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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if the time is right to finally hear a completely fresh, if not overbearingly brutal orchestral action score that is as harmonically fascinating as it is rhythmically brutal. Avoid it... if you prefer the more easily enjoyable fluff being written for fairy tales by the average American composers of the modern age. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The primary reason the Europeans sound so interesting in their recent ventures into American action cinema is because of their intellectual use of each section of the orchestra, as well as their staggered rhythmic and key structures. Even the thematic ideas sound refreshing more often than not, though if The Brothers Grimm has a weakness, it is Marianelli's borrowing of several thematic inspirations in both the classical and film score worlds. There are pieces of Goldenthal, Ottman, and Goldsmith to be heard in his themes here, and Brahms' "Lullaby" is adapted with a sense of heightened darkness worth a listen. The density of Marianelli's writing isn't as staggering as the sound generated from the score would suggest, but he instead presents such a diverse field of instruments in alternating passages that the overall wash of sound almost seems too dense. Some of this kind of "wall of sound" approach was utilized by Howard Shore in the Lord of the Rings scores, though Marianelli's work here is far more brutal than Shore's. Without a doubt, The Brothers Grimm pounds you relentlessly with marching sequence after marching sequence, fresh rhythm after fresh rhythm, and by the end, the overarching consistent element in the score is its own domineering attitude. The percussion section is largely responsible for this "headache waiting to happen," but the oddity in The Brothers Grimm is that score is so fascinating in its instrumental usage that you keep listening to it despite its assault on your senses. Several satisfyingly harmonic passages are sprinkled throughout the score's beginning and end, sometimes accompanied by either a solo voice or a full choral ensemble. The two finale cues are worth the price of the album alone; not only does Marianelli embrace the prototypical Hollywood fluff ending, but he takes it to the same grandiose level as the rest of the score, providing a resolution of the magnitude that even Don Davis' Matrix Revolutions can't touch. Thus, there's something on the album for listeners who want their share of simple melodies and gorgeous choral statements. Likewise, students of complex orchestral writing will have a field day with the massive middle sections of the score. Only its own relentless weight and emotionally tiring length holds the album from the highest rating.
Music as Heard on Album: **** Overall: *****
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