: (James Newton Howard) It's
understandable for any father to attempt to use his influence in an
industry to secure a future for his son, but in the case of Will Smith
using his story and production of the 2013 science fiction film
to promote the career of his son, you have to wonder if the
idea didn't backfire terribly. The plot of the movie has always revolved
around a father-son bonding experience while stranded in the wild, but
the setting was at some point in the pre-production process shifted from
current times to Earth 1,000 years from now, by which time humanity had
fled the planet for greener pastures. When Will Smith, in the role of a
military officer tasked with protecting humanity's new home world,
crashes on Earth with his son, the aforementioned Jaden Smith, they have
to overcome beasts of the wild and the concept of fear to retrieve
enough pieces of their ship to signal home. By enduring this survival
experience, one defined by encounters with creatures that have thrived
on Earth (as well as one nasty alien along for the ride on their ship),
the two are able to reconcile their choppy past. Bringing the story to
life is none other than director M. Night Shyamalan, whose own career
since the mid-2000's has been marked by artistic failures that have done
surprisingly well at the box office. Despite sinking over $200 million
into the production and marketing of
, Sony expressed
disappointment in their return, the critical lashing applied to the film
perhaps catching up to Shyamalan as audiences lose interest in his more
conventional work. The acting performances were particularly slaughtered
by critics, the younger Smith pounded for his lack of expressiveness.
With the film languishing as a result, one of the few saving graces of
the production is the continued collaboration between the director and
composer James Newton Howard. Two of their three previous outings
together yielded fantastic results that stood in the top five of their
respective years,
proving that Howard is more than willing to overachieve for flawed
cinematic projects, yielding in-demand albums of that music. The
approach the composer took to
, a similar balance of
orchestra, chorus, and specialty percussion employed for the newer
assignment.
Unfortunately, the same level of inspiration heard in
The Last Airbender is lacking in the 2013 entry, the melodrama is
toned back with shorter melodic statements and a reduced choral
presence. Howard shows many glimpses of the fantastic material and
rendering he has provided before but also succumbs to generalized
primordial tones for much of the interior of the score. The bulk of the
generic suspense and chase music in the lengthy middle portions of
After Earth has caused a surprising amount of discontent (or
ambivalence) with the score within the score-collecting community. In
fact, this work really isn't as non-descript as many have claimed it to
be, and when you compare it to its more synthetic peers, this recording
has more than enough bright spots to entertain a listener willing to
compile 20 to 25 minutes of solid music from its album. It is pure
Howard in its style, the highlights very reminiscent of
The Last
Airbender but lacking the grandiose stature of the predecessor. The
score can be divided into several largely segregated parts: the nobility
of the future and elder Smith's character, the tenderness of family
represented by the son, the outright, ballsy action sequences, and then
the remaining 60%, which relies upon screeching, wailing, and primal
string, percussion, and woodwind techniques to represent the exotic
atmosphere of the future Earth. This last, dominant portion is the
reason for dissatisfaction over the score's somewhat generic posture;
there is nothing particularly refreshing or even listenable about these
portions, and they do drag on for long periods. The textures are
interesting but not engaging enough to function on album. On the upside,
however, the other three sections of the score for
After Earth
all present above average execution of friendly, harmonious ideas that,
even if they are also somewhat mundane in the Howard canon, are pleasing
to the ears. The concept's main theme rotates through the realms of awe,
discovery, and redemption, encompassing the minimally noble,
militaristic element while also addressing the larger melodrama of the
premise. Heard in "The History of Man," "I'm Not Advancing You," "The
Tail," and "After Earth," this thematic material is fleshed out with the
robust form of the average Remote Control score but without muddying,
synthesized enforcement of the base region. The organic tone of the
sequence of determination in the middle of "The Tail" achieves
everything an average RC score strives for but fails to provide with
sincerity.
A secondary theme for the son and the family as a whole
is a hidden highlight of
After Earth, punctuating moments of
vulnerability and resolution during the bonding experience with special
attention to lovely piano performances. The solo work in the score is
advertised as being anchored by a cello, and while that instrument does
make some poignant contributions to a softly melodramatic moment of
trauma in "Abort Mission" and with accentuated gravity in "See the
Peak," it cannot compare with the impact of the piano. This standard
instrument of the nuclear family is utilized in fragments throughout
"The History of Man" and "I'm Not Advancing You" (a nice choice given
that you don't regularly hear it in the sci-fi context) before shining
during several later cues. In "Safety in the Hog Hole," Howard allows
the piano a pretty restful interlude with harp at the start, vaguely
like
The Village in tone, and a similar performance continues
with somber but pretty tones in "Saved by the Bird." The "Ghosting" cue
ends with an absolutely heartbreaking thematic performance by the
instrument as well. The final portion of
After Earth worth noting
is the more organized action and chasing material that is not
overwhelmed by the distracting and uncomfortable primal layers. Three in
particular are standouts: the latter half of "Baboons" (which features
rousing, strong rhythms with piano, percussion, and strings), "Run to
the Falls" (somewhat boilerplate Howard writing, but still strong), and
"Ghosting" (featuring stirring and conclusive confrontation sequences).
Most of the obvious performances of the themes and associated easy
pleasures are consolidated into the opening four and closing three cues
as presented on the score-only album. But mixed in the challenging
middle portions are very satisfying moments that beg for rearrangement
into a 20-minute presentation that could be easily appended to a similar
arrangement of
The Last Airbender. The recording quality is
superb, each section well balanced and the bass realm kept in check. The
album's short tracks are a bit deceptive because many of them separate
the same, longer cue into pieces for accessibility. Overall,
After
Earth is a robust Howard effort that could potentially go unnoticed
by those dismissing the film. It's standard fare, and a lack of a global
sense of tragedy for the fate of Earth is an issue. The primal textures
do grate in an environment that tries at the same time to be a touching
father and son bonding score. But all of that said, give this one a
chance and rearrange it as needed. Howard enthusiasts will be especially
pleased with the resulting suite.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.4
(in 65 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.41
(in 78,850 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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