: (James Newton Howard)
After the embarrassingly laughable attempt by the 2012 film
to shame the Brothers Grimm topic of "Snow White" with
teenager-aimed devices, Universal's
a
few months later in the same year takes a decidedly darker and more
feminist approach to the story. While not met with universal praise from
critics and audiences, the latter film at least takes a stab at the
concept from a serious perspective despite an arguably overblown
performance by Charlize Theron in the role of the evil Queen Ravenna.
With pop culture stars playing both Snow White and the Huntsman, as well
as stylish special effects for innumerous transfigurations, it's
difficult not to get the impression that the film was still aimed at
younger audiences. The tale remains familiar in its basics, the Queen
taking control of the throne and aspiring through magic and killing to
win every beauty contest in the land. When the rightful heiress, Snow
White, becomes her next target, the younger woman flees to the forest
and unites armies of men and dwarfs to defeat the Queen's magical
fighters and overthrow the evil bitch. Romance, betrayal, and that
damned apple all play their parts in this predictably contemporary
vision of Show White in armor and on horseback. It's unfortunate that
Theron's version of the Queen isn't forced to dance in iron shoes at
Snow White's wedding until she dies (the common ending to the actual
story); apparently such a spectacle of humiliation doesn't cut straight
enough to the heart of matters for today's blood-thirsty society.
First-time feature director Rupert Sanders and the largely British
production was fortunate to land composer James Newton Howard for
. A veteran of the fantasy realm, Howard
had provided some of the most satisfying music for the genre over the
previous six years, including top notch entries for
. The low quality of these films
does not deter the composer from pouring a tremendous amount of
emotional weight into his assignments, and his collectors will likely be
enthused by similar but diminished results for
If there is a formula for success that Howard adheres to
in his non-science fiction-related fantasy efforts, it is followed
closely in this work. There is never any doubt during the entire length
of this score that it fits squarely in the composer's recognizable
comfort zone. The instrumental balance in
Snow White & the
Huntsman is rather conservative outside of some nasty effects for
the villains of the tale. Orchestral depth is aided by notable solo
performances by cello and piano, chimes and harp lending familiar tones
as well. The cello here is a specific, tragic reflection of elusive
beauty and the nearly perverse allure of yesteryear. The choral element
is adult, mixed, and deep as usual for Howard, though there are
continuing concerns about how far back into the mix these contributions
are pushed (at least for the album release). Don't expect the choir to
be as dominant a force as in Howard's prior classics in the genre, its
applications a bit generic during moments of grandeur and lacking the
cooing beauty for as many of the softer sequences emulating
Lady in
the Water. The instrumental representations of evil in
Snow White
& the Huntsman aren't particularly refreshing, either, extremely
deep trombone (and other brass) blasts heavily emphasizing the brutality
of the Queen and her armies. The magic she exercises is matched with a
few industrial grinding noises, the kind of grating, wailing sounds you
might hear from massive, poorly lubricated machinery in a foundry or
glass manufacturing plant. Such usage would be more interesting if its
tones were perfectly synchronized with the pitch of the orchestral
accompaniment, but the metallic accents are typically layered as simply
tools of dissonant discontent. Howard unfortunately resorts to such
difficult passages bordering on sound design more frequently in this
score than in his other fable-oriented efforts. These portions often do
sonic battle with Howard's themes for
Snow White & the Huntsman,
resulting in fewer lengthy tonal passages of ease. There's a pretty
clear dichotomy in the thematic structures of this work, Howard not
doing much to really intertwine or complicate the dueling identities for
Snow White and Queen Ravenna. Both of these two major themes feature
consistently stated secondary lines or assistance from other ideas that
utilize similar instrumentation, but they aren't particularly difficult
to grasp.
The villains' identities are led by the primary theme
for the Queen, a repetitive and menacing four-note progression that
suggests the character's endlessly ongoing struggle to retain her beauty
through killing. Exploding with force on low brass in "I'll Take Your
Throne," the theme boils on bass strings in "Something For What Ails
You" and appropriately suggests trouble in "I Remember That Trick"
before going through the motions in "Warriors on the Beach" and "You Can
Not Defeat Me," the latter predictably defiant in the face of defeat. A
pair of related, descending notes and the aforementioned synthetic
grinding effects accompany the Queen's armies and other general magic.
For the protagonists of
Snow White & the Huntsman, Howard starts
with a well developed theme for Show White and surrounds it with
nebulous supporting ideas to accompany her relationships. Her theme is
the score's main identity, heard immediately on lonely horn at the
outset of "Snow White" and progressively building in stature until its
almost saintly (to the point of corny) expression of grand scope to
close out "Coronation." Faithful nurturing of the theme is a highlight
of
Snow White & the Huntsman, its primary phrase informing most
of he score's major cues with wide emotional range. The theme's
secondary phrase is perhaps more interesting, always left hanging at a
high note (usually for violins) that shifts belatedly from the major to
minor key. This downer of a transition is explicitly conquered at the
culmination of the shift in momentum at the end of "Death Favors No Man"
(complete with glorious choral majesty as well), though Howard does
throw one last reminder of that minor shift into the middle of
"Coronation." A number of flowing Howard expressions of optimistic
beauty represent the "discovery and friendship" aspect of the story, the
rambling piano and string chords of extremely tonal accessibility
sounding like leftovers from
Lady in the Water. While connected
loosely by the same general two and three-note progressions, these
passages are more commonly recognized by their lovely rhythmic flow and
ability to bring a sense of relaxation to an otherwise grim score.
Suggested in "Snow White," this material is featured beautifully in
"Sanctuary," easily this work's singular tonal highlight, before the
same instrumentation and rhythms flow into performances of the main
theme in "White Hart." The middle portion of "Sanctuary" actually
reminds of both James Horner and Jerry Goldsmith, the former's rolling
piano figures and the latter's puffing flutes on beat creating a lighter
fantasy environment.
Unfortunately, Howard doesn't have a great number of
opportunities to expand upon the softer material's sincere heart in
Snow White & the Huntsman, and one of the overarching problems
experienced with the score is the composer's inability to really play
with the themes outside of their basically expected placements. As such,
this score has all the makings of Horner's classic
Willow but
lacks anywhere near the same thematic satisfaction or spirited
personality. Too much of this score meanders with slight filler material
for it to compete with Howard's best, and the action material, while
sufficiently entertaining in "Warriors on the Beach," is extremely
generic in modern blockbuster methodology. Obnoxious is "White Horse," a
seemingly simplistic intrusion of Hans Zimmer techniques (and even Mark
Mancina's signature passing horn sound from
Speed at 0:55 and
beyond) in this context. When attempting to address tragedy in "Journey
to Fenland" and "Fenland in Flames," Howard also underwhelms. The
synthetic elements are adequately tingling but imposing at times,
seemingly at direct odds with the purpose of the solo cello to denote
fleeting beauty. As has been an issue with a few Howard scores recently,
the choir is seemingly undermixed, at least on the album, greatly
diminishing its impact during the chanting in "Escape From the Tower"
and in the expression of purity at the end of "You Can't Have My Heart."
The song at the conclusion of the film (by alternative British band
Florence + The Machine) is, despite instrumental background
contributions by Howard, a progressively irritating attempt to emulate
the sound of The Pretenders for another age and is too disconnected from
the score to really make much sense. Likewise unrealized potential
exists in the "Gone" source-like vocal performance in the middle of the
soundtrack. Overall, there is much to like about this work, but as with
the inferior
Hunger Games the same year, Howard doesn't pull it
together into one gloriously transcendent package as he has done before.
His devoted enthusiasts will likely disagree, but these two summer
blockbuster scores from Howard in 2012 do not come close to reaching the
heights achieved by
Lady in the Water and
The Last
Airbender, and unlike
The Village,
The Water Horse: Legend
of the Deep, and other very strong efforts from the veteran, this
work doesn't even feature (outside of a minute in "Sanctuary") one of
those fantastic interludes of irresistible beauty that alone floats the
whole endeavor. Be prepared to hear technical precision in theme and
instrumentation, as well as a solid soundscape for the topic, but temper
your expectations otherwise.
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Bias Check: |
For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.4
(in 70 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.36
(in 86,486 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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