PRINTER FRIENDLY VIEW
(inverts site colors)

There are some very minor connections to early John Powell equivalents in parts of The Man From Toronto, but the execution is simply not as good; "Cheese Puffs" and "Durian Sorbet" try to emulate vintage Powell string techniques, for instance, but to little success. On the other hand, the guitars aren't frequently ballsy enough to really define a grungy or powerful demeanor outside of a few highlight cues. To his credit, Djawadi does endow The Man From Toronto with a fairly decent thematic core, though the main assassin themes lose cohesion as score goes on. This choice was likely intentional due to the plot, but it makes for unsatisfying listening on album. The assassin material consists of an introductory bassline of ultra-cool style and an actual, long-lined melody, and these ideas get combined, altered, and deconstructed throughout the work. The main bassline motif for the testosterone-driven fear factor of the assassins is signaled by two rising notes to key that start the theme, followed by basic third intervals. You hear it at 0:29 into the suite, "Man From Toronto," on deep, menacing bass guitar tones, returning at 2:59. It's expressed lightly with humor at 0:56 into "You Are Late," blasts into action mode at 0:37 and 1:21 in "Atrium Fight," lurks menacingly at the end of "Minnesota," and occupies the first half of "I'm the Man From Toronto" with subdued swagger before achieving bass gravity at 2:25. The actual main theme of the film has a slightly Western twang in its more ascendant lines, introduced at 2:33 into "Man From Toronto" on lighter guitar and fuller at 3:10 and 4:46 in the more brutal tones of the bassline, finally combining with the bassline motif but eventually yielding to a lighter performance that closes out the suite at 5:47 and thereafter. This theme is also teased humorously to open "You Are Late," plucky and cool throughout rest of the cue, and likewise accompanies the action at 1:07 into "Atrium Fight." It continues on eerie, almost pretty solo guitar throughout "Minnesota" with additional, secondary phrasing but diminishes from there, guiding action in the latter half of "Durian Sorbet," fragmented at the end of "The Plan," and informing "Debora."

Djawadi combines the two assassin identities into the darkest moment of The Man From Toronto, "Assassin Montage," the main theme's progressions twisted darkly into the bassline's tone to yield the score's most forcefully stylish cue. Hart's character, Teddy, and other protagonists are defined by a pleasantly meandering and non-descript theme in "Teddy That" that is defined by three-note phrases at its peak. Teddy's theme extends very lightly on guitar in the brief "Can't Say It's Been Good" and on piano and woodwind early in "You Came Back to Me," a marked shift in tone. It returns with better focus towards the contemporary rock mode from early in the plot during the middle of that latter cue. Harrelson's Randy character has a motif that takes a while to gel, but it seems to be a four-note phrase hovering around key heard with bad EDM style and manipulation in "Where is My Money" and during the first half of "Debora." A theme for the lead villain is poorly developed, "The Handler" presenting a few angry motifs but without intrigue or memorability; one of these motifs returns to stew in the middle of "The Plan," but not substantially. A handful of truly unique cues shift the tone of the score away from its best potential, including the "Non Contact Boxing" early on, its contemporary rock comedy one step removed from elevator usage and reminiscent of buddy cop film scores of decades past. Almost humorously terrible is "Man From Miami," highly manipulated vocals (singing about meatballs?) and synth pulses making this cue too ridiculous to be even remotely intimidating. Finally, "Never Ever Lever" is guided by annoying Western hoedown influence, with fiddles and percussion, including jaw harp, that doesn't mesh with anything else in the score. In the end, whatever sense of imposing coolness from "Man From Toronto" and "Assassin Montage" is drained away by the bizarre journey that is the remainder of this score. The over-the-top anger expressed in some of the early cues provided the parody necessary, but once that is lost, Djawadi seems only to be going through the motions with leftovers. The short, 41-minute listening experience on album struggles to keep you engaged, and the concluding cues offer absolutely no satisfactory narrative resolution for the main themes aside from some redemption for Teddy's identity. Just like the film, there is time to be wasted here.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Total Time: 40:38