: (Marc Streitenfeld) Director Ridley
Scott had never been an enthusiast of previous adaptations of the Robin
Hood legend to the big screen, and after unsuccessfully attempting to
purchase the rights to a script titled "Nottingham" and owned by
Universal in 2007, he eventually agreed to direct the new version rather
than strictly produce. Significant input from Scott and lead actor
Russell Crowe, however, caused both extensive changes to the script and
a total halt to production, delaying the release of the film from 2009
to 2010. The different angle explores the character of Robin
Longstride's role in the Crusades and the civil war in England that
followed in the power vacuum left by Richard the Lionheart. History is
poorly served in this adaptation of
, culminating in an
invasion by King Philip of France that never really happened, though
with King John of England declaring Robin and his cohorts as outlaws at
the end of the film, the legend of the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest is
at least given its origin on screen. The altered history was among many
reasons why
fared rather poorly with critics, and
Crowe reinforced his reputation by walking out of a BBC interview in
which his English accent was questioned. One of the more relevant
criticisms of the film in relation to its music was the production's
rather grim vision of a tale that has always relied more heavily on
substantial romantic appeal. Scott hired composer Marc Streitenfeld for
what easily became the most high-profile project of his short career.
Having served as a music editor and advisor to Scott for his productions
as far back as
(which is not a compliment, considering how
Harry Gregson-Williams' superior music was maimed and partially replaced
in that picture) before taking over as the regular composing
collaborator for Scott in 2006. The German is yet another artist making
a name for himself after working with Hans Zimmer in the early 2000's,
and it's not surprising to hear him conjure up and repeat some of the
stylistic mannerisms evident in other supporters of Zimmer's style of
blockbuster methodology. Undoubtedly,
is
Streitenfeld's introduction to the mainstream of film music interest,
and it's truly disappointing to hear him regurgitate tired musical
sounds and reflecting the film's lack of true passion.
Several scores for Robin Hood films have captured
imaginations through the years, though the pop culture favorite
continues to be the Michael Kamen and Bryan Adams collaboration for the
1991 Kevin Costner version. Despite their popularity, the score and song
for
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves were flawed, the score
especially suffering from poor performances and a shoddy recording. But
what Kamen's score had clearly going in its favor were a sense of
adventure, strong thematic identity, and a basic narrative flow.
Unfortunately, Streitenfeld's
Robin Hood in 2010, while
technically proficient and basically sufficient for the screen, enjoys
none of these necessary characteristics. The ability of former Zimmer
collaborators, those who adhere to his basic formulas of operation, to
churn out lifeless, uninteresting variants of music that was once
considered the mould for blockbuster success continues to amaze and
bewilder. The ensemble for
Robin Hood is what you'd expect to be
the key to success: a sizeable orchestral ensemble, a varied choir with
solo accents, and regional instrumental elements like lutes, fiddles,
uillean pipes, hurdy gurdy, whistles, and ethnic percussion. No
synthetic tones and no electric guitars are to be heard. What exactly
could go wrong with this equation? Well, simply enough, a poorly written
composition. The structures employed by Streitenfeld are underdeveloped
and tiresome. He emulates Zimmer clones by relying too heavily on
creating force of emphasis by rooting too many notes on either the key
or in the minor third. Sometimes, you get both at once, courtesy the
usual ostinatos on strings. Simple percussive rhythms are beefed up by
having one or more sections of the orchestra simply blurt out each note
in the rhythm on key. The themes are not particularly memorable due to
their poorly applied infrequency, a primary idea of militaristic majesty
heard in "Fate Has Smiled Upon Us," "Landing of the French," "Charge,"
and "Merry Men" (among others) tasked with anchoring the score's noble
overtones. The fatal problem with this theme is the fact that it sounds
like a direct transplant from Steve Jablonsky's
Transformers
scores, even adhering to the Zimmer clone rule of beginning and ending
its primary progressions on key to pound home the point. There is
nothing lyrical about this theme, or any other in
Robin Hood.
Even a lighter idea opening "Destiny" and "Pact Sworn in Blood" repeats
so many times that it comes across as purely mechanical. Why can't these
people learn how to write compelling interludes based on the study of
Jerry Goldsmith's body of work?
As is, Streitenfeld's thematic ideas for
Robin
Hood play like juvenile attempts to boost testosterone without the
benefit of droning bass electronics, which not surprisingly makes the
endeavor sound all too frail in the majority. On top of that, you have a
lack of depth in the composition that yields several painfully sparse
sequences, especially when the composer attempts to address royal
environments with the dainty percussive rhythms. Counterpoint is almost
nonexistent, dissonance is not intelligently incorporated, the ensemble
is never really taxed with multiple lines of intrigue to be performed at
once. It's no wonder, therefore, that the orchestral performances
completely lack passion in their playing. These people sound as though
they earned their paycheck and went home without a second thought given
to their recording for the day. Adding insult to injury, some of the
specialty performances were not overlayed in synch with the others, so
the otherwise alluring female vocals in "Merry Men" don't mesh with the
underlying background material (and don't try the "trying to be stylish"
argument here... it just doesn't work in this context). Aside from the
boring, badly underdeveloped themes and mechanical repetitions of
phrases in lifeless performances,
Robin Hood also suffers from an
absence of narrative flow. There is no real beginning, middle, or end to
this score. No fanfares, no crescendos, and no victory can be heard. In
that manner, it matches Crowe's scruffy, unlikeably manly persona quite
well. There is no convincing joy or romance anywhere in this score (the
love story was seemingly completely missed by Streitenfeld). More
passion has been heard in the music of programs on the History Channel.
All of this said, given the rather dirty, gloomy take on the legend by
Scott, perhaps it should come as no surprise that the score is equally
devoid of even a hint of the swashbuckling spirit otherwise associated
with the legend. The score is therefore functional in the most basic
sense as a bland, conservative musical backdrop for the picture. But
with so much potential in the concept, the ensemble, and the ethnic
elements, it's difficult to figure how the end result could have been so
boringly underwhelming. There are a few cues to appreciate for their
harmonious simplicity, led by the deep vocal layers of "Landing of the
French," the woodwind and choral redemption in "The Legend Begins," and
the fiddle and solo vocal tones in "Merry Men." Otherwise, however,
Streitenfeld has given us a
Robin Hood that slaps you across the
face over and over again with the same rhythmic and thematic fragments
in every cue. That might have worked if there had been something
interesting in the composition to begin with. But, alas, no. Rest in
peace, Michael Kamen.
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