PRINTER FRIENDLY VIEW
(inverts site colors)

There is no doubt that the style and voice of Vangelis' music was destined in some way to be reprised in Blade Runner 2049. Villeneuve turned to his usual collaborator, Jóhann Jóhannsson, to produce the score for this sequel. Despite Jóhannsson's immense mainstream success in his experimental film music, however, he was either fired or left the project voluntarily as it became clear that he was not emulating Vangelis as closely as the filmmakers demanded. Interestingly, Vangelis was still alive but no longer composing for films at the time of production; still, it would have been a shame had at least a courtesy phone call not been made to request his return. In the end, however, the ubiquitous blockbuster problem solver, Hans Zimmer, received the final call for Blade Runner 2049. Zimmer, immersed in a world tour promoting his music, made a few contributions to the score as time allowed, but he turned most of the project over to Remote Control Productions regular Benjamin Wallfisch, who had branched off into his own prolific career in the horror genre in 2016 and 2017. Zimmer was in possession of a vintage Yamaha CS-80 synthesizer, however, the likes of which Vangelis had creating the most iconic sounds for the ambience and marginal themes of Blade Runner. Armed with that machine and a clear dictate to resurrect Vangelis' sound design for the sequel, Wallfisch created a basically sufficient but badly underplayed score that fails to accomplish much of anything outside of baseline background tones for the film's general darkness. Granted, this score was likely created in a mad rush late in production, but to hear something so devoid of personality, a mere echo of an already troubled predecessor, is an immense disappointment. Yes, the Yamaha synthesizer makes enough appearances throughout the score to provide a basic connection to Vangelis' voice, and these moments of slow, depressing tonalty are the highlights of the score. The expression of this technique late in "2049" is reportedly a Wallfisch contribution while a briefly optimistic alternative in "Mesa" was offered by Zimmer. A reprise of the Vangelis cue "Tears in Rain" is another direct connection, though it's dropped rather wholesale into the equation here. Other recognizable progressions from the original film's score inform the meandering chords in the sequel, but these applications only function as well as the identical performance means.

Thematically, Wallfisch concocts a four-note theme of discovery for the Gosling blade runner, heard first on piano after about a minute in "2049." This theme for Blade Runner 2049, while following Vangelis' lead in employing incredibly slow tempos for his ideas, is otherwise totally ineffectual at its task and will be overlooked by most listeners. Inexplicably, the iconic end titles theme from Blade Runner makes no return here within the score proper, a completely unacceptable decision for a soundtrack that otherwise attempts to ape Vangelis' ambience when possible. Unfortunately, outside of these moments of interest, the majority of the score for Blade Runner 2049 is frightfully dull and uninspired. The "Joi" cue lacks even a hint of emotional connection, and Wallfisch and Villeneuve dropped the ball badly at the spotting sessions for the scene in which Deckard meets a new copy of Rachael. That scene inevitably breaks one's heart, and the music simply stews quietly in the background despite the obvious agony conveyed by Ford in that scene. What an incredibly disappointing missed opportunity. The action music in this score, meanwhile, is truly awful. Among the most distractingly hideous of these cues is the grating, dissonant, electronic groaning of "Sea Wall," which Zimmer apparently also had a hand in producing. Like Dunkirk, Zimmer and his crew don't seem to have any inhibitions about supplying music that actually ruins scenes in a film by attempting to force an emotion down audiences' throats through the sheer force of volume. What happened to the artistry of subtle manipulation? Is the talent no longer there? Or is this music simply the sonic equivalent of the biggest, baddest explosion ever staged for our eyes? Making matters worse in Blade Runner 2049 is an album situation that sprinkles the Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley source songs amongst comparatively terrible, bleak score cues. Likewise, one cannot resist being annoyed that Zimmer gets primary credit on a product like this; whether contractually necessary or not, it's deceptive and wrong. With Ford indicating a willingness to reprise his role as Deckard again, there stands a chance that this score isn't the last audiences will have heard of Vangelis' influence for concept. To encounter such ineffectual, non-descript muck from Wallfisch for Blade Runner 2049 begs for another artist to take a stab at finally combining Vangelis' distinct style of electronic soundscapes with a more appropriately resonating thematic core for Deckard's sad journey through life, preferably returning to franchise's main theme along the way. This one's barely functional and a frustrating waste.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.93 (in 101 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.94 (in 279,310 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 93:22