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| Beck |
Ant-Man: (Christophe Beck) Among the seemingly
infinite properties of the Marvel Universe, the odd Ant-Man storyline
may not have seemed like a natural emphasis for transition into the
cinematic realm along with other, better-known characters, but the
process of adapting
Ant-Man was one that began decades prior to
its successful culmination in 2015. In production purgatory for many
years, the idea was an eventual success despite high profile changes to
the crew during the journey, with a director best known for comedy,
Peyton Reed, brought aboard to helm
Ant-Man. That makes sense,
given that, alongside
Guardians of the Galaxy, this entry has a
distinct comedy vibe to it, with vintage grand heist themes running
throughout its story (not to mention the notion that Michael Douglass
could be serviceable as yet another aggrieved man of sophistication,
this time as the scientific wonk behind the topic). This branch of
Marvel's world involves suits that shrink people into insects primed for
battle against each other and their respective armies. The inherent
silliness of this idea, along with the fact that the hero is in fact a
petty criminal with family issues, leads
Ant-Man into territory
unfamiliar to its kin. This transition proved a perfect fit for composer
Christophe Beck, who entered the production relatively late due to the
departure of director Edgar Wright and his collaborating composer,
Steven Price. Beck had existed on the periphery of these films for
years, having tackled
Elektra in 2005 and the relatively similar
fantasy realm of
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning
Thief in 2010. While his prior collaboration with Reed and his
success on 2013's
Frozen were likely factors in the hiring
decision, it's difficult to overlook the extensive experience Beck has
had in heist-related and comedic caper projects. That tone of music was
both a necessity and a major challenge in
Ant-Man, because the
studio and filmmakers' desire for a traditionally symphonic action score
was at odds with the need for both the comedy tones and some kind of
instrumental (likely synthetic) representation of battling insects.
While it's not hard to imagine Brian Tyler adapting his
Now You See
Me attitude for a project like this, the product that Beck offers is
strikingly effective and intelligently balances all of the film's needs
in ways that both emulate Tyler, the influence that Jerry Goldsmith has
on both of them, and the vintage caper tones that Beck resurrects from
prior assignments.
Initially, Beck had the idea of constructing the score
out of skittish electronic textures to emulate the buzzing and other
small-scale elements of the tale. Only some of those techniques
ultimately made it into the picture, however, as a more traditional
symphonic approach prevailed. It's difficult for film music veterans to
be able to isolate the "Beck action voice" in this work, because his
music sometimes suffers the John Debney anonymity effect, though you
definitely hear the occasional Goldsmith and, more appropriately, Alan
Silvestri influence. The orchestral prowess is very impressive in this
work, and the electronic elements used to distinguish scenes involving
scale, such as "Tiny Telepathy," are very tastefully handled. Beck
doesn't shy away from laying out the emotions on the table in
Ant-Man, the comedy portions in "Ant 247," "Scott Surfs on Ants,"
and "Tales to Astonish!" not making any attempt to restrain their
enthusiasm or exuberant sense of style. Likewise, action portions aren't
afraid to let rip with Silvestri snare-pounding and rhythmic mannerisms.
The composer even explicitly quotes both Silvestri's
The Avengers
and Henry Jackman's
Captain America: The Winter Soldier in "First
Mission," all the while maintaining focused loyalty on his own theme.
That primary, heroic identity in this movie, provided in fanfare in
"Theme from Ant-Man," was Beck's first material for the film, and it
adeptly combines the French horn announcement of grandeur while also
adhering to Danny Elfman's rhythmic clicking sounds and other
Spider-Man tones to denote the animal connection. A secondary
theme for familial distress is a hidden highlight in
Ant-Man,
"San Francisco, 1987" and "Small Sacrifice" both exhibiting hefty
dramatic chops from Beck. One of the interesting characteristics of this
score is how short each cue is in their presentation on album. Beck
wrote well over two hours of music for this project, most of it with
significant assistance after the sketching phase due to time
constraints, and less than half of that music ended up on album. Given
the strength of the score, it would be interesting to hear especially
the first recording sessions Beck completed for
Ant-Man, most of
which was ultimately replaced by second-session recordings. If the
remainder of the music is of the same quality as that presented on album
(and some of that was not used in the film), then
Ant-Man is a
strong candidate for expanded treatment years down the road. This score
is the best mainstream effort to date in Beck's career, and it's
refreshingly orchestral in the Silvestri tradition while infusing the
caper style and subsequent hero swagger that distinguishes the work from
its concept peers.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Christophe Beck reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3
(in 12 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.04
(in 3,516 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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