| CLOSE WINDOW |
|
FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Iron Man 2 (John Debney)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you want to hear an adaptation of Ramin Djawadi's
metal guitar sound from the previous franchise score in a large
symphonic and choral environment.
Avoid it... if you expect John Debney to finally give the franchise an original and cohesive set of musical identities, a task at which he surprisingly fails.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Iron Man 2: (John Debney) After the overwhelming
success of the 2008 adaptation of the Marvel Comics character to the big
screen, a series of events have followed Iron Man that have
significantly complicated the outlook for other Marvel adaptations in
the future. Marvel, which has found itself in a slippery situation
between Paramount and Disney, is going wild in its attempts to bring all
of its famed characters to life in overlapping, cross-referenced
pictures with complicated story arcs. While hints of this plan have been
seen in prior films, Iron Man 2 is the point where the larger
picture started to really be carefully developed, in some cases to the
detriment of critical opinion. In this middle installment of the trilogy
specifically meant for the character, Tony Stark has revealed his
identity and is under pressure to cooperate with the American government
to explore his technologies further. His prospects are challenged by
lingering trouble reconciling his relationship with his father's legacy
and liquor bottles, and he is eventually forced to rely on help to
defeat a distant adversary using the same revolutionary technology. New
characters abound, establishing a foundation for future films and
presenting a plethora of new opportunities for the music in the
franchise. Unfortunately, the recent films conveying the Marvel universe
have done a poor job coordinating that music into some kind of cohesive
whole, rotating between composers and failing to create and reprise
clear thematic identities for the main characters. Even within Iron
Man 2 there are continuity problems. Hans Zimmer clone Ramin Djawadi
wrote largely ambiguous music for the previous film in the franchise,
and John Debney stepped in as part of his enduring collaboration with
director Jon Favreau to take that sound in a new direction. Debney is an
immense science fiction and fantasy enthusiast, and he has confessed to
having a blast in his experience on Iron Man 2. He has also
admitted to being a huge AC/DC fan, which may have worked in his favor
when the production inserted a few of that group's songs into the
picture and built a "greatest hits" soundtrack compilation album to
represent the movie (despite being largely unrelated to it outside of
those two songs). Debney had to contend with continuity issues
concerning Djawadi's existing music, the AC/DC influence, a throwback
theme from original Disney theme park composer Dick Sherman, and his own
collaboration with Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello, who
contributed textural input to Debney's hybrid rock/orchestral score and
was given additional compositional credit.
The composer stated several times in interviews that "the score to this film is quite different in many ways from the last score... while employing much guitar and more contemporary elements, it is also much bigger and darker in tone and scope." With that in mind, and given Debney's proven talents in organizing seemingly incongruous elements and making an easy assignment out of them, Iron Man 2 promised to be an exhilarating listening experience. That it is at times, but he fails to solve some of the lingering identity problems that Marvel's characters on screen continue to face. The composer has expressed an interest in returning for the third entry in the trilogy, and with Iron Man 2 immediately blowing past half a billion dollars in box office revenue, that will likely be a possibility. The composer intriguingly says that he very much liked Djawadi's score for Iron Man, a curious statement given his previously expressed opinions about the methodology and sound of the Zimmer clone factory. At any rate, he wanted to sustain the rocking, metal guitar sound for the title character while pushing the scope of the music further towards an organic texture. Along with Morello's guitar overlays, a 100-piece London orchestra and choir (singing traditionally as plain accompaniment and in deep Russian lyrics) generate a more dynamic soundscape than heard in the previous score. Debney successfully applies some genuine sentimentality and heart to the title character, as well as resounding, ethnically appropriate dread for Ivan Vanko. The choices of instrumentation in Iron Man 2 are far less interesting than those Debney would incorporate into his following work for Predators, and some listeners will find the score somewhat anonymous. Most of this circumstance owes to the completely nebulous thematic development, a critical failure that reduces the score's effectiveness immeasurably. That said, you can hear what Debney was trying to do in applying his themes; he wanted to hold off on the new Stark theme until the character got his act together, and he didn't want to step on the toes of forthcoming composers (like Patrick Doyle) who are signed on to write music for subsequent Marvel films. But there is no doubt dissatisfaction to result from waiting two entire Iron Man films before a clear idea for Stark arises in "I Am Iron Man." And even then, the cue is obviously a blatant throwback to the style of Jerry Goldsmith that doesn't really fit with the rest of the score. Djawadi's two themes for the previous film are referenced in the incessant minor-third pounding that Debney employs at times, but this connectivity conveys consistent style more than melody. So, ultimately, the franchise still lacks a clear melodic set of identities. Debney does introduce secondary ideas of varying levels of satisfaction in Iron Man 2, but some were excluded or downsized in the film. There's also no guarantee that any of these identities will live on, either, a reality reinforced by the sub-themes' lack of punch. While promising in his introduction, no true theme of importance is developed in "Nick Fury." Partially removed from the film was the bombastic coolness in "Black Widow Kicks Ass." A theme for Stark's friend in "Rhodey Dons Suit" is ballsy, but generic. The hidden scene introducing the character of Thor is only atmospheric mystery. The love interest, highlighted by "The Kiss" at the end, has only faint silver screen sensibilities. The villain receives the most consistent development, though it's usually tied to morbid, low register churning and male vocal tones performing an ominous Russian-style phrase. This idea's domination of the second half of "Ivan's Metamorphosis" is impressive, though nothing thereafter matches its intensity. A theme for Stark's father is based upon Sherman's Stark Expo theme, a throwback to a previous age of innocence, but Debney's references to that idea in his underscore don't draw much attention to themselves. The shift to wholesome yesteryear imagination in the middle of "New Element/Particle Accelerator" a bit distracting, however. That cue does create a sense of wonder that offsets the hip, loop-driven metal cues like "Gun Show," which, with its heavily processed sound, will not appeal to those who found Djawadi's score the last bit obnoxious. For metal enthusiasts, though, the guitar is mixed much more in the forefront here than in Hans Zimmer's concurrent Inception. The singular highlight of the entire score is, ironically enough, "Monaco Drive," for which Debney distinctly emulates David Arnold's resurrected and revised James Bond style. This and other highlights are still too short and unfocused to really recommend this score as a standalone listening experience. Sure, Debney admirably expanded the scope of the sound of the franchise in Iron Man 2, but he failed to conjure any sense of cohesion outside of the metal-laced textures. The lack of thematic integrity is killing this franchise of music, and Debney's blend of Arnold and Goldsmith flair comes too little and too late to make an impact. Hopefully, if he can return for another sequel, Debney will then have a chance to extend his promising instrumental balance into the development of his fledgling themes, because with a strong identity, this effective hybrid score could easily have fetched a four star rating. As it is, it's either a strong 2-star or weak 3-star effort, a step above Djawadi's miserable music but nowhere near as interesting as Debney's concurrent experimentation for Predators. Let the search for Stark's musical identity continue. **
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 72:27
(track titles vary between different pressings of the score, but the contents are the same)
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
Copyright ©
2010-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Iron Man 2 are Copyright © 2010, Sony/Columbia and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 7/14/10 (and not updated significantly since). |
