: (Brian Tyler/Danny Elfman)
As long as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to generate over
billion dollars of revenue per flick, expect more of them to be cranked
out indefinitely. The eleventh such feature, 2015's
, a mash-up of all the
characters introduced in the various movies dedicated to those
individuals, thrusting them against another common enemy while
attempting, at least in this case, to develop some new character
plotlines on the side. Those relationships are explored, but the focus
remains on massive fight sequences in
,
the heroes this time coalescing to stop an artificial intelligence bent
on eradicating humanity for the sake of the planet (wait, wasn't that
also the goal in
?). This villain, Ultron, is the
Frankenstein allusion for this universe, and once dispatched, the
overarching franchise storyline can move back to galactic matters. One
has to wonder how the world's population would really deal with all this
ruckus if fantasy became reality; there's only so much "running out of
the away" bystanders can do in these flicks before they adopt
universe leanings. One of the areas the Marvel Cinematic
Universe has sought to improve upon in itself is its music. The scores
for these movies, typically battling a variety of song placements along
with the sound effects, have always struggled to form any kind of
cohesive identity. The most successful composer to accomplish such
memorable thematic presence in the franchise has been Alan Silvestri,
who has ultimately defined the Captain America and Avengers portions of
the universe's music. In later Marvel entries, however, Brian Tyler then
became the favored composer, with strong scores for both the Iron Man
and Thor storylines combining the masculinity of the Hans Zimmer
blockbuster expectations from the studio with the Jerry Goldsmith
rhythmic flair that actually (still) works. Tyler vowed upon taking the
assignment to bring some cohesion to the franchise, combining his own
prior themes with those of Silvestri to form some much-needed
continuity. Somewhere along the way, though, veteran superhero score
master Danny Elfman stepped in to provide additional and replacement
music for
While rumors flew rampant about Tyler's departure from
Avengers: Age of Ultron, fueled in part by his own somewhat
uncomfortable, evasive answer about the circumstances in an interview
about the topic, one can hope that his busy recording schedule for
Furious 7 was responsible for a conflict that left him unable to
compose and record around late edits to the film. At any rate, what
matters to the film music enthusiast is that you have this dual-composer
score that stands as one massive irony. Here we have, after years of
complaints about these Marvel scores offering no thematic continuity, a
new Marvel score that is so saturated with references to prior themes
from two separate composers that it's nearly impossible to sort through
all of them. Both Tyler and Elfman go to great pains to adapt
Silvestri's Avengers and Captain America themes and styles into the
work, not to mention Tyler's referencing of his Iron Man and Thor
themes, Elfman's referencing of Tyler's Iron Man theme, and even
Elfman's referencing of his own Hulk identity (though that one's more of
an in-joke). How the two composers go about these inclusions is
different as well, Tyler opting usually for wholesale quotes while
Elfman was content to re-work the existing material to make a new
identity off of the clear foundations of the existing one. You also have
several new secondary themes as well, two by Tyler and one by Elfman.
This score is, simply put, a free-for-all of Tyler and Elfman ideas,
and, thankfully, their styles for the project, while definitely
distinct, are adequately similar enough to function well next to each
other. Casual movie-goers won't even notice the difference. Tyler's
contribution is the dominant force in terms of running time, and his
original ideas for the picture are its most important. The general style
of his approach is exactly as one might expect. Unlike
Furious 7,
his approach to
Avengers: Age of Ultron is mostly orchestral and
choral, leaving the obnoxious electronic manipulation behind and only
occasionally allowing synthetic ambience and rhythmic thumping to play
an auxiliary role. The masculinity factor is what sets his music apart
from Elfman's. Whereas the older composer wows with high style, Tyler
accomplishes the same end through brute force. There is a significant
amount of bass-centric power and ascending lines from his
Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles score to be heard in this one, the hints of
Goldsmith brass and rhythm supplanted by more of the Zimmer influence.
The execution is still sparkling in much of it, however, matching the
prowess of Tyler's previous entries in the franchise.
Tyler's most impactful contribution to
Avengers: Age
of Ultron is his sinister theme for Ultron, heard immediately in the
score and woven into the fabric of countless cues. Its five note
progression is really quite memorable and effective in its cyclical
simplicity to represent the one-track mind of the villain. Tyler litters
this idea throughout the score's later suspense cues wonderfully ("Keys
to the Past" is subtle but nicely handled) and even uses its
progressions to inform a secondary idea for another character, Vision,
which makes perfect sense given their type of existence and other
connections. For Vision, however, the theme understandably takes on a
different tone. The Ultron material haunts Tyler's other new identity
for the picture, a love theme for Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff that
occupies much of the downtime in the score. In "Wish You Were Here" and
"The Last One," among others, Tyler conveys what will sound to listeners
like a combination of similar melodies from
Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World's End and
Titanic (either one a bit distracting in
this context). The composer's references to prior themes is plenty,
starting with nods to his Iron Man theme in "Rise Together" and
"Hulkbuster" and a cameo for his Thor theme in "The Battle." In his
treatment of Silvestri's material, Tyler quotes it briefly in "The
Battle" before really paying tribute in "Uprising" and "Outlook." The
former reprises Silvestri's trademark snare-slapping rhythms while the
latter is one giant rephrasing of "Helicarrier" in its original
Silvestri glory. All of this re-use by Tyler is generally done in
wholesale manner, meaning that you'll pretty much recognize it when you
hear it (assuming that you remember the themes, which is a problem
Tyler's identities might have for mainstream listeners compared to
Silvestri's). The Captain America adaptation is best recognized by its
rhythmic introduction and even this stands out like a sore thumb when
referenced. Tyler's contribution on the whole is really quite good, even
down to the ethnic flair that accompanies certain specific scenes, but
its one major weakness is the lack of any overarching theme for the
group of heroes. Certainly, the straight forward adaptation of
Silvestri's theme would have been the answer, for that idea has enough
punchy coolness in
The Avengers to seemingly satisfy Tyler's own
awesomeness meter. The Danny Elfman passages in the score are clearly
meant to rectify some of this deficiency in absence, the composer
wasting no opportunity to flash his own (what he calls "hybrid")
adaptation of Silvestri's theme from the previous film into this one.
The results are surprisingly glorious in the dynamism of their layered
brass usage.
You so often hear complaints about composers entering a
franchise and simply paying lip service to a famous prior thematic
identity. At the time of
Avengers: Age of Ultron, the
Jurassic
Park franchise was dealing with this same issue, for instance. These
thematic statements are typically perfunctory cameos dropped in like a
token extra with no adaptation really attempted. In Elfman's case, he
entered the Marvel universe with the task of helping Silvestri's theme
evolve rather than simply arranging it for regurgitation. Nobody could
have expected him to succeed so well. Using all the necessary rhythmic
devices and minor third alternations and churning (which at times
actually make one think there are allusions to
Fifty Shades of
Grey, especially at 0:42 into "It Begins"), Elfman manages to
produce the perfect combination of Silvestri's Avengers theme and his
own
Spider-Man score. The use of harmonics, a four note sequence,
and brazen major-key transitions are clearly Silvestri's influence, but
everything else about the theme is pure Elfman in construct, and it's
the best of fanfare-mode Elfman in its unashamed extroversion. Aside
from
Spider-Man, which is all over his cues, you hear pieces of
his
Batman,
Black Beauty, and
Alice in Wonderland
mannerisms, with some acoustic guitar easy listening from several of his
scores for good measure. These sidetracks in "Farmhouse" and "The Farm"
(look for the subtle
Hulk references) still manage to scale back
Elfman's new main theme for the picture into an easy going package. To
show respect for Tyler, Elfman throws in a quote of his Iron Man theme
in "Inevitability - One Good Eye." Overall, the most intriguing aspect
of this Elfman and Tyler combo score is the difference in their
orchestration and recordings. They're similar in many ways, but the use
of low brass is one area in which they really differ in the final
product. Both use that section in lieu of electronic bass enhancement,
but Tyler applies them with other bass elements as more of a generic
brooding effect. Elfman, on the other hand, offers up tuba performances
in this score to die for, including some poignant moments when the lack
of bass in a thematic performance is suddenly rectified by prominent
tubas. Both "Inevitability - One Good Eye" and "Avengers Unite" (holy
brass layers!) are prime examples. Unfortunately, some of these strong
Elfman cues went unused themselves in the film (one has to wonder if
"Heroes" wasn't a demo for the studio or some other initial working of
the theme). The music on screen remains an absolute mess, some cues
re-worked compared to what is on the album and a fair number of album
highlights totally missing from the film. Still, Tyler's music is solid
and Elfman's is fantastic, producing a functional score on the whole
that makes you appreciate Tyler's workmanship and Elfman's style.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Brian Tyler reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.2
(in 41 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.13
(in 18,895 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
For Danny Elfman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.16
(in 87 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.27
(in 151,403 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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