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| Franglen |
Avatar: Fire and Ash: (Simon Franglen) In a world
when a movie has to gross over a billion dollars to break even, the
Avatar franchise leads the way. Filmmaker James Cameron has
allowed the concept to take over his career, initially pushing the idea
of four sequels for the original 2009 movie but the fate of the fourth
and fifth films dependent upon the performance of 2025's
Avatar: Fire
and Ash. Its 2022 predecessor,
Avatar: The Way of Water,
received a surprising amount of critical praise and awards recognition
for a science-fiction fantasy concept, meeting the financial thresholds
necessary. The tale of the moon of Pandora further pushes the boundaries
of performance capture technology, especially in relation to water, and
the 2025 entry can be considered a direct continuation of the previous
movie's plot. The central family of the story battles their demons and
the loss of a son, their reconciliation and healing complicated by
repeated attempts by corrupt human scientists and military forces
seeking to dominate the moon and plunder biological technologies. In
this case, the various friendly clans of the Na'vi are also confronted
by a wickedly evil rival that teams with the human antagonists to cause
trouble. Ultimately, these stories are primarily about family, though,
including for the unyielding villain. The contents of
Avatar: Fire
and Ash were originally to exist as part of
Avatar: The Way of
Water, but with these films each running over three hours in length,
the plotline required distinct releases despite their shooting together.
The soundtrack for
Avatar: The Way of Water achieved an almost
impossible feat; James Horner's music for
Avatar, including its
pop song, have remained immensely popular, and the composer's death in
2015 complicated Cameron's plans for new original music. But longtime
Horner collaborator Simon Franglen stepped in and produced one of the
greatest sequel film scores in history, not only raising Horner's
trademark sound from the dead but adding overwhelmingly high-quality new
ideas to the franchise. That score remains one of the most surprising
success stories in the annals of cinema.
For Franglen, his approach to
Avatar: Fire and Ash
remained much the same, the project requiring upwards of 2,000 pages of
music to be written. He considered the two sequels to be a narrative
pair with his music, allowing the 2025 score to complete ideas teased in
its predecessor. In this case, he also wrote the decent, Miley
Cyrus-performed song for the end credits, "Dream As One," though its
melody does not connect obviously to any of the underscore's themes. The
movie does have a scene of musical performance on screen that required
Franglen to not only devise a unique sound for the Na'vi band, but help
design what those instruments would look like. His concoctions were
string based and accounted for the number of fingers on Na'vi. In the
score proper, the composer doesn't go overboard reinventing the wheel in
Avatar: Fire and Ash. He clearly saw his job as overseeing the
completion of his narrative in
Avatar: The Way of Water while
retaining most of the same instrumentation, all the while continuing to
reference specific aspects of Horner's 2009 score and that composer's
tendencies generally. The Horner emulation in
Avatar: The Way of
Water was a spectacular success, but Franglen has dialed back those
direct connections in his second franchise score. Although
Avatar:
Fire and Ash is still littered with "Hornerisms," it speaks a bit
more with Franglen's own voice. Most listeners will likely think that
the instrumental palette sounds much the same, even if the use of chimes
and triangles for the water concepts is diminished and the marine and
whale sounds also less obvious. The franchise's abrasive choral tones
return alongside traditional vocals, with soloists continuing to pepper
highlighting melodic moments. The orchestration of the score is still
absolutely immense, Franglen's spread impressive though much drier in
the mix. (Simon Rhodes was not involved this time.) By the score's late
cues of confrontation, he unleashes gargantuan performances of full
ensemble and choral majesty. His background in synthetic accompaniment
does once again factor in this music. Some cues utilize thumping
electronic rhythms as heard in the previous score, but they're not as
prominent or satisfying.
The greatest effort to customize the sound of the score in
Avatar: Fire and Ash went towards finding a distinct style for
the Mangkwan (Ash People) that function as the tale's villains. On the
surface, this material is really unpleasant and somewhat generic,
utilizing tritones by design. Franglen continues to explore his
returning electronic growling and pitch-slurring effects for these
characters. He started with a Mongolian instrument known as a Morin
khuur and melded it with an electronic cello, then pushing them through
post-production manipulation to make an unusually harsh combination. The
initial result in "Mangkwan Attack" is highly abrasive and may repel
listeners, and similarly processed string slurring in "Forest Chase" may
similarly annoy. On top of the extremely rough string-oriented tones for
this new clan, the composer also adds new, angry vocal techniques for
them in "The Ash Camp" as well. These techniques do taper as the score
progresses, eventually yielding back to the more tonally digestible
mysticism that reflects the score's core themes. Even so, however, there
is an abundance of mundane parts and atmospheric textures in this work.
A surprising amount of the score accomplishes very little other than
establish a conservative ambience, as in the first minute of "Family
Reunited," all of "You Said You Could Protect Us," and the first
portions of "Tulkun Council" and "Leave My Mother Alone." There are few
moments of total deviation in the score, the source-like percussive
rhythms at "You Still Have This Family" the most obvious. Aside from
that, Franglen once again weaves his intricate thematic tapestry, rarely
allowing too long a period of time before at least one identity is
referenced. His references to Horner's themes and several strong new
ones in
Avatar: The Way of Water were the key to his success in
2022, and he clearly saw
Avatar: Fire and Ash as an obligation to
wrap up the fresh ideas he conjured prior while addressing a handful of
new situations with additional identities. Do not expect any of the
themes newly added in 2025 to rival the prowess of the ones from the
2002 score, and some listeners may preserve their dissatisfaction with a
diminishing presence of Horner's original ones, even if the plot demands
it.
While Franglen's spotting of themes
Avatar: Fire and
Ash is logical in most circumstances, the overall narrative of the
score is inferior to that of
Avatar: The Way of Water, in part
because of a lack of gloriously spectacular renditions for most of the
new ideas and the diminishment of favorites from
Avatar: The Way of
Water. Many listeners may believe that there is no overarching new
idea in the third entry, but it is actually anchored by a theme
previewed at the end of the preceding work. The all-new themes are
either one-hit wonders or comparatively unmemorable in the broader
scheme. That said, comparing anything to
Avatar: The Way of Water
is an unfair prospect, and Franglen does offer much to like in the
melodic handling for
Avatar: Fire and Ash. The opening "Brothers"
cue is an excellent summary of prior franchise identities, and it has to
be noted that some notable renditions of pre-existing themes and
arguably superior film versions of all the themes are not heard on the
initial album despite its immense length. Only one theme from Horner's
score truly survives by this point, and it's the main love theme that
defines the whole franchise. Known best for its primary four-note
phrase, this idea is frequently interpolated by Franglen and bookends
the work in memorable fashion. Opening "Brothers" and merging with
Franglen's family theme by 0:34, the franchise identity is adapted for
light tension on strings at 0:41 into "You Still Have This Family" and
expressed on choir over the angry action rhythms at 0:17 into "Mangkwan
Attack." It's laced throughout "You Said You Could Protect Us," starting
on troubled, dissonant strings, and the idea reprises its familiar
position on solo violin against Franglen's ancestral theme at 0:26 into
"I Can Be Your Guide." After a partial phrase of defiance at 1:29 into
"Protest Noted," the theme is engrained into the action at 2:08 into
"Marshaling Forces" before its secondary phrase reminds at 0:53 into
"The Light Always Returns," and Franglen closes out that cue with a
rousing fanfare send-off. Two other Horner themes have persisted in
these sequels, including the ascension theme highly reminiscent of
Glory in its first two stanzas. While not featured in
Avatar:
The Way of Water, Franglen makes a nicely subtle reference to it on
cellos at 1:16 into "Brothers," alongside the associated, descending
fanfare sequence for flying from Horner's score.
One of the casualties of the albums for Franglen's scores
in this franchise has been Horner's Na'vi culture theme, which resembled
a common phrase from the late composer's
Legends of the Fall and
The Four Feathers. It existed in
Avatar: The Way of Water
a few times, particularly as the lead character, Jake, adopts his
adversary's son, Spider, as his own. This idea was always assumed to
represent Jake's assimilation into Na'vi world, though it may also
represent the character himself. In any case, the main album
presentation for
Avatar: Fire and Ash also omits any reference to
this idea. Of Franglen's major original themes for
Avatar: The Way of
Water, all but one returns prominently in this score, and the last
one is likely another album casualty. The primary theme of that previous
entry is the family theme that informed the "Songcord" vocalization.
Heard at 0:14 into "Brothers" on choir with new penny whistle accents,
this idea follows the flow of thematic reprises on lighter shades at
1:24 in that cue. The "Songcord" vocal performance of the theme is
reprised wholesale in "Mourning," and it quietly stews in the latter
half of "You Still Have This Family." The idea is forced into action in
the first minute of "Mangkwan Attack" and laments with layered vocals
and strings at 3:47. A quiet panic on trumpet at 2:39 into "How Do You
Still Live?" then awaits, the melody barely intact on brass by the
middle of "Family Reunited" until strings explore portions of its
structure and the composer allows it a defiant posture later for a quick
moment. The family theme resorts to a defeated solo horn at 0:35 and
later into "You Said You Could Protect Us" and merely survives the
onslaught at 1:19 into "The Beach." Worried on strings at 1:07 into
"Mission Accomplished," the theme reminds of its origins in the middle
of "Lo'ak" as an interlude to that character's theme. The family's
struggle to survive forces the theme to become a battle cry at 0:53 and
2:11 into "Preparing for Attack." Its "Songcord" progressions sooth in
the middle of "You Will Protect Her," but the mood turns brighter
thereafter, the theme victorious for a few propulsive moments at 0:53
into the highlighting "Settling the Score." It then interjects into the
frantic mood at 0:48 into "Flux Devil" while its harmonics (but nothing
more) contribute to the build-up to the closing hits of "The Light
Always Returns."
Two other Franglen themes from
Avatar: The Way of
Water mature significantly in
Avatar: Fire and Ash, both
potentially serving as this score's primary identity. The ancestral
theme reveals itself as an identity for the Kiri character and her
connection with Eywa, and it's easily recognizable by its three-note
phrases over descending chords. Heard on solo violin at 2:52 into
"Brothers," its natively mystical string, wind, and percussion
atmosphere returns at 0:25 into "Miracle" before a violin carries the
melody a few times starting at 0:58. By 2:33 in that cue, the identity
has become a propulsive, inspirational force of good, and the composer
reminds us of the theme at 2:14 into "Family Reunited." Gorgeous in its
native form on choir and violin at the outset of "I Can Be Your Guide,"
the ancestral theme provides a nice respite at the start of "Find the
Girl" on solo violin and penny whistle. It then extends out of the grief
material at 3:13 into "Sacrifice" and continues on soft choir against
the tumult at 0:38 into "Preparing for Attack" before becoming massive
for the full ensemble at 2:55. The theme eventually adopts a hugely
dramatic tone, blossoming into a major force at the outset of "Settling
the Score" and maturing further over the course of "The Light Always
Returns," in which it receives its most significant rendition at 2:50
with choir. Joining the ancestral theme for Kiri is the full development
of the Spirit Tree theme previewed at the end of the prior score but
really flourishing in this one. Commonly associated with grief there and
throughout
Avatar: Fire and Ash, this dramatic identity offers a
somber memory at 1:46 into "Brothers" but builds some resonance for a
minute. It's lovely on solo voice and ethereal winds at 1:04 into
"Mourning," surprisingly flowing and pretty at 0:28 into "Caravan at
Night," and a contributor to the anguish at the climax of "Mangkwan
Attack." Nicely transitioning out of the ancestral material in the final
sequence of "Miracle," the grief theme is carried by solo voice against
the concluding haze of "The Beach" and is adapted for troubled solace at
1:18 into "Sacrifice," where it is clarified on choir with more empathy
at 2:27. It expresses a major loss in the first two minutes of "Wounded"
and becomes solitary on flute in the middle of "You Will Protect Her,"
especially expressive on strings later, and it extends out of the
ancestral theme with beauty in "The Light Always Returns."
While the Miley Cyrus song is technically the headliner in
Avatar: Fire and Ash, the ancestral theme serves as the basis for
the more contextual song of this soundtrack. As translated into song
form for lead actress Zoë Saldaña in "The Future and the
Past," the identity is the spiritual cousin of "Songcord," and its
instrumental bridge is particularly impressive in this arrangement. As
long as the humans and the lead villain, Quaritch, interfere with the
Na'vi, Franglen's military theme will prevail in these scores. Its
ominous, rising phrase from key in four-note sequences can by itself
function as the theme, but it does contain an actual melody of
three-note phrases over the top that eventually emerges again later in
this score. Most importantly, Franglen uses the rising four-note phrases
as the bassline chords for the new villain theme in this score, which is
extremely smart given their alliance and like-minded intentions. But
that shared progression may make it sound as though the military theme
is everywhere in this score. (It essentially is.) The theme enters in
very subtle fashion at 1:52 into "Miracle" under the ancestral theme,
restarts its low string posturing after a minute in "How Do You Still
Live?," and stalks in the bass at 1:06 into "Family Reunited" but earns
more focus at the cue's end. The phrasing first underpins the new
villain theme at the outset of "The Ash Camp" before becoming more
prominent at 2:34. Hints on low brass in the middle of "I Am the Fire"
yield to the idea's native muscularity intact at the start of "The
Beach" and continuing later against the new villain's string slurs.
Triumphant a minute into "Mission Accomplished" and achieving its entire
structure at 1:39, the military theme's actual melody on top of the
ascending bassline finally recurs here. That melody translates its
three-note phrases down to light drama in "I Am Your Father" as
appropriate. That material continues to inform the suspense in "Disguise
and Escape," and Franglen chooses to take a while to focus the idea in
the middle of "Protest Noted." The theme gains strength from there,
launching its assault at 0:37 into "Preparing for Attack" and stomping
in full at 2:01. It continues in all its glory to open "Herding Tulkun"
with Horner's famed, four-note danger motif, and that threatening nature
persists at 2:36 into "Settling the Score." The military theme prevails
with great power in the first half of "Flux Devil" and shifts into
dramatic suffering mode in the middle of the cue for its
resolution.
The two flashiest new themes in
Avatar: The Way of
Water unfortunately do not factor as much as one might expect in
Avatar: Fire and Ash, with no truly satisfying performances of
either one on the initial album presentation. The Metkayina/Tulkun theme
never really congeals the same way again in the major cues despite its
repeated secondary phrasing flourishing with great success at 0:47 into
"Brothers." Those lines tease at 2:09 into "Family Reunited" against the
ancestral theme, and the theme is barely intact at 0:46 into "Exiled"
and factors into the melodrama of "Tulkun Council" at minimal levels.
Meanwhile, the upbeat Payakan theme of awe does more clearly return,
heard with slow reverence and new harmonies at 0:37 into "I Can Be Your
Guide." After a massive enunciation at 0:50 into "Marshaling Forces,"
this theme is only briefly touched at the end of "You Will Protect Her"
and middle of "Herding Tulkun." The all-new themes in
Avatar: Fire
and Ash are most obviously focused on the villainous clan, but for
pure entertainment, none can compete with the Windtraders theme. Using
the same percussive rhythms of the Metkayina theme from the prior score,
this idea is simply fantastic and contains lovely, ascendant secondary
lines of whimsy and imagination. Introduced on flute and strings at 0:15
into "The Windtraders" and receiving increasing depth with each
rendition, this identity is massively expressed at 0:59 and 1:47, the
franchise's stylized vocals applied as accents. The theme is restrained
but weighty at 0:12 into "Caravan at Night" and forced into the action
on brass at 1:16 into "Mangkwan Attack" before disintegrating per the
plot. While this theme could only exist in this one brief sequence in
the film, "The Windtraders" and its monumental descending counterpoint
lines and secondary phrasing all pointing to
The Mask of Zorro,
it's the top highlight of the entire score. It's literally killed off by
Franglen's new Mangkwan fight theme, its menacing, three-note phrases
dominating "Mangkwan Attack" in different guises for the Ash People and
utilizing the highly abrasive string manipulation techniques. Twisted at
0:34 into "Mangkwan Attack" but focused at 1:33 on choir, this idea
further consolidates its power with choir at 2:23 and drives several
later sections. It shifts into a different use for despair in the middle
of "Exiled," influences the action and later suspense in "Find the
Girl," and is reduced to two-note alternations in "The Deep Ones."
The material for the Mangkwan generally in
Avatar: Fire
and Ash is eventually overtaken in emphasis by a separate theme for
their leader, but it does continue to factor in the second half of the
film at particular moments. Harsh vocals carry the idea in the middle of
"Protest Noted," in which the theme reduces to two-note phrases. Later
confined to solo violin in the latter half of "Tulkun Council," the
Mangkwan fight theme's three-note phrases start normally but shift
positively in the middle of "Marshaling Forces," and they are heavily
dramatized for the climax at 3:10 into "Leave My Mother Alone." Their
leader, Varang, receives a distinct theme of significance in the score,
built from a descending pair of notes with a higher, four-note answer
over the ascending bassline that is itself the military theme.
Announcing its presence on brass at 2:27 into "Forest Chase" and
taunting at the cue's end, Varang's identity lurks at 2:26 and later in
"How Do You Still Live?" before emerging with more powerful influence on
low brass at the start of "The Ash Camp." Its formal introduction comes
with obnoxious manipulation in the middle of "I Am the Fire" before
straightening itself, culminating with brass force at the end of the cue
over rhythmic pounding. Somewhat melodramatic in attack posture at 0:32
and thereafter into "The Beach," her theme continues over snare
formality and the military theme at 0:27 into "Mission Accomplished,"
reharmonized at 2:30. It's dramatic in the last minute of "Tulkun
Council" with choral support, mingles into the action in the latter half
of "Marshaling Forces," and exits with resonating fantasy appeal at 3:17
into "Flux Devil." The final new major theme in
Avatar: Fire and
Ash belongs to the narrator of the film, Jake and Neytiri's son,
Lo'ak. Hinted in the prior score, it's a direct offshoot of the family
theme and perhaps not distinct enough for all listeners, as it's
difficult to fragment without sounding like the other theme. Debuting on
strings after the family theme late in "You Still Have This Family," the
idea resorts to merely pieces of itself to inform the last sequence in
"Exiled" on French horn. Franglen provides the theme a formal
arrangement in "Lo'ak," carefully defining the idea during the first 80
seconds of that cue and fully realizing its progressions at 2:18 on
strings and choir in a melancholy but slightly heroic tone. Even here,
though, the theme cannot escape an interlude featuring the family theme,
as the two are clearly inseparable by their shared structures.
Aside from these fairly well-defined themes, there are
other standout moments in
Avatar: Fire and Ash that suggest
Franglen is moving to consolidate a thematic representation. Some of
them may be intended for future development in the fourth and fifth
pictures, especially if the composer seeks to address concepts like the
budding romance between Kiri and Spider. The most intriguing of these is
vaguely recurring new material for the Metkayina clan that seems to
increasingly focus specifically on the returning Ronal character as she
nears her fate. Perhaps meant as a replacement for the overarching
Spirit Tree/grief theme when addressing lamentation for the Metkayina
clan in general, this music informs a dramatic descent at end of
"Marshaling Forces," continues at start of "I Call Upon the Warrior
Mother," marginally concludes "Wounded," and persists in "You Will
Protect Her." A few other seemingly singular ideas grace
Avatar: Fire
and Ash but don't immediately illuminate their future purpose. The
best of these is a massively dramatic passage that wrestles your
attention at 2:31 into "The Beach." Also, an equally attractive idea
follows at 1:30 into "Tulkun Council" that is definitely not related to
the Metkayina material. The underlying harmonies of the latter moment
initially suggest that this passage might be related to the "Dream As
One" song, but no such connection seems to exist. These singular
sequences of outstanding resonance occur primarily in the second half of
the score, causing some muddiness to the narrative experience on album.
The constant tug and pull between the military theme for Quaritch (and
associated human assholes and their various machines) and that of Varang
causes some cloudy attributions as well, especially with the Varang
material itself blending into the broader Mangkwan fight music when not
trying to be sickly alluring. And then there's the intertwined family
and Lo'ak themes, causing the latter to be potentially missed entirely
by casual listeners. One might wonder if Franglen didn't get too
creative in his associative relations between all these ideas, because
film score themes tend to elude most moviegoers unless they are
extremely clearly defined and repeated with exacting enunciation. The
alternative method of retaining attention is via unique coloration of
extremely simple melodies, the Ennio Morricone method, if you will.
Franglen certainly takes that route with the Mangkwan fight material but
not really anything else in this score.
One final aspect of
Avatar: Fire and Ash of
interest to film music collectors will be Franglen's continued loyalty
to Horner's mannerisms, even if they are diminishing in quantity with
each score in the franchise. In this entry, these loving and welcomed
references include the shakuhachi flute remaining as a mandatory staple
of the soundscape, both in puffed mode and singular howls. The penny
whistle and rambling piano at 0:24 into "Brothers" recalls
Avatar
while the cadence of the instrumental waves and meandering basslines at
0:46 into that "Brothers" cue is vintage Horner. The whistle later
conveys Horner's three-note fantasy motif, famous from
Willow, at
1:45 into "Mourning." The descending brass in the bass during "The
Windtraders" is especially appreciated, particularly at 1:06. Franglen
applies the Horner technique of repeating the conclusion of a major
thematic performance with different counterpoint, as heard at 2:32 of
"The Windtraders." A variant of the danger motif on trumpet recurs at
the start of "Caravan at Night," double metallic slams feature early in
"Mangkwan Attack," and layered vocals of lamentation in the latter half
of "Mangkwan Attack" recall similar use by Horner. As in the final
minute of "Exiled," a solo French horn once again represents noble
loneliness. A rumbling piano, drums, and chime stinger in the bass at
the start of "The Ash Camp" evokes
Glory while crashing piano
figures in the middle of "The Deep Ones" resemble Horner's early 1990's
thriller mode. A repeated danger motif alerts at 0:37 into "Preparing
for Attack." The most magnificent ambience of magic from
Cocoon
punctuates the end of "I Call Upon the Warrior Mother" while a common
Horner phrase is applied at 2:13 into the impressive "Settling the
Score." All of these references to technique, along with the continued
life of themes from
Avatar, once again reinforce Franglen as the
right man to tackle these immense scores. They are utterly massive
undertakings that dominate his career for years on end. His achievement
for
Avatar: The Way of Water was lightning captured in a bottle,
and listeners need to be prepared for a slight diminishment in
Avatar: Fire and Ash. There are fewer moments of grandeur in this
score due to a reliance on suspense and conflict. The sense of joy and
magic is a bit lost, and fewer Horner sensibilities abound. The album
presentation is laborious at times, and clipping in the gain of the
album's louder parts is unforgivable. Regardless, this music is
extremely intelligent and offers more than enough highlights to impress
despite sky high expectations.
@Amazon.com: CD or
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- Music as Written for the Film: *****
- Music as Heard on Album: ****
- Overall: *****
There exists no official packaging for the digital album.
