: (Joe Kraemer)
Never mind the fact that Tom Cruise is aging just like everyone else; he
probably envisions himself playing Impossible Missions Force agent Ethan
Hunt until well past a normal person's retirement, perhaps using
publicity about doing his own stunts to stave off that inevitable
mid-life crisis. The fifth
entry for Cruise,
resurrecting the franchise with grand success in 2015, was a monumental
success all around, immediately spurring production on a sixth film.
Many of the franchise's characters return for
, once again playing the same tricks that made the
1960's television concept a hit. Hunt and his allies struggle to prove
the existence of the evil "Syndicate" made up of former fellow agents
from across the pond, raising interesting parallels with the plight of
James Bond and his search to expose Quantum and Spectre. Rousing chases,
tested allegiances, and a shadowy Alec Baldwin in an impactful
supporting role lead to revelations perhaps expected but still
satisfying. When writer and director Christopher McQuarrie was hired to
helm
, there was speculation
that his past collaborations with director Bryan Singer and composer
John Ottman would yield an opportunity for the latter to make an
appearance in this franchise. But learned film music collectors will
recall McQuarrie's successful partnership with American composer Joe
Kraemer for the cult favorite
a dozen years later. Aside from these highlights,
Kraemer's career has been mired in the realm of obscure television and
documentaries, failing to live up to the potential that soundtrack
enthusiasts have seen in him for a long time. With McQuarrie returning
to the director's chair for
,
Kraemer was thankfully awarded another chance at the blockbuster
limelight, and he does not disappoint. Together with Cruise and
McQuarrie, Kraemer decided to tackle this fifth installment of the
franchise by returning to its roots, embracing not only the two themes
from Lalo Schifrin's scores that have endured in the concept's
translation to the big screen, but ultimately emulating nearly
everything about the music of Schifrin's era.
Michael Giacchino had half-heartedly attempted the same
retro composing technique in the third and fourth
Mission:
Impossible films, but his execution was flawed and the mix of his
scores was disastrously muted (as is often the case) and thus
ineffective for such a vibrant, stylish concept. The first two scores of
the franchise, by Danny Elfman and Hans Zimmer, remain embarrassments to
the concept that focused too heavily on modernizing the music's posture.
Kraemer's approach to
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation sought
to reinvigorate the sound for Hunt's mission by returning to a more
intelligent utilization of not only Schifrin's primary and "The Plot"
themes, but an adherence to the orchestral standards that existed during
the original television series' run. In other words, Kraemer sought to
write what would have functioned in that context and simply beefed up
that ambience for a 2010's environment. A strong emphasis on percussion
and propulsion therefore exist in his work here, an organic live
performance atmosphere completely replacing any synthetic or processed
elements. It's a vintage score in every regard, Kraemer's composition
and Matt Dunkley's orchestrations impressively more successful than
Giacchino's like-minded attempts to the same end. The latter's
orchestration work deserves particular kudos, as it better emulates some
of the most enduring traits of master orchestrator Nicholas Dodd, a feat
he has skirted in prior collaborations with Craig Armstrong and Clint
Mansell with less overwhelming prowess. Rarely do shout-outs exist in
Filmtracks reviews for recording and mixing crews, but Casey Stone's
ambience for this recording is nothing less than spectacular, achieving
a perfect balance of reverb and emphasis on solo accents. This score
contains a positively excessive amount of bass plucking, clopping,
blurting, and banging, and the crisp handling of that region achieves
outstanding muscularity without the usual droning you hear in film
scores of this era. Much of that fantastic bass presence, of course,
owes to Kraemer's remarkably consistent rhythmic sensibilities, almost
every cue making use of some forward movement at the bottom of the
ensemble. The brass performances, as expected, are pivotal as well, and
their often staccato bursts are crystal clear throughout. The diverse
percussion is never overwhelming and conveys the 1960's style
flawlessly, a touch of John Barry thrown in for good measure.
Thematically, Kraemer sparkles in
Mission:
Impossible - Rogue Nation. These reviews of film music can almost
always point to one area or another in a score that could have
benefitted from better thematic applications. Not here. The
interpolations of Schifrin's two main themes are masterfully fluid,
Kraemer not just applying them as token elements but actually
deconstructing their parts to inform far more of the score than prior
entries in the franchise. Don't expect much wholesale regurgitation of
the Schifrin material; rather, each phrase and underlying progression
will influence related but adapted renditions of those enduring ideas.
Part of this satisfaction stems from the composer's devising of a fresh
new theme for the IMF that is based in part on Schifrin's iconic main
theme. Casual appreciation of the score may simply cause a listener to
associate this theme as a secondary offshoot of the main theme, and that
might be fair. But it's highly effective in allowing Kraemer to make
heroic statements in action sequences while only utilizing the actual
Schifrin melodies as counterpoint. That layering of melodic raw
materials is truly astounding in this score; few film music works for
Hollywood blockbusters even attempt this level of compositional
intelligence. And where the iconic three-note phrases from Schifrin
aren't tastefully layered on top of the action (whether in full-throated
brass or on solitary woodwind), he utilizes one stylistic portion of
Schifrin's theme, such as the anticipatory sustain in the higher ranges
before launching a cue in a new direction. He goes so far as to even
write a proper end credits suite that opens and closes with the
obligatory Schifrin tribute but explores his two unique themes in
between (the IMF one at 2:37 and the villain's theme at 4:07). That
theme for the traitorous Solomon Lane steals the show by the end of
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. In the "Solomon Lane" cue,
listeners are introduced to a truly John Barry/James Bond construct of a
comfortable and confident villain's identity in both the sinewy,
repetitive flow of the melody and the deceptively dainty orchestrations.
By "Meet the IMF" and the similar arrangement in the end credits,
Kraemer has built this identity into a heartbreaking powerhouse merged
with the heroic motifs of the score, suggesting the inevitable symbiotic
relationship between the two. As conclusive pronouncements of evil exist
at the end of any film score, the one in "Meet the IMF" is about as
impressive as any in recent memory. Kraemer's handling of these themes
is so potent because, while intellectually adapted in every situation,
he simplifies the presentations and performances of them so they are
extremely easy to grasp for any listener.
The most interesting side-note of the music for
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is the presence of Giacomo
Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" from the 1926 opera "Turandot" as not only a
source inclusion in the story but as a lingering element within the
score as well. With the revelation of the mysterious double agent Ilsa
Faust occurring in the story during an on-screen performance of
"Turandot," Kraemer associates the famous Puccini musical phrases with
that character throughout the picture. While the flowing romanticism of
these passages stands out clearly against the rest of the original
score, they are also nicely adapted as to not distract from the other
themes. Heard three times on album (most notably in "A Matter of Going"
and "Finale"), these passages are actually relieving moments of rest
from the otherwise driving propulsion of the remainder. If anything,
they could have been a tad longer. The album presentation (of which
there are multiple variants, the download version being shorter than
La-La Land's CD offering) is highly entertaining from start to finish,
only the languishing suspense of "The Torus" testing your patience. As
the score's last-minute rendering progressed, McQuarrie and Kraemer
ultimately recorded more music than they required, so some of the longer
album presentation includes decidedly appealing music that did not make
the final cut. The only truly unfortunate aspect of the album for
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is the lack of the on-screen
performance of "Turandot," which was a pivotal musical presence in the
timing of the film's plot. This complaint aside, the listening
experience on album is absolutely fantastic. Some listeners may notice a
difference in the placement of the percussion in the mix than everything
else, and this is maybe the only blemish in the recording; the snare,
cymbals, and especially tom-tom drums are oddly flat in their ambience
compared to everything else. In fact, if you dislike tom-tom drums, be
aware that they're frequently employed in Giacchino fashion. But,
otherwise, there's very little to negatively criticize in the music for
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation. It's the kind of project that
you approach with low expectations despite Kraemer's glimpses of
strength in the past, mostly because the franchise's music had always
wallowed in mediocrity previously. Kraemer creates one of the best
musical narratives for a score heard in a while ("Meet the IMF" is
textbook perfect), and the adaptations and orchestrations are as
intelligent as anyone could have desired. Somewhere in between the best
of Barry, Giacchino, and David Arnold, Kraemer has hit the sweet spot in
this franchise and produced the best score of 2015 through its midpoint.
Start praying now for his return for the next entry.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
