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| Howard |
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: (James
Newton Howard) While magical beast expert Newt Scamander has only been
mentioned in passing as part of the lore in J.K. Rowling's famed "Harry
Potter" concept, he has become the main character in a spin-off film
franchise written by Rowling herself. The initial story of
Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them was released in 2016 to the delight of
Potter enthusiasts, and the film's solid fiscal success has ensured that
Rowling's intent to make four additional entries in this franchise is
realized. The setting of this story starts about 70 years prior to when
the Potter stories occur, following three concurrent ideas as the author
fleshes out the history of the magical world. First come the efforts of
Newt as he travels the world to collect magical creatures for their
care, study, and preservation. (There is certainly a political agenda
towards conservation here). Then there's the ongoing friction between
the Americans' Ministry of Magic and the "No-Maj" muggles of New York,
the common folk, that is exacerbated by the presence of the third plot
element: Rowling's overarching battle between the forces of good and
dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, who is destined for a showdown in
future years with Albus Dumbledore. That Newt and his beasts play an
important role in soothing and foiling the latter two plotlines is a
given, and he does so with the unapproved assistance of a pair of
American witch sisters and a muggle who serves as endearing comic
relief. Director David Yates, a veteran of the Harry Potter film
franchise, hit the jackpot when he hired composer James Newton Howard to
write the music for
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them; if
any composer other than John Williams was to helm the start of this
particular franchise, Howard was the ideal. The veteran composer has
established a uniquely superior fantasy sound in a series of excellent
scores of the prior ten years, including
Lady in the Water,
The Last Airbender, and
Maleficent, and he maintains a
number of solid four-star efforts in the genre as well. Fortunately for
fans of film music continuity, Howard has adopted several stylistic and
thematic elements from Williams' original Potter scores, extending the
same general tone without sacrificing his own typical methods of mastery
in such assignments.
The score for
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them not only solicits a heavy sigh of relief, but it portends a
promising future for the franchise's music if Howard, in his late 60's
at the time of this first score's debut and sans ghostwriters, continues
to generate music for this new franchise as it inevitably shifts back to
Europe. The instrumental palette for Howard is familiar. Recorded in
London, the robust orchestra is layered with adult and boys' choirs, a
selection of specialty instruments for both the jazz and suspense
elements, and tastefully incorporated electronics typical to Howard's
usual norms. The electronics aren't clearly evident in this work, as
expected, and they serve primarily to bolster an eerie atmosphere or
bass region muscularity during action sequences. The notable specialty
performers include your standard 1920's jazz ensemble (double bass,
drums, clarinet, trumpet, etc.) for the several cues of local flavor
and, perhaps more interestingly, the vaguely rural-sounding combination
of viola da gamba and fiddle from the
Hunger Games scores for the
witch-hunters and other evil-doers in this story. Add to that a series
of intriguing, seemingly Eastern woodwind accents now and then ("The
Demiguise and the Occamy" in particular) for various creatures, as well
as the expected celeste and triangle for common conceptions of magic,
and you have a nicely rounded collection of tones in the work. Howard's
propensity for forceful, percussive flair in his action rhythms will
also please his collectors in a few cues. The sound of
Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them is a constant pleasure, from a subtle
but chilling touch like the wood block rhythm in "In the Cells"
imitating the approaching footsteps of an executioner on a hard floor to
the numerous string runs in various action cues that will remind
listeners of Williams' prowess in the concept. The Williams connections
are sometimes a little more overt, including three outright applications
of "Hedwig's Theme" (two of the primary phrase and one of the Hogwarts
variant) and a cameo of the spider motif from
Harry Potter and the
Chamber of Secrets two minutes into "The Demiguise and the Occamy."
The first Hedwig theme reference opens the film expectedly, though the
other two are less obvious in their placement; the Hogwarts variant
plays when the muggle Kowalski first learns of magic ("The Bank/The
Niffler") and the other Hedwig reference, not on album, plays as Newt
prepares a potion to attract the Erumpent in the zoo.
It's difficult to imagine that any listener could take
issue with the expansive scope and instrumental tone with which Howard
graces
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. It's a gorgeously
rendered score at its best, and an accessibly creepy one at its least
notable portions. Where debate justifiably exists in relation to this
work is in Howard's choice of thematic attributions and where he applies
them. One of the beauties of Williams' scores for the first two
Harry
Potter films was his ability to consolidate his themes into a small
number of highly memorable, easily malleable identities. Howard instead
chose to conjure upwards of ten themes for
Fantastic Beasts and Where
to Find Them and supply them in limited form and questionable
placements throughout the film. This spotting decision is truly the only
weakness of the work as a whole, and it could be a significant one for
some listeners. You encounter a wealth of identities in the score, but
none clearly reveals itself as the primary voice of the franchise. All
of the logical choices to serve in that role are underutilized in
important places in the story, and you can't look towards the end
credits for any clues given that it is pieced together with at least
five separate recordings made in chunks explicitly for those credits or
pulled from the rest of the score and edited together in truly haphazard
fashion. In sum, there are two themes for Newt, an overarching theme for
magic that seems to supplant the Hogwarts theme for this new setting, a
theme for America, one for Newt's case of beasts, a friendship theme
that doubles for romance, the nebulous motif for the Obscuris (villain)
concept and an equally obtuse, largely atmospheric sway for the
witch-hunters that cause it, the obvious jazz for the muggle Kowalski,
and, most intriguingly, a conspiracy theme that could carry over to
other Grindelwald involvement in the sequels. And then there are the
Williams themes. All together, that's a hell of a lot of themes, and
although Howard conveys almost all of them in brilliant glory at some
point or two in the work, he has difficulty pulling them together into a
cohesive musical narrative that dishes out the right melodies for the
appropriate scenes. Again, this score's only ills came from the spotting
sessions, and some listeners simply won't care about it. One might
expect that if Howard continues with this franchise, the purpose of
various themes will be better illuminated in subsequent films as a
number of characters and settings from this first film cycle out.
Technically, the primary motif in
Fantastic Beasts and
Where to Find Them is Howard's theme for magic itself. It's the
score's "cool fantasy theme," cooing with choir and utilizing minor key
progressions that fit nicely with Williams' Hogwarts theme. Howard,
unlike Williams, forgets to resolve the theme's last note,
interestingly, choosing the John Barry "it's so good, I'll repeat the
exact same phrase again" mode when the second statement of the phrase
really needs its final note to resolve down to key in the way Williams
did with Hedwig's theme. It's an amazingly adaptable theme, however, as
Howard adds notes and changes its demeanor completely so it can play in
a jazzy application. In suite form, it is explored extensively in both
its fantasy and jazz personalities in "A Man and His Beasts," the last
two minutes of jazz variant featured in the end credits of the film.
Earlier in those credits is the cue "End Titles, Pt. 2," which states a
dancing, exuberant version of theme before launching into the fuller
fantasy mode with more static progressions and choir. The immensely
frustrating aspect of this truly remarkable theme is how Howard abandons
it nearly completely after its domination of early scenes. Its
introduction on screen comes in the tantalizingly effective "There Are
Witches Among Us," the witch-hunters' speech to muggles scored with a
frighteningly appropriate disparity between extremely high tonal
elements like choir, celeste, and flute while an immense bass region
drone supplies fantastic harmonic resonance below. In this battle
between witches and muggles, Howard suggests there are no mid-range
instruments. That passage segues directly into the first outright
statement of the magic theme (as Newt is called out), continuing the
discord between high and low instruments. The magic theme is exposed in
full in its exuberant, prancing,
Maleficent-like variation at the
outset of "Tina Takes Newt In" before the awe-inspiring location of the
headquarters is afforded the film's most monumental fantasy expression
of the idea. Some listeners might be turned off by the immediate shift
by Howard to jazz in this theme, but the only true oddity is why Howard
didn't stick with the fully jazzy version of that same magic theme. The
motif opens "Pie or Strudel" during a street-walking scene and then
disappears until the end credits. Seeing the extent to which Howard
adapted the theme into three or four distinct emotional environments in
just the opening scenes, it's a huge mystery as to why this main
identity never returns. Let's hope for continued development in the
sequels.
Some listeners will gravitate towards Howard's two or
three themes more closely associated with Newt himself as means of
associating the music with
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them and beyond. The first idea is a bubbly, optimistic theme that
owes back to the heartiness of the journeying cue in
Dinosaur and
reflects the composer at his most bright and hopeful. It's the perfect
accompaniment for Eddie Redmayne's somewhat bashful, geeky, and lovable
performance as Newt, and it's heard first aboard the ship sailing to
America at 1:40 into "Main Titles," again at 0:23 in "Inside the Case,"
and closing out the first sequence of the end credits at 1:37 into "End
Titles." Newt also receives a heroic action theme, exploding during the
escape scene at 5:43 in "You're One of Us Now" and reprised briefly at
the end (2:41) of "Gnarlak Negotiations" with brass performances that
reveal its swashbuckling nature akin to Howard's prior adventure works.
As he captures the Occamy at 2:40 in "The Demiguise and the Occamy,"
Newt is treated to a lively, drum-pounding rendition of the idea and a
snare-accompanied victory lap is afforded the theme at 0:33 in "End
Titles." Associated with Newt and the Thunderbird on the periphery is a
theme that is most likely actually representing American freedom,
expressed gorgeously but briefly with aide of choir at 2:25 into "Main
Titles" as Newt arrives in New York. It is momentously reprised at 1:20
into "Inside the Case" and 1:07 into "End Titles." While some may
believe that the theme actually represents the Thunderbird that Newt is
attempting to release in Arizona (the purpose of his trip), the idea is
instead inextricably tied to Newt's main theme and all of its
performances come as an interlude within that more major idea. The
Thunderbird, meanwhile is associated more closely with Howard's
friendship and romance theme, which softly occupies the entirety of "A
Close Friend" as Newt's lost love is discussed. This theme is a rather
shameless rip-off of everyone's favorite "Ice Dance" love theme from
Danny Elfman's
Edward Scissorhands, the similarities rather
distracting when the theme is performed at 5:10 into "Newt Releases the
Thunderbird." The closure of the theme at 6:40 in that cue is severely
similar to the finale of
Edward Scissorhands, but the two
glorious minutes of the theme prior to that moment compensate for such
blatant lifting. This theme supplies the sentimentality between the
leads in "Newt Says Goodbye to Tina" as a piano heartbreakingly sends
Newt off on his next journey alone.
An important theme in the film is Kowalski's Rag,
Howard's lovable jazz identity for the muggle comedy relief, Jacob
Kowalski, and his introduction to magic and salvation in the form of
pastries. The composer extensively explores the idea in "Kowalski Rag,"
sending it through variations that are never actually used in the film,
it seems, some of them reaching levels of pomp that give it a nearly
Russian feel. Howard's pulls a Williams technique of using tuba to
represent an obese character in this cue, and despite all the stomping
that takes place here, the majority of what's actually tracked into the
film from this recording (including the Central Park scene) sounds
familiar to the final minute of actual jazz. As incorporated into the
score itself, Howard seeds the idea carefully at 2:05 and 5:28 into "The
Bank/The Niffler" as the man bumbles into Newt's endeavors. A brief hint
exists at the end of "MACUSA Headquarters" and allusions prevail at 1:07
and afterward in "Pie or Strudel/Escaping Queenie and Tina's Place" as
the man lives out a bizarre fantasy. The fuller, lovable jazz
renditions, led by piano, are heard in "Jacob's Farewell" and "Jacob's
Bakery." Interestingly, these last performances both segue into a common
fantasy-like interlude that serve to connect Kowalski's supposedly
erased memory in the rainstorm with the smirk of realization to close
the picture. (Perhaps this is a Queenie motif?) One of Howard's more
singular themes is one for the contents of his case, a magnificent idea
heard at 0:08 and 5:23 into "Inside the Case," though don't expect major
reprises of the idea elsewhere. The theme for the concept of an Obscuris
is, not surprisingly, obscure. The synthetic atmosphere and whiny string
motif introduced late in "Inside the Case" are fully realized by the
latter half of "I'm Not Your Ma," in which the character causing the
phenomenon is revealed. You hear a tragic take on this idea in "He's
Listening to You Tina," by which time the motif is notably separated
from the creepy, droning atmosphere that had forced it into submission
via the witch-hunting zealot he finally killed. The zealot's atmosphere
is conveyed in "Soup and Leaflets" and, to a lesser degree, "Credence
Hands Out Leaflets," the former being the best representation of the
tortured solo string players affecting the disillusionment of the
characters tied to the villains. The act of handing out leaflets is
similarly handled in these cues, a thumping string rhythm suggesting the
emotionally mechanized process by which the dissemination is taking
place. These passages tie into the score's most fascinating idea of
villainy that suggests a conspiracy is at hand.
After the partial statement of Hedwig's theme to open
the "Main Titles" of
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,
Howard treats the actual title of the film with a monumental statement
of his conspiracy theme. This motif is largely a rhythmic affair with a
few dramatic chord progressions underneath, but an ominous theme does
develop out of it at 1:04 into that cue, the rhythm driving it on at
1:23 as we witness the newspapers of the magical world follow
Grindelwald's exploits. Listen for this theme to recur either during
investigations of magical events or scenes relating to the other
handiwork of Grindelwald in disguise, including a subtle hint late in
"Soup and Leaflets" and at 1:25 into "In the Cells." Its more obvious
reprises exist on the streets of New York at the outsets of "Billywig"
and "The Demiguise and the Lollipop," the latter a fantastic lesson on
how to write a full minute of red herring film music. (The conspiracy is
actually absent in this scene, but you don't know that at the time.) One
disappointment involving this theme is its belated insert in the film into "Relieve
Him of His Wand," Grindelwald's fight alluding back to the tone of
action over the conspiracy material in "Main Title" but the motif itself
not returning in the original recording. Such grievances involving thematic
placement occur all over this score, and it took a late insert by Howard to
address the Grindelwald cameo scene in the film. Outside of the recurring themes,
Howard continues his tendency to unleash incredible, singular moments of tonal
resonance for a specific scene, and in
Fantastic Beasts and Where to
Find Them, those highlights come throughout "The Obscurus/Rooftop
Chase" (listen for the Obscuris material to boil over into pure Jerry
Goldsmith horror at 0:45), throughout "The Erumpent" (though Mychael
Danna's
Life of Pi is pilfered pretty clearly in the first
minute), and in the fanfare to open the "End Titles," featuring awesome
snare and brass in the bass not to be missed. Overall,
Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them is a wide-ranging collection of
five-star music assembled into a four-star package. Seek only the longer
"Deluxe" presentation of the score on album to receive the best
representations of the magic and Kowalski themes, as well as more of the
conspiracy theme. This score has so many highlights that perhaps it was
impossible to coordinate them into a proper narrative, but it's that
lingering dissatisfaction with the overwhelming quantity of themes and
their limited placement that restrains this score from the highest
rating. Still, this is classic Howard fantasy material, and while
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them doesn't stand alongside
the composer's best genre achievements, this is as close to five-star
mastery as one can climb without achieving the pinnacle.
@Amazon.com: CD or
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- Music as Written for the Film: ****
- Music as Heard on Album: *****
- Overall: ****
| Bias Check: |
For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.4
(in 62 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.29
(in 71,966 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes a list of performers and a pictorial from the recording sessions
but no extra information about the score or film.
