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| Zimmer |
Angels & Demons: (Hans Zimmer/Various) One of the
few entertaining aspects of contemporary Catholic power is its inability
to intelligently handle (or "spin," as it's called these days) what it
perceives as pop culture attacks to its sensibilities. Ron Howard's
The Da Vinci Code grossed three quarters of a billion dollars
worldwide in 2006, a sum produced in part because of the popularity of
novelist Dan Brown's original story, a magnificent marketing campaign by
Sony, and useless protests by the Catholics. When will organized
religious learn that protesting a pop culture film will only yield
higher earnings for the studios? The amusing part of the equation came
when Howard decided to make Brown's prequel (or sequel, depending on
whether you follow the chronology of the books or the somewhat altered
one in the films),
Angels & Demons, a few years later. Despite
the fact that the plot of this second film actually involves the defense
of the Vatican by Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, the Catholics
couldn't resist punishing Howard for
The Da Vinci Code by
refusing to allow him adequate access to film
Angels & Demons on
location in Rome (reducing the time of the shoot there to just two weeks
and forcing special effects to render the rest). Howard persevered,
however, and in so doing managed to correct some of the problems with
the translation of Brown's previous narrative to the big screen. While
The Da Vinci Code attempted to infuse too much of the cerebral
historical discussion into the plot to make it a viable chase film,
Angels & Demons represents a better balance of propulsive
adventure and intellectual contemplation. The villains of the second
film are the Illuminati, a group of progressives in Europe dating back
several centuries who have determined that the time is right to exact
their revenge on the Vatican for once persecuting them. Their possession
of an anti-matter bomb, four kidnapped cardinals, and a mole inside the
Vatican's inner circle force the Catholic leadership to seek the help of
Langdon to use the clues in the Church's history to avoid an
embarrassing and deadly elimination of St. Peter's Square and all of its
faithful. While nobody ever expected
Angels & Demons to earn as
much as its predecessor, its outstanding production values gave Sony
high hopes. And, right on cue, the Vatican belatedly declared the film
to be of no threat to its narrow view of the universe.
Nominated for a Golden Globe and a Grammy Award for his
work on
The Da Vinci Code was composer Hans Zimmer. The score
represented one of the few mostly solo efforts for the composer in the
2000's, and it predictably divided listeners along familiar lines. It
was a score derived purely of Zimmer's comfortable foundations, glossing
over the intellectual nuances of the tale with emotional ostinatos of
masculine bass that have come to define his career since
Batman
Begins. Few can argue that the inspirational "CheValiers de
Sangreal" cue from
The Da Vinci Code isn't among the highlights
of the composer's career, but as with
Pearl Harbor and a handful
of other scores, Zimmer has proven several times that his ability to
generate outstanding music doesn't always accompany the topics on screen
as well as necessary. Not only did the constructs and orchestration of
The Da Vinci Code lack the intellectual depth to match the
script, but Zimmer's usual tendency to mix his scores with heavy bass
and an abrasive edge caused the recording to sound as though he had used
samples when in fact it was largely symphonic. The tables are turned in
Angels & Demons, though the result is marginally similar. In the
time since
The Da Vinci Code, Zimmer's popularity has continued
to rise, despite his role as mostly a producer and coordinator of his
personal musical production house, Remote Control. During the media
circus involving
The Dark Knight in 2008, the composer announced
that he would retire from film scoring for a while once done with
Howard's
Frost/Nixon. Alas, 2009 has not only yielded
Angels &
Demons, but reportedly additional projects on the horizon. Another
awkward Zimmer statement recently came at the debut of
Angels &
Demons, where he stated that he completely wiped his slate clean
when conceiving of the music for this film, using no material that had
come before. At about the same time, he contradicted himself in a joint
interview with Howard, both claiming that the theme from "CheValiers de
Sangreal" clearly represents a musical identity for Langdon's journey
and thus serving as the backbone for this sequel score. The use of that
theme in promotional material for
Angels & Demons is unmistakable
as well. Ultimately, close examination of the score shows that much from
The Da Vinci Code does carry over, despite Zimmer's bizarre
statement to the contrary at the film's red carpet media frenzy.
One of the ironies of Ron Howard's remarkable career as a
director is his collaboration with both Zimmer and James Horner for his
soundtracks. While Horner's tendency to rely on his own, previous
material is well documented, Zimmer has done much of the same during his
career. The material in
Angels & Demons is derived, in its most
basic form, from
Crimson Tide and
The Peacemaker, two
truly defining scores from the German composer. Also referenced
significantly here (to nobody's surprise, really) is
Hannibal,
another strong entry in Zimmer's resume. Regardless of your opinion
about Zimmer's methodology or the quality of his regurgitated ideas, the
fact that he has an extremely distinct sound that has become predictable
in blockbuster settings can't pass unnoticed. What does this mean for
you? Well, it means that you know ahead of time if you're the target
audience of Zimmer's music for
Angels & Demons. As mentioned
before, however, there are some alterations in how the composer managed
to journey to the same end, and perhaps some of these will influence
your decision about whether or not to explore this score's album. First,
Zimmer enthusiastically employs the violin of Joshua Bell, whose
contributions to film music date back to the Oscar-winning
The Red
Violin and most recently graced the score for
Defiance by
Zimmer's close friend, James Newton Howard. His involvement in
Angels
& Demons does bring a classically intellectual element to the
equation, though his role is somewhat marginalized and not really worth
mentioning on the album's cover. Also to consider is the fact that the
ensemble is different for
Angels & Demons; because of the
accentuated role of science in the story, Zimmer reduced the size of the
orchestra to chamber levels and replaced the players with his own
synthesizer performances. Even more than the previous score,
Angels &
Demons is one dominated by chorus. Its shifting choral tones, always
passing duties from men to women with emotional depth, defines its
character. Organ effects are more pronounced as well. With the usual,
overbearing, and extremely heavy bass mix, the score therefore takes on
the personality of a prototypical Zimmer work despite Bell's tones
(which are themselves held to lower violin ranges). It should also be
mentioned that Zimmer also relies on two additional writers
("ghostwriters," as the controversy allows) this time around.
In short, if you adore Zimmer's masculine choral
bombast and propulsive bass ostinatos on pulsating strings or
synthesizers, then
Angels & Demons is the score for you. Its
menacing choral chanting is its most memorable addition to the
franchise, for it really doesn't convincingly explore new thematic
territory with any memorable distinction. The composer excels, however,
in employing the chorus' various parts in dueling layers in a cue like
"160 BPM," maintaining extraordinary gravity in the soundscape. There is
truly apocalyptic material to be heard in
Angels & Demons, and
while it may not be the most intelligent or historically sensitive
treatment of the associated subject matter (outside of a mass-like
environment as in "Air"), it is a better match for this film that its
predecessor. The role of the electronics, with this change in mind, is
quite pronounced, often merging the sound of the traditional organ with
pulsating electronic baselines and drum pad outbursts. Some of this
chanting material seems a bit aimless in the larger picture, but it
suffices in serving its purpose for the thrill of each moment.
Enthusiasts of
The Da Vinci Code will be curious about the usage
of the existing themes. Indeed, every idea (other than Richard Harvey's
solo contribution) is reprised in some form or another. The title theme
that culminated in the discovery cue of "CheValiers de Sangreal," as
well as material from "The Cetrine Cross" and "Daniel's 9th Cipher," are
all present. The primary theme is touched upon at the outset of "God
Particle" and in several fragments before being explored significantly
in "Election By Adoration" and "503." In the first of those two later
cues on the album, you can also hear Bell perform the religious subtheme
from "Daniel's 9th Cipher" in the previous score. There is no sustained
performance of the "CheValiers de Sangreal" theme by the full symphony
for Langdon on the album for
Angels & Demons; the version you
hear with Bell's performances seemingly laid over that previous
recording for the extended trailer and other promotional video material
for the film is not contained on this product, a major disappointment
given its rather short, 54-minute running time. The "503" cue is a
different, less orchestral mix of that recording that is limp by
comparison. On the whole,
Angels & Demons is therefore a score to
appreciate for its ambience rather than its thematic grace.
There are clear attractions and detractions contained
in the middle portions of the album. There are cues of electronic
grinding and dissonant shrieks that are difficult to tolerate, including
the brazenly synthetic portions of "God Particle," "Fire," and "Black
Smoke." Some of the action interludes in these cues are too familiar
from John Powell action ostinatos for
The Bourne Identity (and
sequels) to consider fresh. On the other hand, there are ethereal
portions of
Angels & Demons that explore the choir in higher
regions and expand upon the most angelic (though still slightly
sinister) portions of
Hannibal. The lengthy cues of "Air" and
"Science and Religion" are the highlights of this score, providing the
album with its most engaging intellectual moments (courtesy Bell's
violin). It perhaps should not be surprising that the most emotionally
engaging parts of this score are those that sound the least like the
increasingly tired sound of
Crimson Tide. In sum,
Angels &
Demons is a score that really does not require a review of this
length to provide an accurate recommendation. It may not intrigue you
with originality as much as
Front/Nixon, but it will entertain
with its predictable brute force. The album is slightly disappointing,
given the absence of resounding thematic representation, and for die
hard collectors, you can download an additional two-minute cue in MP3
form titled "H20" (appropriately) that offers a troubled variation on
the title theme but isn't worth the effort for most casual listeners.
Undoubtedly, given the track record on Zimmer, a fuller bootleg or other
form of release will eventually follow. The same fans desperately
seeking expanded presentations will be the ones to unlock Zimmer's
five-note ambigram inserted as an in-joke in the score. The commercial
album does follow the composer's preference for longer suite-like
presentations, though in this case that actually helps to confine the
best material to the two aforementioned cues of strength (and especially
the beautiful "Science and Religion"). The extremely heavy bass mix
continues to be a problem with Zimmer's scores. Why is it so hard to cut
back on the droning power in the studio and let the consumer crank it up
if he or she chooses? It's a weak three-star score for those tired of
Zimmer's predictability, but a solid four-star score for his ardent
enthusiasts. The fairest rating exists on precarious footing somewhere
in between.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.93
(in 98 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.95
(in 277,221 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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