Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if nothing cranks up your testosterone levels like a beefy variation on the modern Hans Zimmer action sound, for Trevor Morris works surprisingly well within those boundaries to infuse some basic intelligence into an otherwise derivative formula. Avoid it... if you were bothered by the lack of a clear narrative arc in the film's script, a failure reflected in totality by the absence of satisfying thematic attributions and storytelling capability in Morris' appropriately stylish music. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Immortals: (Trevor Morris) All the flashy colors, immense special effects, and painted abdominal muscles in the world make little difference to intellectual viewers if the story that accompanies them is pure crap. Fortunately for Relativity Media, intellectual viewers don't make up more than a small fraction of the movie-going public, and thus their 2011 eye candy spectacle, Immortals, earned over $200 million in gross returns. The concept of Greek Gods seems to have increased studio perceptions of their bankability, and the style of cult favorite 300 has merged with the Olympian legends to yield movies like Immortals, larger-than-life depictions of Gods at war as seen through striking color schemes and almost comic book-like violence. A battle between Hyperion and Olympus is the topic of Immortals, the former's quest for Ares' Epirus Bow fueled by a desire to use the weapon to unlock the Titans from Mount Tartarus and challenge Zeus and other famed Gods. The necessary tool with which the audience can identify in this plot is Theseus, who, despite his known lineage and destiny, is presented like the average underdog conscripted to fight in ways imagined by lifeless video game players aspiring for similar greatness with their console. A total lack of cohesion in its plot is what caused Immortals a poor reception from critics, its character establishments nonsensical and its tendency to kill major Gods somewhat limiting the practicality of its sequel potential. Nobody should be surprised that a lack of truly functional plot in this gorgeously rendered movie is reflected by a similar vacuous approach taken by composer Trevor Morris. One of the many assistants to graduate from Hans Zimmer's Remote Control production house, Morris found a career for himself in historical television epics, earning multiple Emmy awards for those endeavors. Those achievements are challenged with Immortals, Morris' debut on the big screen. It's somewhat disappointing to see the previous generation of Zimmer's crew typecast into genres like this one, and to casual observers (or those intellectuals described above), Morris won't have succeeded for Immortals any better than Ramin Djawadi did for the embarrassing Clash of the Titans in 2010. The enemy here is temp track emulation and the desire of filmmakers to slap around willing audiences with recapitulations of the sound that Zimmer, Inc. has already proven successful. You can hear Morris struggle to work within these expected parameters for this project, but ultimately the result is simply a slightly more intelligent repackaging of tired, increasing boring sounds. Comprising the music for Immortals are the standard orchestra, chanting adult choir, mourning solo vocals, whining solo electric strings, synthetic embellishments, slammed percussion movements, churning ostinatos, and a de-emphasis of woodwinds and the treble region. Surprised? Credit has to be given to Morris for at least attempting to take most of the above techniques in somewhat refreshing new directions. More importantly, a listener can appreciate some of his applications of ethnic instruments and vocal contributions because of a toning back of the droning synthetic and orchestral base layers. Interesting performances can be heard in parts of Immortals, helping the score transcend its peers, especially in the usage of the electric cello and the choir. There are fleeting moments of sincerity, led by "Do Not Forsake Mankind," that break out of the expected mould for this kind of film. Additionally, in his effort to maximize the appeal of his most palatable cues of Zimmer resonance, as in "Apotheosis," he succeeds. At the same time, the textural triumphs of his music are diminished by poor thematic attributions and possibly eliminated altogether by unoriginality in a few passages. The themes of Immortals directly represent the ills of the film's plot; a lack of empathy and clear narrative flow in the script also sinks the score, which tears through each individual cue with style at the forefront but no larger organization of worth. There are recurring rhythmic chants and subtle themes here and there, but nothing to truly service a tale about the Greek Gods. A three-note motif for Theseus is too generic to really suffice, the softer romance material for Phaedra is tepid at best, and the motif representing Hyperion subscribes to Zimmer's notion that a villain can be best served with one repetitively blasting, manipulated note. While the Theseus motif does at least become a viable facet of the action cues, Hyperion's major musical representation in "Hyperion's Siren" tries so hard to be stylish that it comes across as silly. It's an odd cross between Zimmer techniques and Jerry Goldsmith's The 13th Warrior, both composers seemingly influencing Morris in multiple places. The outright plagiarism claims in regard to Immortals resulted from the duo of "The Gods Chose Well" and "Fight So Your Name Survives," the former especially reminiscent of the snare-tapped choral progressions of Wojciech Kilar's Bram Stoker's Dracula. It's not Tyler Bates territory of shamelessness, but it does diminish some of the achievements that Morris accomplishes elsewhere in the work. On the whole, Morris surpasses Bates and Djawadi in this realm because of his occasionally interesting techniques and a pair of solid cues of six minutes in sum near the end, but a total absence of storytelling in the music's limp themes and nebulous flow dooms it to a barely average rating. *** Track Listings:
Total Time: 51:02
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