, they saw it in great
quantities, defying muted critical praise in the process of paying
hundreds of millions of dollars to Lionsgate, who announced plans for a
sequel with haste. The film traverses across the boundaries for a number
of cinematic genres, combining the magic, action, caper, and thriller
genres in ways not even touched by the popular
franchise. A group of four magicians, the "Four Horsemen," perform their
act on stage while simultaneously robbing banks and other entities in
their disfavor. When government agents investigate the heists in the
group's subsequent stage performances (which make money rain down on the
audience, seemingly stolen from vaults elsewhere), they drag key players
from the insurance and magicians' industries into the equation,
eventually revealing that they're all related in more ways than first
imagined. The negative critical reviews of
were
based upon the story's poorly defined individual characters and plot
twists and holes that go unresolved at the end of the film. If the
purpose of the production was a sequel, then such trifles are not worth
fussing about. This is, after all, a caper film involving magic.
Director Louis Leterrier's production had eyed composer Brian Tyler from
early in the process, the composer seen as someone who could conjure
music that bridged all the genre influences on screen. Tyler, who had
conveniently just finished work on
with enthusiasm, considering the project a unique
challenge for his talents. Undoubtedly, this film is the kind of project
at which someone could throw a suitable, half-assed David Holmes
knock-off score and the music would probably have basically sufficed. Or
perhaps a stock, Remote Control-style action effort with atmospheric
tones for the magical parts might have worked. Or a Marvin Hamlisch
comedy in the form of
might have functioned in
parts. The trick for Tyler was to combine all of these elements into one
score and, by his own initiative, throw in an occasional nod to John
Williams' magical ambience at the same time.
Tyler had a fabulous year of production in 2013, his two
massive action efforts for
Iron Man 3 and
Thor: The Dark
World balanced by a lovely, understated dramatic score for
Standing Up. But it is
Now You See Me that truly stands
apart from the other three solid scores because of the sheer difficulty
of making the genre-bending sound for the caper thriller hit all the
right notes. The assignment gave Tyler the opportunity to explore genres
new to him and, as always seems to be the case, allowed him to let rip
on a number of instruments for the score himself, his own performances
this time dominated by drums. Of the genres rolled into
Now You See
Me, Tyler started with the obvious, taking traditional caper styles
of jazz and funk that span several decades and sculpted a Henry Mancini,
Lalo Schifrin, Marvin Hamlisch, and David Holmes hybrid that resides
mostly in the late 1960's and early 1970's eras, the high brass
sophistication of the former mingling with the funky coolness of the
latter. For those listeners not friendly to the 1970's side of the
equation, rest assured that the vibraphone represents the most obvious
element there. Some of the sound is achieved by going even further back,
a piano and upright bass often present during the caper cues as well.
Most listeners will remember these portions of
Now You See Me for
the beefy brass and the standard band elements of drums and cymbals.
Where Tyler excels in the caper genre for a modern generation, however,
is in his infusion of a fuller London orchestra into the mix, even
providing a main theme for the movie that can shift with ease between
the caper style and the straight forward action genre. Much like the
composer can take hints of Jerry Goldsmith's styles and lace them with
enough Hans Zimmer derivatives to yield intriguing new avenues of
muscularly bombastic excitement for the Marvel Universe, he has also
figured a way to take Lalo Schifrin music and give it the same Zimmer
treatment. The currently popular cello and low brass soundscape is
utilized here with great results, parts of the score sounding like a
bizarre emanation from Remote Control while exhibiting the kind of high
style you'd never expect from that sound. The final element of the
equation in this score is that of the magic itself, which Tyler claimed
was inspired by the early
Harry Potter scores, of all
things.
One thing about successful caper scores is incredibly
clear: the best ones have snazzy themes. Tyler wrote the main theme for
Now You See Me early in his involvement with the picture, and
this idea is more in tune with the thriller and awe aspect of the
story's heists. Supplementing it are two specific caper themes that do
resurrect the retro stylings, as well as few secondary motifs for the
mystery of the tale. Before discussing the themes in detail in this
review, it should be stated that the commercial album for
Now You See
Me is a poor way to judge the development Tyler put into the work,
with many of the more intriguing main theme performances simply not
heard in the 25 minutes of material on that product. An 81-minute
promotional release (distributed digitally) really illuminates the
nuances in the score, and most of the track titles you will read below
refer to this much longer promo. The bravado of the main theme's
accessible identity is summarized in a few places on the commercial
product, but the subtle references for the magical element are simply
missing from that presentation. The best major performances of the idea
for the full ensemble (in brooding RC action mode) come in "Opus NYSM"
(opening of "Now You See Me" on the commercial product) and "Times
Square" (end of "Now You Don't," likewise). The theme serves as an
interlude to the two caper ideas, heard in that role in "The Team" and
"Paris Epilogue - End Credits" (end of "Welcome to the Eye"). The more
subtle representations of awe and wonderment with this theme emerge in
"Chess Moves" (including a light rock version) and "Revelation," the
most anticipatory, magical performance coming late in "The Show Begins."
A brief explosion in "Holograms" leads to funky renditions in "Strut"
(end of "Now You See Me") and "Piecing it Together." Echoing
"Revelation" is a long, deeply resonating performance in "Suspicion
Rising," including the overlay of a (probably synthetic) choral effect.
A return to the wondrous atmosphere in the theme comes in
"Misdirection," a cue that summarizes all three of the score's major
ideas. It should be mentioned that the modern anthemic nature of this
main theme comes from the same set of stylistic mechanisms that inform
the outward action cues in the score, both "Battle of the Cards" and
"Bridge Pursuit" straying towards Tyler's other 2013 action efforts
featuring ostinato figures. The latter cue is unfortunately quite
generic, however, and a weak point in the score as a whole.
The two caper themes in
Now You See Me include
one for the four primary players, introduced in "The Team" (start of
"The Four Horsemen") and continuing with similar high style performances
in "Look Closer," "Transparency," and "Misdirection." The secondary
caper theme defines "Now You See Me" (middle of "Now You See Me" on the
commercial album) and is featured in "Misdirection" and at the end of
"Paris Epilogue - End Credits." The orchestra's rowdy performances of
both these themes really make them an indispensible aspect of this
score's appeal; music of this level of retro force is practically
non-existent in today's film music scene. A handful of minor motifs
exist throughout
Now You See Me, including a descending, 3-note
Thaddeus Bradley theme in "The Mystery of Thaddeus" and "Suspicion
Rising." More prevalent is a meandering 9-note mystery motif heard early
in "Spoon Bender" and at the end of "Look Closer," among other places.
Overall, these ideas come together to form a highly entertaining hybrid
score that is better than its commercial album suggests. In that
product's cues not mentioned thus far, it should be noted that "Now You
See Me (Reprise)" equals the promo's "Jellyjam," the "Sleight of the
Mind" track is a combination of "Etienne" and "Bridge Pursuit," the
first half of "Now You Don't" is the promo's "Battle of the Cards," and
likewise the first portions of "Welcome to the Eye" represent "Chess
Moves." The edits on the commercial album's score suites are not always
graceful, and the promo is far more fluid in its movement. As usual for
Tyler, the promo runs a bit long (a 60-minute album would be best for
this score) and is out of chronological order (always frustrating). But
all of the obnoxious songs and remixes of Tyler's various themes are
absent from the promo, thankfully. There will be some listeners for whom
Now You See Me will never appeal on any album; you have to
maintain a pre-disposed favorability towards caper music to really
appreciate the groove of this score. Those who consider the other Tyler
action efforts of 2013 highly will appreciate the "Times Square" cue and
others lacking the retro vibe. No matter your tolerance of the caper
material, you have to appreciate Tyler's success in resurrecting it in
the muscular environment of modern thriller scores, and for that
achievement alone, the work surpasses the composer's other endeavors of
2013. If its groove does resonate with you, then be prepared to enjoy
possibly Tyler's best entry since
Children of Dune. Just make
sure you recognize that the initial commercial album is woefully
inadequate and that no lossless option exists.
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- Music as Written for the Film: *****
- Music as Heard on the Commercial Album: ***
- Music as Heard on the Promotional Album: *****
- Overall: *****
| Bias Check: |
For Brian Tyler reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.2
(in 41 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.13
(in 19,671 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
