets and super-fighting that films have been anxiously developing for modern
audiences. For that realm, talented composer John Powell was hired to score the
new The Bourne Identity. His recent fame has come via animated comedies
and silly spoofs (ranging from Shrek and Chicken Run to
Evolution and Rat Race). Powell's ability to merge the sounds of
the traditional orchestra with his wide range of expertise with synthesizers has
made him one of the more versitile composers of today.
Both elements are employed for The Bourne Identity, but with the
orchestra playing a minor, if not completely subdued role. The resulting
domination of synthetic rhythms and sound effect samples causes the score to
become overwhelmed with the action and nerves of the story. Unfortunately, that
result is only marginally effective in the film and makes for a tedious listen
on album. Another interesting result of the score for The Bourne Identity
has been its widespread popularity. The positive reviews that the score has been
receiving by national publications, as well as the great popular success that
the album has been experiencing in sales, obviously point to some sort of
success on the part of Powell. Why this score is so popular is a complete
mystery, though. It misses the mark by making Jason Bourne into an action hero
kind of stuntman and becomes hung up on the technological thrills that the story
offers. Most importantly, it suffices in capturing and furthering the grit and
nerve of the Bourne stories, but it neglects the style that Ludlum had
worked into his stories. This score, in short, does not belong to a Ludlum
story. It has no intrigue, no subtle character development, and certainly no
passion... all of which were sadly missed on both the screen and on the album.
Action spy thrillers can often present a tasteful and exciting combination of
rhythms, percussion, orchestra, and even chorus, as was heard with Graeme
Revell's still popular The Saint score from five or so years ago. By
contrast, Powell's The Bourne Identity music, whenever it begins to
develop itself into a substantial musical cue, reverts to distractingly harsh
electronic pounding and hair-raising sound effects. The mixing of the score's
key elements is also suspect within the film, with key parts of the score
missing, and often the irritating electronics over-emphasized. It is the first
score in a while --perhaps since Mission to Mars-- that actually
detracted from its film in the theatres.
The mixing issue involves the lack of priority given to the string orchestra and
several vocalists who could have added the style that the score for The
Bourne Identity is missing. As you could expect by now, the score is devoid
of any thematic development, which is probably a good move considering the
primary character's lack of identity. But the key moments of intrigue between
Bourne and Marie, his partner, are scored with comatose passion. The electronic
rhythms are the key selling point for this score, and Powell even takes those to
the bizarre world of his synthesized effects. Rhythms and keyboards can be very
tastefully done for spy thrillers, but as The Bourne Identity progresses,
Powell's composition becomes more metallically distorted. There are passages
that sound as though he's recorded the banging of metal garbage cans and the
scraping of metal rulers on a blackboard and integrated them as rhythmic
highlights in his music. While this may be interesting, at the very least, for
the first half hour of the score on album, it becomes increasingly intolerable
as the score continues. By the last three tracks on the lengthy album for The
Bourne Identity, the electronic slashing and grating noises are too
intolerable to listen to, and even make Powell's nearly as insufferable
Face/Off seem palatable. Cues that hint at a sense of rhythmic style,
such as the twelfth and fifteenth tracks on the album, lead into more of the
same electronic grinding. The simplistic string progression that repeats
endlessly in the background of many cues isn't enough of a motif to hold this
score together as a cohesive effort. In short, Powell's The Bourne
Identity emphasizes all action, grit, and nerves, and forgets what made the
Ludlum stories so appealing: the passion and the style. *
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Main Titles (4:17)
• 2. Bourne Gets Well (1:20)
• 3. Treadstone Assassins (2:09)
• 4. At the Bank (4:07)
• 5. Bourne on Land (1:42)
• 6. Escape from Embassy (3:12)
• 7. The Drive to Paris (1:29)
• 8. The Apartment (3:25)
• 9. At the Hairdressers (1:29)
• 10. Hotel Regina (2:11)
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• 11. The Investigation (1:34)
• 12. Taxi Ride (3:43)
• 13. At the Farmhouse (2:54)
• 14. Jason Phones It In (3:04)
• 15. On Bridge Number 9 (3:41)
• 16. Jasonšs Theme (2:20)
• 17. Mood Build (3:34)
• 18. The Bourne Identity (6:00)
• 19. Drum and Bass remix (2:15)
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Insert includes no extra information
about the film, but does contain a list of the partial Hollywood Studio Symphony
employed for the project.
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