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Hellboy II: The Golden Army
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Orchestrated by:
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Steve Bartek
Edgardo Simone
David Slonaker
Jeff Atmajian
Mark McKenzie
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Conducted by:
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Rick Wentworth
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Additional Music by:
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Halli Cauthry
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Release Date:
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July 15th, 2008
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Availability:
Regular U.S. release.
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you seek a return by Danny Elfman to his days of
gothic melodrama, even if the consistency of thematic resonance isn't
quite the same.
Avoid it... if you demand firm connections to Marco Beltrami's
entertaining score for Hellboy.
Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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| | Elfman | |
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Hellboy II: The Golden Army: (Danny Elfman)
Director Guillermo del Toro returns to the world of Hellboy for his
second adventure in four years, following the success of Hellboy
with a sequel that cranks up the exotic locations and action sequences
to the next level. With the background of the superheroes established in
the first film, Hellboy II: The Golden Army takes the same group
of misfits under the protection of the FBI (minus the dorky human agent
from the first tale) and progresses their narratives into a conflict
with the nastiest creatures of the fantasy world, ones just a single
artifact away from being unleashed on humanity. The broken truce between
humans and the monsters of the night, large and small, gives del Toro
the opportunity to do what he does best: dazzle us with amazing visuals
of underworlds with giant turning gears (once again) and bizarre
creatures that Hellboy must contend with. Critical response to the
sequel has been more positive than with the first film, though a few
noteworthy holes in the plot have been mentioned. One member of the
Hellboy crew who wanted to return for the sequel (but was never
asked) was Marco Beltrami, who wrote a stirring score with a memorable
theme for that production. Instead, del Toro hired Danny Elfman, still
the master of the superhero genre in the Digital Age, to start
completely over. Elfman, after several years of less than stellar
production, has exploded in 2008 with three remarkable scores in the
first half of the year alone. His Philip Glass-like work for Standard
Operating Procedure and edgy crossover score for Wanted are
impressive in their own ways, but Hellboy II is the kind of score
that longtime Elfman collectors will appreciate the most. It's massively
orchestral and choral, with rowdy action sequences and beautiful
interludes, complimented by several character and location cues of zany
instrumentation and rhythm. It even, for good measure, concludes the
first statement of the title theme with a big gong hit, raising memories
of Elfman's first and best superhero score, Batman.
Enthusiasts of the Hellboy franchise will likely be
disappointed that none of the traits of Beltrami's score carry over; the
cool thumping of the electric bass rhythm in the credits and the
well-established title theme are absent. In fact, Elfman does not stray
often into Men in Black territory and utilize the electronics you
might expect. Movie critic Roger Ebert even compared the action music in
Hellboy II to John Williams' Star Wars, a film that gets
lots of mentioning in relation to this del Toro's vision because of
similar portrayals of strange creatures. That comparison is not really
accurate from a pure film music standpoint, for while Elfman does
utilize a few moments of classic romanticism in his orchestral
outbursts, most of his work is firmly rooted in the gothic sound that he
used at the start of his career. That should come as a pleasant surprise
for fans of the composer. Indeed, Hellboy II is, in its vast
majority, a throwback score to the glory days of Elfman's honeymoon with
Hollywood. There are extended sequences of harmony and choir that pull
at the same sentimental strings, with over ten minutes of such material
being the first uninterrupted performances of pretty Elfman melancholy
since The Family Man in 2000. Between "The Last Elemental" and
the first half of "Finale" alone, the album for Hellboy II will
likely be worth the price for fans of this sound. A few of the action
cues explode with complex structures from Sleepy Hollow, offering
generally the same instrumentation as well. Thematically, Elfman
explores several interesting lines throughout the score, led by a
repeating four-note motif that ominously sets the stage in "Hellboy II
Titles." A forceful march on brass serves as a decent villain's piece,
on best display in the latter half of "In the Army Chamber." Lighter
themes of lament (and perhaps a love theme for Red and Liz somewhere in
there as well) are treated with Elfman's usual sense for the darkly
melodramatic, though the soft woodwind and piano performances in "A
Link," "A Choice," and "A Big Decision" aren't quite as deep as Elfman
can get.
Fans will inevitably compare the Beltrami and Elfman
scores, and being that they both exist in the franchise, there is merit
to such discussion. But they succeed for different reasons. Beltrami
played more strongly upon the sarcastic humor of Hellboy and the general
style of coolness he exudes. Elfman does the same to a lesser extent,
but the major difference between the two scores is thematic continuity.
Beltrami's catchy title theme for the first film wasn't outstanding, but
it was extremely consistent in its straightforward employment. In
Elfman's score, you hear many singular highlights that form a whole
based on tone rather than structure. There are a couple of distinct
weaknesses to Elfman's work for Hellboy II, and indeed one of
them is the clarity of the thematic development. There are so many rich
melodic ideas in Hellboy II that it's quite disappointing that,
at least on album, they don't really come together in the end. The
"Finale" even masks the primary theme by overlapping its four-note
progression in layers that deny listeners the kind of clarity in sendoff
that the Batman and Spider-Man scores always exhibited.
The other detraction in Hellboy II is Elfman's return to pure
silliness in several cues, letting rip with Mars Attacks! style
of loungey jazz and even a theremin in "Hallway Cruise," a
Nightbreed revisit in the quirky, bombastic rhythms of "A Troll
Market," a totally bizarre Hindu-sounding source piece in the latter
half of "Finale" (a really awful way to end the album even though it
cleverly states some thematic material from the rest of the score), and
a few token high-range "la-la" vocals from the earliest days of his
career. Still, even with these detractions comes the comfort of knowing
that each of these is clearly within Elfman's realm of creativity, so an
avid fan of the composer will find nothing completely odd in Hellboy
II. The texture of the score is a compensating highlight, with very
deep male choral work and an occasional electric guitar sticking to
memory. Overall, Hellboy II is indeed a return to Elfman's often
beautiful gothic tendencies, but don't expect it to resonate with the
same success as his best music from "the good ole' days." ****
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Viewer Ratings and Comments:
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• 1. Introduction (3:37)
• 2. Hellboy II Titles (1:18)
• 3. Training (1:50)
• 4. The Auction House (2:28)
• 5. Hallway Cruise (1:35)
• 6. Where Fairies Dwell (4:17)
• 7. Teleplasty (1:21)
• 8. Mein Herring (1:05)
• 9. Father and Son (6:02)
• 10. A Link (1:29)
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• 11. A Troll Market (1:21)
• 12. Market Troubles (3:41)
• 13. A Big Decision (1:10)
• 14. The Last Elemental (4:11)
• 15. The Spear (1:47)
• 16. A Dilemma (2:55)
• 17. Doorway (3:35)
• 18. A Choice (3:58)
• 19. In the Army Chamber (5:47)
• 20. Finale (6:06)
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
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