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Review of The Bourne Legacy (James Newton Howard)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you've always believed that James Newton Howard's
music for The Tourist and Salt would serve as a good fit
in the Jason Bourne franchise, an idea that has turned into reality.
Avoid it... if you expect Howard to either be very loyal to John Powell's themes and live percussion mix or branch off in an exciting new direction, the composer content to play it safe through a conservative extension of only the franchise's existing base style.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Bourne Legacy: (James Newton Howard) Having
already expended the titles and basic concepts of the original Robert
Ludlum novels in the series, the Jason Bourne film franchise turns a
completely new page for its belated 2012 entry, The Bourne
Legacy. With director Paul Greengrass not returning for the project,
lead actor Matt Damon followed him out the door, leaving the production
with a unique problem. Screenwriters offered the solution in the form of
other "Outcome" agents who could be used to perpetuate the same chasing
action seen with Bourne, and in The Bourne Legacy, the CIA sets
the plotline in motion by deciding to wipe out their own agents in ways
the Jedi might relate to. Escaping the initial attack is agent Aaron
Cross, who sets off across the world with an Outcome scientist (Rachel
Weisz, conveniently) on a personal mission to wean himself from the
mind-enhancing pills on which his employer had supposedly made him
dependant. While placing the comparatively obscure Jeremy Renner in the
spotlight as Cross, The Bourne Legacy features Edward Norton,
Joan Allen, Albert Finney, and Scott Glenn in mostly familiar roles.
Unfortunately, the fourth film in the franchise did not impress critics
as much as The Bourne Ultimatum, which won three Academy Awards
for its technical prowess. In many respects, the 2012 movie feels like a
forced continuation of the concept simply for financial gain, to an
extent reflecting similar sentiment about Eric Van Lustbader's efforts
to resurrect the series of novels in the 2000's. Along with other key
crew members, composer John Powell exited the franchise at this
juncture, though his replacement is perhaps the most natural and logical
choice for the assignment. Over the previous few years, James Newton
Howard had been dutifully executing music for chase-related films that
closely emulated Powell's writing style for the Bourne franchise (a
result of the popularity of Powell's percussion and string ostinato
techniques during this time), led by The Tourist and Salt.
The latter score, in fact, was an oddly loyal extension of the Bourne
musical playbook, but aided by Howard's own gritty sense of propulsion.
It should come as no surprise that his approach to The Bourne
Legacy sounds distinctly like Salt in its instrumentation and
attitude. That said, though, this fourth Bourne score lacks the
highlighting chase passages of Salt and instead sounds like a
stew of procedural leftovers, laced at times with hints of Powell's
identities for the concept.
Although the vocabulary used by Howard to enunciate the chasing and character reflection in The Bourne Legacy is similar to that of Powell, don't expect some of the key motific elements from the previous three scores to have an impact here. Howard does eerily reference Powell's main theme immediately in "Legacy" and touches upon the character theme in "You Fell in Love," but Powell is not specifically credited in the score and absent is extended thematic redevelopment. Disappointingly, the bassoon solos and string ostinatos are not utilized as often as before, the latter somewhat curious given that they have become the "sound" of the franchise more than anything else. The ostinatos employed by Howard are not as fluid or relentless in their progressions, only infrequently applied in spurts. The application of percussion is also not as impressive as in The Bourne Ultimatum, the slapping layer of drums not as vibrant in Howard's recording. The use of electric guitars for occasional color is not particularly memorable, though they do add much-needed style to the opening moments of "Program Shutdown." Thematically, Howard ties the score together with a series of rising, three-note phrases, heard predictably in full during "Legacy" and "Aftermath." The latter cue is the score's only melodic highlight, suggesting a continuation of the story despite offering a dose of resolution at the same time. For the subtle moments in The Bourne Legacy, a somber electronic theme of remorse is explored deep in the bass region, and while the bassoon does contribute at times to these cues (especially in "Aftermath"), it is largely lost in the droning monotony of the mix. Pacing is an issue that faces this score, the slower passages killing all of the urgency that the remainder struggles to maintain. The album release exaggerates this problem greatly. With almost an hour of score material, this product is extremely laborious in its presentation, redundant and suffering from volume issues. The subtle character cues are placed at far too low a volume compared to the surrounding action material, forcing constant, significant volume adjustment to appreciate the album's contents. Had the product been condensed to feature "Manila Lab" and "Magsaysay Suite," its two clear chase highlights, together (the product is already out of chronological order), along with a few other equivalent excerpts, the listening experience might approach Salt territory. Moby's "Extreme Ways" is revised from the previous film and is an injection of James Bond style at the end of an album that is otherwise defined by a disappointingly sterile Howard environment. The score is competent in each of its parts, but it concentrates more on respecting its predecessors than taking the opportunity to explore potentially convincing new avenues with that basic sound. **
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 63:16
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information
about the score or film.
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