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| Powell |
Hancock: (John Powell) With such an intriguing
concept at its core, it's disappointing that director Peter Berg's
Hancock was hacked into such a confusing mess. In its short hour
and a half, the film attempted to merge two completely different kinds
of fantasy concepts into one, and unfortunately, the part everybody
seems to have liked was that which occupied the first half of
Hancock. In that half, Will Smith carries the film with his
carefree, "asshole" persona, a smart-mouthed anti-hero who saves people
with his special powers despite a complete lack of appreciation, not to
mention police and lawyers in pursuit. The premise of
Hancock is
surprisingly similar to that of the Pixar hit
The Incredibles,
portraying the real world as treating its superheroes with either
indifference or lawsuits. Despite the potential of that premise,
Hancock explores significantly larger fantasy topics with almost
Shakespearean tragedy in tow, leading to a film ultimately far weightier
than it needed to be. These flaws in the story didn't stop Smith's
attractively defiant attitude from helping
Hancock to significant
box office returns, however. John Powell's music for the film suffers
from all of the problems inherent with an untethered script, bouncing
through genres of music with reckless abandon. Powell's extensive
talents in all of the necessary genres allows for a score that
competently travels through the three emotional realms of the film:
lonely confidence with snazzy attitude, straight superhero action, and
the contemplative "meaning of life" material caused by the last 40
minutes of the production. Weaving in and out of these three general
sides of the score are two dominant thematic structures that receive
significant exploration. These two themes end up being the salvation of
a score that otherwise wanders through the remainder of its material in
workmanlike, but bland fashion. Critical ears will also hear influences
from other composers' music mixed into the equation at times, too,
making
Hancock a purely average listening experience.
Powell does his best to integrate the three various
sides of the score into one cohesive whole, even if at times he does not
entirely succeed. The first side is obviously the hip accompaniment to
Smith's/Hancock's personality. A slightly retro, jazzy appeal, complete
with organ and finger snapping effects, faithfully follows the
character's troubled, but funny interactions. This tone merges with the
action material, starting immediately on album with "SUV Chase," to
transform into a high style jazz persona that borders on being a parody
of the classic James Bond sound. Other action pieces do stray into a
more robust orchestral realm. Unfortunately, while there are connections
that can be made between these two action styles and Powell's previous,
strong works in the genre (
Paycheck comes to mind, among others),
these moments also provide the clearest reminders of other composers'
works. In the high-flying combination of electronics, orchestra, and
jazz appeal in "SUV Chase" and "Hollywood Blvd," the latter being
perhaps the most engaging cue on album, you hear significant
similarities to Michael Giacchino's
The Incredibles. In the
crescendos late in both "To War" and "The Moon and the Superhero," there
is a very distinct connection in instrumentation, pacing, an progression
with Danny Elfman's
Spider-Man finales, which might be explained
by the director's previous collaboration with Elfman leading to some
temp-track usage. They make for great listening here, but they are
derivative. The third and final part of the
Hancock score is the
contemplative meanderings that accompany the larger purpose of the title
character and one other in the film. The tremendously out of place back
story is treated with due gravity by Powell, who usually addresses the
situation with solo piano or other instrument of lamentation performing
one of the score's two themes. One of Powell's most successful
achievements in
Hancock is his ability to merge the
instrumentation of the three parts into the whole, leaving an overall
impression of defiant coolness that is especially prevalent in the final
cue on album.
The two primary themes of
Hancock are both quite
attractive, even if they don't necessarily strike you as being either
original or ethnically appropriate. Powell doesn't make the purpose of
the two readily apparent in their structures, but one seems to
underscore Hancock's inevitable maturation on a personal level while the
other seems to address the character of Mary and/or her larger
significance. They are entertaining themes, culminating in some
extremely rowdy performances at the end of the film. That said, they do
both take quite some time to develop. Both are introduced in "John, Meet
Ray," the first of which being stated in the opening 30 seconds. This
fluid, harmonically pleasing theme is difficult to appreciate in that
cue and "Mary Brings Meatballs," but receives a sorrowful performance on
strings at the beginning of "Getting Therapy." Short statements follow
in "Standing Ovation" and "Mortal," but the theme explodes into its full
ensemble glory two minutes into "Death and Transfiguration." With its
heroic maturation on brass, the theme very much resembles Harry
Gregson-Williams' material for Aslan in his score for
The Chronicles
of Narnia: Price Caspian, which shouldn't be too distracting but
does further tie the two composers together. The second theme is heard
30 seconds into "John, Meet Ray" and is more fleeting in the score
(pieces are worked into "Superhero Comix") until the theme dominates the
first half of "The Moon and the Superhero" with an extraordinarily
upbeat spirit. A slightly Irish feel to the jaunty progressions of the
theme is odd in this context, but forgivable. Overall, the album is a
bit too disjointed in its parts to be a readily enjoyable experience.
The soft soul (with occasional slight vocal effect) and retro jazz,
while defining the score, is absent from its best cue with both major
themes, "Death and Transfiguration." Powell was likely put at a
disadvantage by the script he was writing music for, and so one can't
fault him for writing music that saves its revelations until the end and
only coalesces at that point. It's not as fragmented as his recent
Horton Hears a Who! score, for it has some lengthy statements of
consistency late on the album, but you still get the impression that
Hancock lacks a definitive anchor for all of its components.
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| Bias Check: |
For John Powell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.28
(in 50 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.16
(in 52,492 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.
