Filmtracks: The Italian Job (John Powell)


Powell

The Italian Job: (John Powell) In this remake of the 1969 film of the same name, the only true crossovers from the first film to the second are the fashionable Mini Cooper cars that are pivotal in an unlikely escape sequence because of their very small size. Some viewers argued that the Mini Coopers have more charisma than the stars of the film, but most others would say that The Italian Job, regardless of its problematic acting, is a classy and well executed heist flick. The film lingered for several weeks near the top of box office charts and remains a popular cable television event. Despite the overwhelming interest in the extensive placement of songs in the film, demand for the contemporary score by John Powell also swelled during the first month of the film's release. Powell was quickly establishing himself as an artist more highly in demand than many of his peers from the Media Ventures complex run by Hans Zimmer. Aside from his light comedy scores, Powell had been venturing further into the straight action genre, with a disappointingly incoherent score for The Bourne Identity only a year previous to The Italian Job. For this newer heist story, however, the element of sophistication in the complexity of the robberies taking place on the screen led to a slightly different approach from Powell. After all, for a story that features the mass rigging of traffic lights on a city-wide scale (as means, of course, of escaping from those pesky Los Angeles police), the score has to hit a reciprocal stride with stylish energy and pizzazz. Powell's response is a work that will remind listeners very much of the style of contemporary artist David Holmes, whose score for Ocean's Eleven struck a similar chord for a comparable film. The propulsive nature of the music will indeed remind some Powell collectors of the chopping ostinatos of The Bourne Identity and its sequel scores (and that string ostinato effect is actually employed in a few of the moments of pursuit here). The likewise electronically-based underscore for The Italian Job is rhythmically flamboyant and downright vigorous during moments of high speed chasing. That modern edge, while not containing a thematic identity of any significant kind, would lend a continuously cosmopolitan, smooth, and gregarious seasoning in the updated rendition of this old story.


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Representing the minds and actions of lovable criminals is a task that Powell accomplishes well in The Italian Job. His primary instrument is his array synthesizers, with looped rhythms, varied percussion, guitars, electric bass, and keyboarding constituting the majority of the effort. The cohesive element is obviously the series of rhythms that Powell utilizes consistently throughout the film. Even in the softer moments, the rhythms that sit at center stage during action scenes are omnipresent in the background of the music. Thus, the churning minds behind the plot of the film are constantly in motion and the score reflects that pace. To infuse the blockbuster with greater power, Powell hired a partial orchestra (full strings and brass, with one percussionist and no woodwinds) to elevate a handful of cues to the status of elegant high style exposition (culminating in "The New Plan"). He also lets rip with electric guitars and other heavy metal-inclined instrumental tones for rocking sequences of disbelief like the almost ridiculous "Tunnel Run." The rhythms become more forceful in their ferocious synthetic behavior as the film reaches its climax, allowing the sophistication to drain slightly from a score that was otherwise very streetwise in its first half. On album, the first half of the score will play much like a David Holmes underscore, with more power behind the rhythms due to a larger ensemble. The smoothest cue comes in the early portions as well; the slight, synthetic choral tones of "Venice Gold Heist" are an eerie interlude. The latter half of the score begins to digress in its more primitive emotional expressions, but given the payback that being exacted in the film, such a transition to feverish success could be expected. The score returns briefly to the more stylish, sophisticated attitude in the final victory cue. On the whole, The Italian Job is a considerably improved and successful score for Powell when compared to The Bourne Identity because the more recent work is rich with interesting rhythms that maintain a mood for a much longer period. Some listeners may still find the slapping, pinging, and sometimes ripping personality of Powell's score to be obnoxious, and others may have problems with the shifts in tempo and looped rhythms from cue to cue (likely because of a team of additional composers and arrangers on the job). But bridging the gap between techno and orchestral action enthusiasts, The Italian Job is a good candidate for repetition in the background during mindless activities. ***

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For John Powell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.96 (in 24 reviews)
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