: (Rupert
Gregson-Williams) Sometimes, the best choice is to not make a sequel
movie, or to at least wait until better inspiration for a story comes
along. That was the dilemma for several years with DC's
property on screen. Questions about the direction of the story and which
actors to include swirled after the studio couldn't resist pushing for
any money grabbing continuation of the 2018 DC adaptation. Friction
surrounding James Mamoa and Amber Heard's roles caused the plot of
to morph into an odd buddy flick for
Arthur Curry and his vanquished brother, Orm, and the two are forced to
reconcile their distrust to defeat a returning Black Manta and Kordax,
both of whom tied to a lost kingdom of Necrus and artifacts that cause
all sorts of hell when badly used. Along the way, Arthur's own familial
duties come into focus and give Aquaman more to defend than just a
kingdom aspiring to join the world community by the end. In this case,
the sequel not only confuses audiences with its fairly obvious
indecision about how much of Arthur's wife, Mera, to feature in the
final cut, but it tries to balance the added comedy with an eye-rolling
underlying message about global climate change. Audiences were largely
indifferent to
, its own deficiencies
compounding upon general discontent with the superhero genre to extend
studio disappoint with these universes. The music provided by Rupert
Gregson-Williams and his extended team for
was a
surprising guilty pleasure, its rather simple regurgitation of 1990's
Hans Zimmer power anthem basics, blended with Vangelis techniques on
synthetics and a variety of rather unique mannerisms, gave the score a
distinctive character even if it largely lacked much structural
intelligence. In its favor was a tendency of its many themes to provide
for easy listening in the Remote Control Productions era of mindless
Zimmer emulation. The same team returns to supply a continuation of that
music for
, this time aided by a
different, arguably inferior credits song, "Deep End" by X Ambassadors,
that doesn't serve the story as well as "Everything I Need" in the prior
entry.
Listeners with a soft spot for the
Aquaman will
find a fair amount to like about the sequel's soundtrack, if only in the
continuation of most of the same themes and general sound. But the
execution isn't as novel in the second score, and the music tends to
devolve into unmemorable action material more often than not. Only two
ghostwriters receive buried credit for
Aquaman and the Lost
Kingdom, and there are relatively few moments in this score that are
truly unique. There is still tons of pounding on key, and there's only
so much mileage these composers can get out of asking brass and
synthesizers to blast away on the bass with foghorn intent. Every note
in the action sequences seems badly overemphasized, percussion or some
other element slamming on too many beats and synchronization points
barely afforded any intrigue or subtlety. When a moment of quick
diversion is called for, such as the middle of "Not Normal," the
handling sounds inept; that cue sounds as though a bad suspense insert
was forced into the mix. The "Grasshoppers" sideshow is really
distinctive, almost like an animation action comedy cue, and doesn't gel
with surrounding material. A little better is a siren call in "Call From
the Deep," a simple repeating structure at 0:33. Along the way,
Gregson-Williams also manages to lose some of the pitch-slurring
personality of the prior work even though the manipulation of organic
and synthetic elements still contributes throughout. Most of the
majestic element is lost. The staccato electronic slashing in "Your
Blood Will Do" is downright atrocious. But the overall demeanor is
consistent enough overall for the composer to earn his pay and provide a
basically functional score for this context. Much of that proficiency is
owed to the persistence of most of the themes from the first score.
Gregson-Williams succeeds in at least tangentially referencing all of
the major ideas from that score, minus its most alluring one. The choice
of eliminating the gorgeous love theme for Mera was likely due to its
origin as the song melody of
Aquaman, and the composer opts to
replace it here, an enormous wasted opportunity to better develop the
idea after its minimal use before. The Orm material from prior film is
not twisted for the cause of good as much as expected, though it does
factor in cues like "You Wanted Your Revenge."
Returning from
Aquaman are the main theme for
Arthur/Aquaman, the two identities for Atlantis, Arthur's family theme,
and the Black Manta theme. The main theme is liberally applied by
Gregson-Williams in
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, its exploration
and variants satisfyingly extensive. The changing of its tempo for
varying heroic applications is a particularly interesting deviation. It
opens "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" in accelerated fanfare form and
dabbles quickly in those variants before consolidating back to its prior
(and always somewhat suspect) Alan Silvestri emulation at 0:58 for brass
and electric guitar. The theme suddenly bangs away at 0:49 into "Not
Normal" in full bravado and rediscovers its early synthetic personality
at 1:17 into "Only Child," closing the cue with grandiose hope. It
dissolves into more frantic action at 0:26 into "Grasshoppers" with wild
bass flute and choir accompaniment, adopting more solemn defiance on
brass at 1:33 before a comedic moment. The main theme fights back
shortly at 2:52 into "Orichalcum," exudes morbidly melodramatic and
overstated personality at 0:44 into "My Eternal Night is Ending," opens
"Your Blood Will Do" with staggering self-importance, and offers only
fragments in the early action of "Cave In" before a full fanfare and a
redemptive string resolution at the cue's end. In the hearty closing
cues, the theme presents a hint of nobility at the outset of "A True
King" and slows for a triumphant performance in "The Next Chapter." The
two themes for Atlantis are reprised only briefly. The primary one for
the kingdom is heard at 2:50 into "Manta on the Bridge" with busy
secondary activity, some of its vintage Vangelis majesty retained, and
its rising pairs are also embedded into the action of "Go and Feast."
The other Atlantis idea is one of royal triumph for Arthur and the
kingdom together, and its pleasant progressions yield soft keyboarding
in the first half of "The Real Superheroes" and an interlude to Arthur's
theme at 0:49 into "The Next Chapter." The family theme originally for
Arthur's parents is vital in this score, repurposed for Arthur's own
wife and son. It is conveyed with tender care at 1:36 into "Only Child"
on piano and cello for a brief moment, and its original duduk
incarnation (always a perfect representation of Maine) is reprised for
the theme at 0:14 into "Promise Me," building to dramatic, symphonic
emulation of "It Wasn't Meant to Be" from the prior score.
The evolution of the family theme into a major force by
the end of
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is perhaps the most
enjoyable development in the sequel score, its role in the finale cues
increasingly dominant. The theme intriguingly informs the action at the
climax of "Cave In," ends the score on a massive performance at 2:26
into "A True King," and transforms into a rock ballad at 1:14 into "The
Next Chapter." The Black Manta theme, meanwhile, stomps in the bass
right away in "Manta on the Bridge" and continues its bonehead minor
thirds, though it seems better focused in this score, albeit annoying.
It explodes at 1:18 into "Call from the Deep" on brass and returns
immediately with electronic distortion and a hard rock beat in "Black
Manta Lair." The new themes in
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom are
not as memorable, the mass of ideas for Necrus and the villains lost in
the shuffle. Using the same minor third bass groaning as Black Mantis
but slurring downward, all villains seem to access similar progressions
and tone in this concept. This material announces itself early in
"Necrus Rises" and returns at 1:57 with choir, interjects in the middle
of "Mera Joins the Chase," splits off in a new direction of menace in
"Orichalcum," and generates large-scale discontent in "You Wanted Your
Revenge." It pounds away with its evil at 2:12 into "My Eternal Night is
Ending" and continues in "Go and Feast," and it immediately lays waste
to the soundscape in "Necrus Arrival" with zero subtlety, spilling that
spirit into "Your Blood Will Do" as well. For a possible replacement of
the prior Mera theme, Gregson-Williams creates a new upward anthem
extending out of the Atlantis royalty theme, though it is also similar
in chord structure to the family theme. As a romance identity, it's a
very alluring but simple idea, soft on brass at 0:43 into "The Real
Superheroes" and opening "Not Normal" in Celtic flavor with choir before
being interrupted by a terrible insert. It stews at the outset of "Only
Child," gaining shape lightly at 0:51, barely registers at 1:06 into
"Necrus Arrival," and grows out of Arthur's theme early in "A True King"
for thumping string coolness. Finally, a comedy motif of sorts emerges
at the start of "Swamp Walk" and elsewhere. These new themes don't
contribute much to the overall narrative of
Aquaman and the Lost
Kingdom, leaving the basic personality of the instrumentation,
harmonies, and post-production enhancements to connect with the prior
work. All of it seems like a perfunctory shadow of the earlier score,
its enjoyment possibly restricted to a culled suite appended to music
from the first score.
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