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Chain Reaction: (Jerry Goldsmith) In an attempt to
continue the success of the films inspired by the Academy Award-nominated
The Fugitive in 1993, Fox's
Chain Reaction offers another
variation on the good-guy running from a good-natured cop routine. This
time, the two primary fugitives are scientists on a university experiment
that successfully yields clean and abundant energy by extracting hydrogen
from water. When assassins kill the other scientists and set off an
absolutely enormous explosion to destroy their laboratory, the two heroes
are set up and accused of murder. Their boss escaped the blast, but as
Morgan Freeman can be in a number of circumstances, you can't be sure if
he's on their side or not. The film takes an interesting concept and group
of characters and allows it all to degenerate into a standard chase story.
The actors really aren't believable in their roles, the chases have been
largely done before, and aside from the spectacular shockwave scene early in
the film, there is little refreshing in
Chain Reaction. It's not
surprising that director Andrew Davis was also involved with
The
Fugitive (and
Under Siege, among others), although his choice of
composer was not typical for him. Collaborating with James Newton Howard for
the scores to his films more often than others, Davis has shuffled between
several other composers for a one-time pairing. The only collaboration
between Davis and Jerry Goldsmith would be for
Chain Reaction, a
project that would suit Goldsmith well at that time in his career. Coming
off of a period in the early 1990's when the composer seemed content scoring
films along Joe Dante lines (ridiculous comedies and tender character
films), Goldsmith made a sudden return to modern action scoring with
Executive Decision and
Chain Reaction in consecutive fashion.
Unfortunately for the composer, he was unable to capture the agressively
dynamic element in his action material until later in 1996, when both
The
Ghost and the Darkness and
Star Trek: First Contact proved to be
superior ventures in the same general sound. Then again, the quality of the
music in all of the aforementioned films seems to have paralleled the
quality of the films themselves.
No success on its own part,
Chain Reaction suffered
from mediocrity across the board. Once again, Goldsmith's score is one
reason to watch the film in a midnight television showing, with the composer
producing music that is not radically new, but one step ahead of the other
production aspects. Much more so than in
Executive Decision, he
formulates a theme for the primary characters and adapts it well throughout
the film. The action motifs are very similar, though, in their staggered
rhythmic forms and instrumentation. The normally tingling and slashing
electronics are diminished in use, however, and replaced with a chime-like
keyboarding effect and occasional electric guitar. The guitar chips in with
performances that represent the always-cool Keanu Reeves, a move that wasn't
unexpected in the mid-1990s, and Goldsmith pulls it off with the restraint
necessary to make it a decent addition to the ensemble. The sensitivity of
Goldsmith's themes for
Chain Reaction are foreshadowed in the opening
cue and "Open Minds," and they explode with a full, romantic performance in
the finale, "Our of the Hole." The opening cue offers Goldsmith the
opportunity to provide the full suite of themes for the film at the start
instead of the usual end-credit placement. After setting the stage well with
this opening piece, Goldsmith resorts to standard action ideas for most of
the remainder of the film. The detraction from
Chain Reaction are the
areas in which Goldsmith takes identical material and expands upon it in
Executive Decision, including the direct crossover of the trumpets
and horns that alternate identically in both films (and most notably in the
meaty "Ice Chase" cue here). The second cue has the only truly unique
performances of action ideas in this score, with rambling timpani bursting
onto the scene as the experiment is invaded and destroyed. A slamming
"hammer on metal" sound effect accompanies the electric guitar performance
that follows the assassination with great effect, and this, along with a few
other sounds, make strong pace-setters for the action sequences. So while
the brass and strings may be performing the same old usual Goldsmith action,
there are a few redeeming elements to keep the music somewhat fresh. The
finale cue saves the score from its dangerous slide towards mediocrity in
its latter half. Overall,
Chain Reaction works better than
Executive Decision on album partly because of its own design and
partly because nearly all major cues in
Chain Reaction made the
equally short album (only one major piece is missing). Still, only Goldsmith
collectors will likely find merit in repeat listens of this score compared
to the composer's rich library of material.
***
| Bias Check: | For Jerry Goldsmith reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.22 (in 111 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.36
(in 120,039 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes notes by both the producer and director about the score or film.
