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| Howard |
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald: (James
Newton Howard) For the prequels to the "Harry Potter" books and series
of films, author J.K. Rowling envisioned five "Fantastic Beasts" movies,
the first of which, 2016's
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them, a solid cinematic success. The same magic was lost with the
first sequel,
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, in
2018, however, audiences and critics lamenting the movie's overly
complicated backstory and excess of characters. The same group of
magical heroes and villains returns for the second film, the wizarding
world continuing to battle the rise of Grindelwald, a dangerous populist
consolidating power to encourage the magical realm's emergence and
control over the larger muggle population. It's a poignant message in
the divisive contemporary times of the late 2010's, but some of its
impact is lost with the introduction of too many new characters on which
the plot dwells without lasting purpose. Still, the movie allows a
glimpse into Hogwarts and its famed professors 60 years prior to the
first Harry Potter story, and there are multitudes of nuggets devised by
Rowling to keep concept enthusiasts busy with speculation. Director
David Yates thankfully settled upon composer James Newton Howard for the
"Fantastic Beasts" films, the best choice aside from John Williams
himself to continue the music of the franchise into this different time.
Starting with
Lady in the Water and maturing completely in
Maleficent, Howard's fantasy style of the time has established a
voice unlike any peer, his exploration of this music becoming frequent
enough for some spoiled listeners to take it for granted. One such
related score with numerous highlights,
The Nutcracker and the Four
Realms, would have been heralded to a far greater degree if composed
ten years earlier. Undoubtedly,
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them has aged well as a score, its expansive and sometimes confusing
thematic attributions becoming clearer with time and deserving of
increased appreciation. Howard hit the sweet spot in his emulation of
Williams' themes and mannerisms while developing his own fantasy style,
yielding a remarkably effective sound for the concept that is
satisfyingly distinctive but consistent with precedent.
Howard's formula for
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of
Grindelwald remains much the same, as do the positive and negative
attributes that result. The symphonic, choral, and electronic ambience
is pitch-perfect, the first two elements intelligently mixed with
frequency and the electronics applied primarily as bass region enhancers
at choice times of suspense. The composer is still not afraid to apply
loud percussion as needed for brutal sequences, too. Solo piano
continues to supply character warmth, as does cooing, higher choral
tones that punctuate the score's inherent sadness. The primary
derogatory criticism of
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of
Grindelwald's score will involve Howard's thematic assignments. At
the very least, the additional music in the concept illuminates his
intentions in the prior film, but dissatisfaction will remain with
Howard's overarching handling of these motific duties. Some of these
issues must reside with Yates, but even Howard's new themes for the
sequel aren't particularly memorable, compounding confusion carrying
over from the prior entry. The direct infusion of John Williams music is
sloppier in
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald as well,
the reference to Hedwig's theme over the opening logos acceptable, if
not a tad faint, but the interpolations of that theme and the secondary
one for Hogwarts not well handled in the introductory scene involving
the castle. Hedwig's primary phrases are erroneously applied to the
setting, and the castle's variation on the idea rushes into its
concluding phrase awkwardly as Hogwarts is first witnessed. Later scenes
at the castle don't even hint at the theme in subtle guises, which is an
immense disappointment. Howard does better at reprising his own
character themes, though spotting sessions must have revealed few
opportunities to do so given the excess of characters in the story. The
main theme from the prior film continues to represent both Newt and the
wizarding world as a whole, and Howard applies it quite well in the
sequel. It receives cultural and action variants this time while
continuing to represent Newt's awkwardness in lighter moments. Howard
includes this melody as one of three solo piano performances of the
film's main themes; these tracks are included on the album (and were
offered separately prior to the full album) but are not heard in the
film.
Howard once again reveals a tendency to repeat phrases in
his themes twice in
The Crimes of Grindelwald, though in this
outing he occasionally shifts the second performance to a different key
or instrumental palette. Not surprisingly, the jazzy incarnations of the
main theme, a representation of the New York setting of the prior movie,
are gone. It takes a while in the narrative for the composer to state
the main identity, its optimistic yet reserved performance at 1:51 into
"Newt and Jacob Pack for Paris" leading the way. A French-laden
interpretation of the idea for the arrival in Paris is Howard's
continued method of introducing each Ministry of Magic setting with that
theme, though don't expect to hear that cue on the album. The
fascinating "Nagini" cue reminds us that this future Horcrux for
Voldemort is herself a beast, as the main theme is twisted into a
slithery, carnivalesque rendition at 3:24 that even strays towards
Williams' Hedwig theme at 3:33. The main theme is spotlighted in upbeat
variants again in "Traveling to Hogwarts," a cue partly replaced with
the Williams material on screen. Another sneaky interpolation of the
idea's structure is included at 0:15 into "Your Story is Our Story," and
the theme is afforded dramatically subdued rhythmic duties at 0:22 into
"Leta's Confession." The theme's melody is barely recognizable at the
start of "Visions of War," a hint that Grindelwald's vision of the
magical world is not too familiar. Two resounding symphonic and choral
performances of the idea resonate solidly at the conclusion of the film,
including the climactic moment of victory at 3:41 into "Wands into the
Earth" and the redemptive dramatic moment at 3:55 into "Restoring Your
Name." Newt's adventure theme from the prior score is reprised in both
its main melody and in its associated buoyant ostinato rhythms. That
ostinato bursts forth at 0:17 into "The Kelpie," albeit as a variation
that leads to a singular beast-specific melody reminiscent of the first
score's equivalents. That spirited ostinato is fully reprised and joined
by its gorgeous choral and woodwind theme at the start of both "Newt and
Jacob Pack for Paris" and the short end credits cue, "Fantastic Beasts:
The Crimes of Grindelwald," the latter expanding upon the idea. More
satisfying are the clear renditions of the adventure theme as heard at
0:03 into "Capturing the Zouwu," 1:15 into "Matagots," and 2:04 into
"Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald."
Also explored expertly in
The Crimes of Grindelwald
is Howard's love theme for Newt and Tina, though don't expect this idea
to soar to any degree close to the previous score's treatment of the
melody, as the script here simply doesn't allow for it. Howard does use
the theme to smartly pinpoint clues as Newt searches for Tina throughout
the first half of the film. It first appears in fragments at 1:25 and
1:55 into "Newt Tracks Tina," expressing Newt's hopelessly romantic
memories of her in the lovely orchestration and choral touch. The same
technique continues briefly at 1:03 into "Capturing the Zouwu." As Newt
finally confesses his feelings to Tina in the opening half of
"Salamander Eyes," Howard returns to the full, heartful piano solo
renditions of the idea from the first film. The most interesting
statement of the theme is counter-intuitive but potentially brilliant.
During the revealing scene of Nagini, which Tina witnesses, Howard
twists her love theme into the realm of tragedy and awe with magnificent
bravado at 2:42 into "Nagini," a highlight of the score. Meanwhile, each
of the three themes Howard conjured for the Queenie and Jacob characters
returns, but only briefly in every case. The affable tuba-led theme for
Jacob is reduced to a short woodwind reference at 1:35 in "Newt and
Jacob Pack for Paris" on the album, though the character has other
interactions in which his material may have sneaked into the film. (No
music recorded for the early Jacob and Queenie arrival scene is on the
album.) Their love theme makes one very notable appearance on solo voice
throughout "Queenie Searches for Jacob," featured at the forefront of
the devastating scene and interrupted by the dissonance of Grindelwald's
material. It's a lovely, heartbreaking cue of frustration and sadness.
Queenie's own theme has always been more elusive, but Howard makes a
very notable use of this identity at 2:45 into "Spread the Word," as she
and Jacob are separated by philosophy and fire. This
electronically-aided passage is, interestingly, related in tone to
Alexandre Desplat's battle music from
Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows, Part 2. The Obscurus material from the prior film is
carried over primarily in "Irma and the Obscurus," where the Credence
character receives a brief passage of this theme in lightly troubled
strings at 0:36 as he feels brief hope at an answer about his past;
echoes of this ascending melody fade away after the apocalyptic action
sequence within that cue. The more typical, cyclical stewing of the idea
returns at 2:59 into "Restoring Your Name" as the character is harvested
by Grindelwald.
One additional theme of importance carries over from
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them in the sequel, and its
presence carries with it the greatest debate about this score:
Grindelwald's theme. All three or four of them, actually. In the prior
movie, Howard's conspiracy theme had a commanding presence, adapted to
the title sequence after the composer tried applying all the other ideas
to that placement to Yates' disapproval. It was a bit odd to hear a
brightly powerful version of the conspiracy theme over the title, but
the director got his wish and it really works beautifully. An even
better title performance of that theme graces
The Crimes of
Grindelwald at 7:13 of "The Thestral Chase" as the villain completes
his escape and the title card is seen. Howard had already revealed that
theme with immense force earlier in the cue, at 5:43, when the
conspiracy involving Grindelwald's disguises re-emerges with clarity.
Less obviously, Howard perpetuates the conspiracy theme in brief
snippets later in the score, including at 3:07 into "Nagini," in the
chords of "Wands Into the Earth" at 1:54, and in the subtle, underlying
string figures at 2:59 into "Restoring Your Name." There was speculation
that Howard intended for this to actually serve as Grindelwald's theme
in the previous film, but that was not the case. The composer originally
wrote a new theme for the reveal of the character at 1:49 into "Relieve
Him of His Wand" (as heard on album), but an overlay of the conspiracy
theme was supplied to that moment of Johnny Depp's appearance on screen.
At the time, this choice was a logical and applauded move, but it turns
out that Howard was planting his true Grindelwald theme in that scene
for use in future films, and its replacement with the conspiracy theme,
while satisfying in the short term, messed with the plan. Interestingly,
although Howard does revisit this intended Grindelwald theme powerfully
in "The Thestral Chase," first at 2:40 on softer horns and then in full,
John Williams-like glory at 4:23, the theme is not a major factor
thereafter. Instead, Howard plays with two Grindelwald-related motifs
that also have difficulty asserting themselves. One comes muscularly at
2:24 into "The Thestral Chase" and informs the underlying bass line at
3:17 into that cue and at 2:25 into "Your Story is Our Story." The other
is a twisted variant of the two above melodies as heard at 1:09 into
"The Thestral Chase;" it noodles around early in "Blood Pact," develops
into a rhythm at 1:01 into "Spread the Word," expands its melodic line
at 1:13 in "Wands Into the Earth" for twenty seconds of high drama, and
turns almost yearning on high strings at 2:12 into "Restoring Your
Name."
The frustrating aspect of Grindelwald's thematic
development in
The Crimes of Grindelwald is its lack of focus.
The most frequently developed of the three motifs for the character is
the weakest, and how these ideas mingle with the conspiracy theme (or,
more vitally, don't) is unsatisfying. Almost all the best Grindelwald
motific statements in the score exist in "The Thestral Chase," though of
notable absence from the album release is the music recorded for the
ominously grand beginning of Grindelwald's gathering in the story's
final third. Complicating matters is the mingling of villain-appropriate
material with a choral motif that ties together the Barebone family
mystery subplot that guides many of the secondary characters in the
story. This frequently two or three-note descending phrase for angelic
choir succeeds the Hedwig theme at 0:19 into "The Thestral Chase" and
persists throughout the score, even altering course to address the
Dumbledore/Grindelwald connection late in "Blood Pact." As tied to the
new character of Leta, this motif haunts her own theme a few times, such
as at 2:58 into "Leta's Flashback" and on woodwinds at 2:06 into
"Salamander Eyes." It opens "Wands Into the Earth" and is reduced to
puffs of two notes as it directly influences Leta's own theme. Both Leta
and Dumbledore receive obvious new themes in
The Crimes of
Grindelwald, obvious if only because Howard recorded piano solos of
each for the album as well. Leta's theme is somewhat nebulous, perhaps
by design given her insecurity of heritage and heart. Listeners will
mostly remember the beautiful rendering of her material rather than the
actual melody associated with it. That theme debuts on piano at 1:04
into "Newt and Leta" and is faintly heard on harp at 0:19 into "Leta's
Flashback" before Howard uses that cue to launch into an innocently
melancholy love theme variation for Newt and Leta as related to their
days at Hogwarts. (The melody's application at 0:44 into the cue has a
phenomenal presence in the film.) The mystery choral motif is reduced to
two notes as it supports Leta's theme, and it magnificently segues into
her material at 1:06 into "Salamander Eyes" as she searches archives for
informantion about her lineage. Her theme agonizingly accompanies the
family and ship sequence in "Leta's Confession," the image of a drowned
baby utilizing Leta's choral theme with extremely spooky mourning.
Howard leaves one last reminder of Leta at 0:35 into "Restoring Your
Name," her theme reduced to fragments. Together, Leta's cues contain the
emotional punch of the score on screen and album, and they largely
remain tonally accessible.
It's interesting to ponder that Albus Dumbledore has
never enjoyed a proper melodic identity in any of these "Harry
Potter"-related films, and Howard finally rectifies this issue in
The
Crimes of Grindelwald. Certainly, both the austere and comforting
theme and its playful introduction in "Dumbledore" are tributes to
Williams' style of writing. The actual theme at 0:48 in that cue is the
score's most redeeming new idea, one that will hopefully carry over to
future entries. A secondary motif at 1:30 into "Dumbledore" continues in
"Blood Pact" and suggests the character's troubled past as involving
Grindelwald; this melody marginally informs the strings at 2:04 into
"Restoring Your Name" as Newt frees Dumbledore from his obligation to
Grindelwald. The performance of Dumbledore's theme on horns at 1:30 into
"Restoring Your Name" is a brief moment of absolute nobility and
optimism in an otherwise bleak conclusion to the film, and the
continuation of the theme at 3:25 brackets the possible connection
between Dumbledore and Credence. There are other singular motifs in
The Crimes of Grindelwald that may or may not extend to future
films, and fortunately they are all of high quality and generate some of
this score's memorable passages. The slithering bass woodwind and choral
Nagini motif at 1:00 into "Nagini" combines with the two-note mystery
motif for a tragic crescendo. This two-note motif evolves into its own
magnificent melody later in "Wands Into the Earth" with
The Last
Airbender intensity, and Howard launches these figures into
something of a new "alliance theme" at 3:25 for the momentary auror
victory over Grindelwald's dragon. Then, at the end of "Restoring Your
Name" (6:02), the composer accompanies Credence's mass-destruction of a
mountain landscape (sorry, environmentalists… you lose!) with an
immense consolation of perhaps a new theme of evil to close out the
film. While undoubtedly effective in tone, the "Restoring Your Name" cue
is a hit and miss entry, serving well in parts but missing the
opportunity to obviously combine (whether rightfully or not) the
Credence and Dumbledore themes into one and then mingle that performance
with a consolidated Grindelwald identity. The final cue presents more
mysteries than it solves, perhaps due to the fact that the film's story
is clearly meant as a cliffhanger in anticipation of the next entry in
2020, but there is dissatisfaction in the listening experience as it
concludes in this work. A clearer adaptation of the Obscurus motif into
a emotional form would have been merited here at the very least.
In the end, there are countless questions to be raised
about the continuity and thematic identity issues of the score for
The Crimes of Grindelwald. The plot didn't do Howard many favors,
though it's also easy to get the feeling that the composer has not
managed to map out the entirety of his ideas for the concept in the way
Howard Shore achieved for his famed
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
of music. There was reporting that J.K. Rowling had not even assembled
the plot of the third film prior to
The Crimes of Grindelwald
being produced, so perhaps Howard is simply writing to the moment as
best he can. If you can set aside these larger issues of scope and
connectivity, then you'll be able to appreciate this score as a very
fine entry in the fantasy genre, one with more than enough individual
highlights to recommend wholeheartedly. The original album was not
complete, and that is a significant point of dissatisfaction after the
immediate "Deluxe" version of
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them offered outstanding additional material from the film and in
specially-recorded suites. While it is nice to have Howard's own piano
performances at the conclusion of this album, that time would have been
better spent with the cues for the Parisian ministry, the arrival at
Hogwarts, and the congregation of Grindelwald's crowd, among others.
There is technically no end credits cue aside from "Fantastic Beasts:
The Crimes of Grindelwald," as the editors pieced together other cues
from the score to assemble a rather unremarkable suite for the scroll.
Listeners seeking the major fantasy highlights of the score will be best
served by the rowdy Grindelwald and conspiracy material in "The Thestral
Chase," the suspenseful tragedy of "Nagini," the heartbreaking vocals of
"Queenie Searches for Jacob," the overwhelming choral sensitivity of
"Leta's Flashback" and "Salamander Eyes," and the climactic high drama
of "Spread the Word" and "Wands Into the Earth." Only in the abrasive
unpleasantness of "Matagots," the underplayed rhythmic stance of "Vision
of War," and the wasted nothingness of "Newt and Leta" do you find cues
not worthy of the whole work. Otherwise,
The Crimes of
Grindelwald contains outstanding Howard fantasy material throughout
and succeeds in addressing the basic melodic needs of all but the
villains in the story. Superior to the concurrent
The Nutcracker and
the Four Realms but a step behind the original
Fantastic Beasts
and Where to Find Them, this entry will sit comfortably with
Howard's accomplished genre works and will compete favorably for a place
amongst 2018's best scores in a year. No substitute for Howard should be
considered in the continuation of this franchise.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.4
(in 70 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.36
(in 86,418 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes a list of performers and extensive photography from the recording sessions.
