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The Matrix Revolutions on DVD
• "magnificent soundtrack" • Dolby Digital 5.1 More DVD info... |
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The Matrix Revolutions on DVD
• "magnificent soundtrack" • Dolby Digital 5.1 More DVD info... |
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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you were captured by Don Davis' maturing orchestral and choral themes for The Matrix Reloaded and want to hear the progression of those ideas towards a victorious finale of religious proportions. Avoid it... if you don't enjoy the unsettling battle between harmony and dissonance that Davis utilizes to very nearly the end of the whole trilogy. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
The score's greater length was required due to the extensive, epic battle sequences littered throughout the film, and thus, only one source song is employed in the picture. This is in contrast to the previous two films, which featured a heavy dose of 1990's electronica in the pictures and their albums. Seemingly fewer collaborations with electronica artists resulted in The Matrix Revolutions, with Juno Reactor only contributing to a few cues for the project. The collaboration of Davis, Juno Reactor, and Dougan for the previous 2003 installment was certainly a success on album, with the 2-CD set selling over 500,000 units (achieving Gold status). Davis himself praised the approach of combining the score and songs onto one album, stating, "As a consumer, I always feel a little bit slighted if I get a soundtrack CD that's mostly songs or only score music. This soundtrack is a real effort to change the paradigm of what's being offered to consumers in film music." The move was very a profitable one for Davis, and increased exposure for his work. With the shades of Dougan's "Clubbed to Death" now gone from the series, Juno Reactor's sole contributions to The Matrix Revolutions are restrained to collaborations with Davis, and moreso than before, Davis' influence leads Juno Reactor rather than the other way around. The both collaborative cues of "The Trainman Cometh" and "Tetsujin" offer Davis' score with minimal integration of synthesized instrumentation. The notable use of the Seraph Kodo drums in the latter cue finally yields to straight, rocking electronica rhythms later in that cue. It should be noted that the collaboration between Davis and Juno Reactor seems better balanced here, with nothing as far reaching as "Burly Brawl" from The Matrix Reloaded breaking Davis' established tones and pace of development. The one clearly out of place and unfortunate cut in the project is "In My Head," Pale 3's much heavier electronica contribution outside of Davis' influence. With less song material to be heard in The Matrix Revolutions, Davis' score is finally the central source of attention. When comparing his music for the three films, Davis comments, "...on the first Matrix they wanted me to be as creative as I could be, doing something absolutely new, different, big and huge and all this kind of stuff. Then Reloaded came along and it has to be newer, more different, bigger... I would think that by the time Revolutions is over I'll have pretty much reached the boundary of what I could do with this." That boundary exists on the highest level of harmonic, tonal development while still inserting just enough uneasy dissonance as to remind the viewer of the troubling concept at the root of the trilogy's story. For the majority of The Matrix Revolutions, Davis provides lush, romantically inclined orchestral and choral statements with a tinge of rambling, atonal accompaniment. Even in the score's highlight battle cue, "Neodämmerung," Davis brilliantly uses harmonic chants and large statements of the film's three dominant themes with a consistently rotating, off-key section of the orchestra in the background. He often uses the alternating chords of the series' primary motif to accomplish this background effect. The dual-chord motif on brass, a deceptively simple but memorable musical identity for the trilogy, is introduced (in customary fashion) in the first cue of the score and proceeds to add its flexible sense of warped reality to several cues throughout the score. Interestingly, this theme becomes less apparent as the score becomes more pleasant, only hinting softly at its own ghost in "Spirit of the Universe." The crashing Sentinel theme for the trilogy is greatly expanded upon in The Matrix Revolutions, culminating in "Niobe's Run" and offering a considerable amount of ruckus for chase cues that herald back to the truly disturbing moments of the original Matrix score. The continuously growing love theme for Neo and Trinity is freed from the awkward bonds that it experienced in The Matrix Reloaded, providing the first true sense of compassion (in a totally harmonic, undivided performance) in the trilogy. This love theme balances the non-stop action from this (and the previous score) with fantastic performances on cello and horn in "The Road to Sourceville" and "Trinity Definitely." Despite the impressive attributes of these three themes' maturity, the action cue "Neodämmerung" and finale equivalent, "Spirit of the Universe," are still the centerpieces of this score. The choral chants of the former are translated into Sanskrit (with Star Wars-style lyrics appropriately matching the mythic proportion of the battle and the concept of 'The One'). The battling elements of harmony and atonality are overlayed in this cue, and when considering that the "bigger is better" philosophy was applied as well, the sheer energy of this action cue serves as an appropriate conclusion to the Neo versus Smith storyline. As Davis has stated, there's really nowhere musically to go from here. Despite the impressive attributes of that cue, however, "Spirit of the Universe" is a more fascinating study. It begins with the first and only statement of truly harmonious theme for the full ensemble --without any dissonance in the background whatsoever-- and has a flowing dramatism and thematic resemblance, oddly, to James Horner's sweeping Star Trek II theme. From there, a boy soprano adds the religious implication of the film's final message, along with a rolling harp. But the end of that cue is even more telling; Davis returns to the finale of the first score, hinting very slightly at the dual-chord theme and building up to one last, suspenseful blast from the ensemble. It is here that you simply can't resist appreciating Davis' use of percussion throughout the score. Whether it is simple pounding on every drum known to man, or the crashing of low notes on a piano like a small child, the percussion is really the heart and soul of this trilogy. Davis allows the rumbling, low piano to simply fade away at the end of the score, leaving an uneasy afterthought with the viewer and listener. The score is mixed with a very loud approach, with the more sensitive cues raised in volume and the techno elements quieted to match that dynamic range. It's a sort of "in your face" move, and while it may give the casual listener a headache, it also allows for the full ensemble to be better heard on album. The best example of this attention is heard in the rich and deep resonance of the opening rumble of piano in "Logos/Main Title." The only cue seemingly over the top is Juno Reactor's remix of "Neodämmerung," called "Navras" (meaning 'nine emotional states,' mirroring the Hindu belief that these nine states are exhibited through music). The Hindustani Classical vocals and instrumentation here are obviously out of place, but Davis' orchestral and choral foundation is so strong that the cue could easily become a guilty pleasure for the listener. A Middle-Eastern or Indian influence has become almost cliche in recent years for large-scale film scores, but then again, Juno Reactor's three artists provide enough techno flavor to simply throw the whole cue into a realm of the bizarre that can be set aside. As a presentation on album, Don Davis has about half of his material available in a generously straight-forward format. The first two scores from the trilogy have both been floating around the secondary bootleg market in a more complete form, and it's hard to imagine that the truly die-hard Davis fans won't do the same with The Matrix Revolutions. And yet, this final album in the series is complete enough --and largely without interruptions from songs-- to suffice for most listeners. Compared to the other two albums, Davis' music for The Matrix Revolutions is a more fascinating, mature listen, and while casual purchasers of only this effort may not understand the evolution of its themes and harmonic structures, The Matrix Revolutions is probably the easiest of the three for traditional film score fans to enjoy on album. Still, Davis continues to utilize dissonance in both the forefront and distance to provide that unsettling edge necessary for the Matrix concept, and listeners should be aware that this score is likewise no free, tonal ride. Between this necessary element, the lack of a more complete score presentation, and some downright funky electronica, The Matrix Revolutions is less than perfect on album. But this is likely as good as the music itself will get, and Davis should be recognized for his outstanding achievement for the trilogy as a whole. ****
Insert includes extensive credits, but no extra information about the score or film. For full lyrics (with translations), view The Matrix Revolutions page at Don Davis' Official Site. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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