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Gregson-
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The Equalizer 2: (Harry Gregson-Williams) So
confident were the studios in producing 2014's
The Equalizer that
planning for its sequel commenced prior to that movie's debut. The
concept's origin on 1970's television had morphed into a darker variant
of the same vigilante idea for a 2010's audience, with actor Denzel
Washington residing firmly in his comfort zone as the titular former
government operative who takes matters into his own hands when the bad
guys of the world piss him off. The project was a moderate fiscal
success, featuring some morbidly humorous depictions on how to kill
nasty customers with standard hardware store merchandise. For
The
Equalizer 2 in 2018, Washington reprises a character for the first
time in his career, this time replacing the hardware store for a killing
spree set against the chaos of a coastal hurricane. A recurring
character and friend of Washington's Robert McCall is brutally killed by
other wayward assassins of the American government, and this event
expectedly turns him into full murder mode as he avenges the offense.
The character continues to be lonely and sad, ending this tale arguably
no more fulfilled than in the first film, and critics were quick to
point to the diminishing returns for the concept in general. Still, the
formula has its audience, and
The Equalizer 2 repeated roughly
the same grosses as its predecessor. Of no surprise is composer Harry
Gregson-Williams' return in the franchise. His music for the 2014 entry
was largely unremarkable, following very stereotypical development for a
modern urban thriller without paying any sort of musical tribute to the
identity of the 1970's show. It was a minimally sufficient but
unmemorable score making use of the genre's usual instrumentation
spanning the organic and synthetic realms, though Gregson-Williams did
afford McCall a melancholy theme developed without much glimmer of hope
by piano and electric cello. Not much changes in the sequel's music, so
if you found the previous score to be monotonous and perhaps tedious in
its more abrasive potions, then expect more of the same here. In the
Filmtracks review of
The Equalizer, it was suggested that all
Gregson-Williams needed to accomplish to earn his pay was the following:
hire a string section and overlay it with thumping electronic loops for
the chase sequences, sampled noises for scary synchronization points,
slight electric guitar for the element of "don't mess with this asshole"
coolness, and piano for the auxiliary character reflection and there you
go. No need for anything else.
Indeed, absolutely nothing has changed in
Gregson-Williams' ingredients for
The Equalizer 2 except for a
swapping of the vaguely Russian instrumental tones in the first score
with distorted female vocal inflections here placed in the back of the
mix, a logical switch given the differences in plot. Disappointingly,
there is nothing else of significance altered between the scores, the
two playing in total synchrony with each other at every moment. In both
works, the environment develops from one of solemn piano lamentation to
butt-kicking, rhythmic electric guitar victory, and the same progression
occurs in the sequel, the soft reflection of "McCall's Return" emulating
"Alone" and the second half of "Top of the Tower" loyally reprising the
highlighted rhythmic and electric cello thematic performance presented
in "The Equalizer" during the previous score. A solid but redundant
summary of the McCall theme closes out
The Equalizer 2 in the
brief but vaguely satisfying "Who Are You?" Perhaps it should come as no
surprise that there is absolutely nowhere for the music to evolve in
this franchise, as McCall certainly doesn't. He may be staring at a
different view at the end of the sequel, but his alienation and
disillusionment remains the same. Gregson-Williams' theme remains
moderately attractive and appropriate, but there need to be something
more than identical recapitulations of its personality here, even if
that difference over time is subtle. The composer struggles to move that
emotional bar a notch higher with his own piano performances in "McCall
Mourns Susan," and nothing much comes of it. Likewise, the action
sequences don't really start to engage until the hurricane sequence at
the end, at which point the string section starts to kick up some
legitimate dust. Even here, the drama of the storm as a backdrop is not
reflected by the limited scope of the score's orchestral presence. (Some
brass touches would have been appreciated in these passages rather than
harsh synth tones.) But the remaining music is ambient droning outside
of "Destroying the Evidence," which offers a peek at some of the
rhythmic sophistication desired in the rest of the score. An
interesting, simple three-note motif of suspense in that cue goes
underdeveloped in others, too. On the plus side, the grating, dissonant
synthetic element seems slightly dialed back here, the environment
relying a bit more on tonal appeal. Overall, the shorter, 43-minute
album for this score is surely sufficient and can be combined by concept
enthusiasts with the first movie's soundtrack for a seamless experience.
For other listeners, there's little reason to explore this
conservatively rendered, often depressing thriller score, as even the
thematic highlights offer no memorably unique characteristics.
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| Bias Check: |
For Harry Gregson-Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3
(in 40 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.98
(in 55,240 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information about the score or film.
