Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #993
Written 4/20/07
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Buy it... if no summer blockbuster score would be complete for you
without a healthy dose of electronic bass, simplistic chord
progressions, drum pads, and predictable light percussion.
Avoid it... if you expect Mark Isham's attempt to combine a Media
Ventures sound with his own orchestral creativity to cause the end
product to transcend an unsatisfyingly predictable outcome.
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| Isham |
Next: (Mark Isham) Isn't it natural to assume that
if you had the unexplainable ability to see a few minutes into the
future, your first choice of action would be to move to Las Vegas?
Nicolas Cage's character does, and he's a magician living off of his
gambling winnings while hiding from government agencies that would love
him to be their own fortune teller. When the threat of a nuclear bomb
arises in Los Angeles, the FBI seeks to capture the gifted man and use
his ability to help avoid the tragedy. For Paramount, the early summer
potential at a blockbuster would steer them in the direction of a
soundtrack typical of such heated testosterone, which is why the choice
of Mark Isham as composer for the project was somewhat surprising.
Perhaps more than any other composer currently working in the industry,
Isham is an artist from whom you never know what to expect. His recent
orchestral masterpieces for The Black Dahlia and Racing
Stripes have begun to cast away the memories of such uninspired duds
as Twisted and Don't Say a Word, while some of the more
notable projects from his past ten years include entries like Men of
Honor and Rules of Engagement, scores that are competent but
not necessarily particularly interesting. Despite his significant
contribution to film music since the late 1980's, one area intriguingly
short in his career is that of major, blockbuster action films. The
circumstances of the story in Next lead to endless possibilities
for a creative score, one that foreshadows, reprises, and manipulates
its components to mirror the primary character's abilities in the film.
The most telling aspect of the score for Next is that despite
Isham's wide range of talents, his end product here is a rather mundane
and predictable action score. His orchestral ensemble is sizable, but so
is his electronic library, and almost immediately you will hear an
awkward combination of Isham's own understated thematic sensibilities
and the brute synthetic force of an average Media Ventures effort. The
resulting mix is moderately interesting, but ultimately disappointing
given the opportunities that this score could have explored.
Only a close examination of the film would reveal the
extent to which Isham used the score as an instrument of intrigue in the
foreshadowing sequences of the story. A similar examination of the album
will produce no intelligence of that level built into the score, with
not even a synthetic manipulation of the music accompanying the
supernatural aspect of the film. Thematically, Isham offers what could
be called the "Destiny" theme, a solitary piano affair that very quietly
graces three or four tracks on the album, including the bookends. As has
happened in some of his suspense scores, the theme quickly becomes lost
because it isn't stated with much obvious ambition in the action pieces.
With a dazed electronic atmosphere, the theme exists in a fog of wonder
and contemplation, and its restriction to statements on piano until the
final moments of the concluding track diminishes its impact. A ten-note
action motif of sorts exists in true Media Ventures spirit throughout
the action cues, given one last statement in the final twenty seconds of
the score. It causes the chasing sequences to remind you of Trevor Rabin
and Harry Gregson-Williams scores of the late 1990's because of both the
simplicity of the motif's structure (never deviating more than one note
from its center) and the tired electronic aids used to augment the
orchestra's performances. Isham does try to spice up the equation with a
wild counterpoint idea over the action motif, usually performed by
frantic violins, but the dense instrumentation of these cues overwhelms
their contribution. The same could be said of the use of muted trumpets
and other somewhat distinctive techniques; in the end, the electronic
bass, simplistic chord progressions, drum pads, and predictable light
percussion rhythm-setters take whatever tact the mid-range brass can
provide in a track like "Pier 18" and reduce it to address only
primordial emotions. Collectors of Craig Armstrong's works will note a
connection to the chopping high string movements often heard in his
scores. There are bright spots throughout
Next, and Isham never
allows the music to become intolerable, but he does tap into a sound
that is derivative enough to constantly make you wish that he had stuck
with a more unique approach to the project.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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Bias Check:
For Mark Isham reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.84
(in 26 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.88
(in 9,975 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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