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| Doyle |
Thor: (Patrick Doyle) Despite the box office
success of Marvel Comics properties on the big screen over the past
decade, the production development of many of those concepts has
languished in a perpetual state of disarray. Suffering foremost from
these delays and endless shifts in crew has been
Thor, though
after the character's cameo at the end of
Iron Man 2 and finally
some coordinated efforts to bring the Marvel universe together for
The Avengers in the 2010's, the legend of the god of thunder
finally slams his famous hammer to reasonably positive critical response
in 2011. The plot of the film essentially introduces the character and
the mythical kingdom of Asgard from which he is banished by his father
for recklessness. Sent to Earth by King Odin (none other than Anthony
Hopkins), one of the realms under the kingdom's protection, Thor and his
hammer are the topic of interest by not only government operatives
(wormholes spitting people out on our planet are indeed curious) but
also a scientist in the form of Natalie Portman (vulnerable superheroes
need their squeeze). Only when Thor proves his worthiness can he lift
his hammer and wield his godly powers, and he does so just in time to
confront his brother, who has taken it upon himself to engage in some
double-dealing in order to win his father's affections away from Thor
and rule Asgard. As expected, the film leaves open the door for future
plotlines with a hidden scene after the credits. While the sequences on
Earth left some critics cold, the battles between Asgard and the
villains, the Frost Giants, were generally well-received. Perhaps some
of the film's artistic merits can be attributed to Kenneth Branagh, the
English actor/director who made his fame adapting Shakespearean tales in
the 1990's but has toiled with more obscure projects throughout the
2000's. Branagh salvaged the production rather late in the process, and
an expected but equally intriguing revelation was the director's
decision to stay loyal to composer Patrick Doyle for
Thor's
original music. Fans of blockbuster superhero movies have a right to be
suspicious of the studio back and forth that ensues in these situations,
especially given what happened when another composer known mostly for
sophisticated symphonic music, Mychael Danna, was brought on board in a
similar situation because of an existing collaboration (2003's
Hulk). Even Doyle reportedly found himself initially outside of
his comfort zone when approaching
Thor, recognizing that the
rhythmic loops, string ostinato's, and slammed percussion of today's
blockbuster sound, one defined by Hans Zimmer's minions at Remote
Control, was not in his musical vocabulary.
While unfamiliar with this specific territory, Doyle has
cranked out his fair share of beefy action scores despite his reputation
as an accomplished romance and drama composer. His music for
Frankenstein and
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
remain solid favorites of his collecting base, and
Eragon and
The Last Legion may exist out of the same spotlight but are also
dependable four-star experiences. There was much hope that Doyle,
despite studio and producer pressure to modernize his sound, would
finally transcend into unquestioned five-star territory for
Thor,
and judging from the reaction of fans and some other critics, he has
failed to avail himself of that opportunity. In reality, though,
Thor receives the kind of music that suffers from the letdown
associated with missing unreasonably high expectations, and for what it
is, the score is quite commendable intellectually and entertaining in
its highlights. Much has been made of Doyle's easily apparent,
reportedly forced attempt to adapt the Zimmer/RC methodologies into this
score, some going so far as to claim that he sacrificed the integrity of
his musical style in order to satisfy a larger trend that involves the
use of "dumbed down" music for these kinds of situations. On the other
hand, though, when you compare what Doyle accomplished for
Thor
to Alexandre Desplat's recent refusal to significantly adapt his style
to fit the
Harry Potter franchise, you have to admire Doyle's
flexibility. While Doyle enthusiasts may bellyache that there aren't
enough of his own tendencies in
Thor, along with too much
RC-related simplicity, there is in fact a decent amount of Doyle style
to hear in this score, and in many ways, the composer emulated James
Newton Howard's take on the RC style rather than the Zimmer drones
themselves. The score that comes to mind the most in this regard is
Howard's
The Last Airbender, which similarly intellectualizes
some common RC traits. Likewise, Doyle takes the symphonic route, only
occasionally enhancing the soundscape (and mostly deep bass) with
synthetic overlays; familiar Doyle electronic tones early in "The
Compound" yield to a Jerry Goldsmith/
The Shadow-like pace-setter
at 4:27 into that cue. All of the looped percussion and string
techniques you usually hear overwrought in scores like
Transformers and
Iron Man are orchestrated traditionally,
with outstanding results. A plethora of clanging metallic percussion
(worthy of the title character and his hammer) accompanies rhythmic
sequences very similar to
The Last Airbender. Occasional vocal
accents grace the score, including a solemn, subtle soloist in the
seldom-heard but beautiful secondary theme for Odin and deep choral
accompaniment of a grave, melodramatic nature in "Banishment" and
others.
At a time when software is able to generate so many of the
ostinato effects that you encounter in mainstream movie scores these
days, it's impossible to overstate how satisfying it is to hear Doyle
force that sound into a more dynamic, lively symphonic environment. If
you're a fan of traditionally orchestrated film music of the John
Williams generation, Doyle has effectively given the Steve Jablonsky's
and Ramin Djawadi's of the industry a
Thor-sized middle finger,
proving that veterans of the old guard of film music can beat the
dime-a-dozen generation of software-reliant ghostwriters at their own
game. There is indeed a dose of Jablonsky's
Transformers to be
heard in the theme for Asgard in
Thor, but Doyle forces the
London Symphony Orchestra's performances to their organic limits,
matching the sounds of post-production manipulation through live
performance means. For some listeners, the result will be largely the
same, but for Doyle enthusiasts, the composer does throw in a multitude
of nuggets to remind us of his own personal style. If some of the
tell-tale progressions don't expose this technique enough, then the
lovely piano lament in "Letting Go" definitely will. While Doyle's two
early 2011 scores,
Thor and
La Ligne Droite, couldn't
differ more in tone and scope, and despite the fact that the former
channels Howard and the latter owes to Philip Glass, you can hear
similarities in that vintage Doyle sound that connect the two. The
progressions in the themes of both scores, concluding with Doyle's
trademark descending of two notes in an eternally hopeful manner, are
matched by the composer's evidence that he is extremely proficient in
squeezing an ungodly number of notes into a single measure. Even if
there is too much Howard or RC in
Thor for your Doyle senses and
sensibilities, the pair of "Letting Go" and "Can You See Jane?" is the
kind of tonic provided in equal amounts by "Playing Bridges" and
"Yannick and Leila" in
La Ligne Droite. The composer's ability to
explore these new avenues without completely yielding to convention is a
highlight of such works. That said,
Thor has its slower moments
when the composer loses some momentum. It's not a perfect score by any
means; there is filler material that slides by without generating much
interest. Additionally, the composer's sub-themes aren't enunciated in
ways that truly make them obvious, the solo accents in the dry mix
aren't emphasized well enough, and the token synthetic loops here and
there are just that: token. Some listeners will find fault with Doyle's
assigning of themes in general, though careful exploration of their
development may lead to a greater appreciation. In fact, there are four
or five themes at play in the score, each revisited several times.
If Doyle is guilty of any injustice in
Thor, it
is the superiority (or obvious nature or placement) of some of his
secondary themes over the primary one. The identity for Thor himself is
a brawny but noble and utilitarian one heard at the end of "Prologue"
and "Earth to Asgard" and littered throughout the score in various
guises. A prelude to Thor's future, the theme's weighty performance at
the beginning of "A New King" is offset by a striking variation late in
"Banishment" that turns additional progressions into the minor key
(causing it to resemble early-1990's Zimmer themes, interestingly). The
theme turns triumphant in "Thor Kills the Destroyer" in ways that will
definitely recall vintage Doyle music of glory, as will the
aforementioned woodwind and piano-led performances in "Science and
Magic," "Letting Go," and "Can You See Jane?" that represent the
character's romantic side (fuller "love theme" variants exist in
"Forgive Me"). The opening five-note phrase of the theme is a good tool
with which to quickly reference the character's identity in many of the
cues in between. Most importantly, Doyle doesn't beat the listener over
the head with the idea in such a way as to turn off some in the
mainstream, a difficult task given how many superhero themes exist. The
score's homage to the RC sound comes in the theme for Asgard, heard in
Transformers form in "Prologue" and "Earth to Asgard." This idea
lets rip with percussion and violin lines that do distinguish it from
its inspiration, though its progressions are a bit too generic for
comfort. The underlying ostinato is a convenient way to suggest the same
identity, though, and it comes into play in "To Jotunheim," "Crisis in
Asgard," and "Hammer Found." Overwhelming both of these identities is
Doyle's theme for the brothers and, by association, Thor's youthful
exuberance. Exploding with bubbling rhythms that sound like a cross
between Howard and Elmer Bernstein, this theme dominates "Sons of Odin"
and "Ride to Observatory" (dare an RC composer to write something as
densely complex as the theme's very impressive construct at 1:20 into
the latter) before losing some steam at the end of "To Jotunheim."
Doyle's necessary disintegration of this theme thereafter is
heartbreaking, from the defiant echoes at 5:05 into "The Compound" to
its subtle chord representations in "Loki's Lie." The theme boils to its
confrontational death at 1:50 in "Brothers Fight" and joins Thor's
identity in slight fragments during the sadness of "Letting Go." There
is no question that the energetic performances of this brothers theme
early in the film may overshadow all other musical identities in
Thor, potentially even disappointing listeners when it (or
anything like it) fails to return in a similar form later in the album
presentation. A lack of clear idea for the villain, Laufey (outside of
clever echoes of the brothers theme), is equally lamentable.
Aside from the three major themes in
Thor, Doyle
toils with some additional material for Odin and the concept of the
Kingdom that is a bit difficult to nail down. One aspect of this
identity is a spooky, descending line joined by solo voice at the
outsets of "Chasing the Storm" and "Odin Confesses," extending out in
the latter track to include repeated phrases that recall Howard's theme
for Harvey Dent from
The Dark Knight. Similarly addressing the
gravity of Odin and the Kingdom is a heavy adagio-style theme that could
be an offshoot of that idea or one all to itself; it is best heard the
first half of "Banishment" and at 0:40 into "Letting Go." Both of these
two ideas of greater contemplation do exist in shades of gray throughout
the score, but Doyle never really makes very good use of them. A
singular theme for the Destroyer is afforded some percussive dressing
from
The Rock in the "The Destroyer." The primary action cues are
at their best when they use pieces of these themes, and once again like
The Last Airbender, there are minute-long sequences within the
major action cues that are outstanding. Such is the case with "Frost
Giant Battle," "The Compound," "The Destroyer," and "Brothers Fight,"
cues that in many cases utilize a choir, but that contribution is either
muted by design or dialed back in the mix of the album (especially in
"Frost Giant Battle"). Still eclipsing the outright action music,
however, is the pair of performances of the brothers theme in "Sons of
Odin" and "Ride to Observatory," among Doyle's best full ensemble work
in years. As touched upon before, there are quiet, non-descript
sequences in
Thor that underwhelm, starting with "Chasing the
Storm" at the opening and wasting an opportunity for thematic clashes in
"My Bastard Son," and in these regards, this score on album is similar
to David Arnold's
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn
Treader. Both feature many five-star moments and require careful
repeat appreciate to really comprehend their thematic depth, but both
also contain some extremely enjoyable moments on the rowdy side. The
score-only album presentation of
Thor (no music from the Foo
Fighters appears on the product, thankfully) does run long and has some
questionable mixing in places, not only de-emphasizing the choir but
also merging recordings in some awkward places (as in the middle of
"Forgive Me"). Listeners with available software will probably get some
benefit from adding a slight touch of reverb to Doyle's typically dry
mix as well. A hearty thanks must be extended to the composer for
bringing symphonic sanity to the current blockbuster sound and offering
a healthy dose of his own dramatic style to
Thor in the process.
A five-star rating may barely elude him yet again, but between this and
La Ligne Droite in the first half of 2011, Doyle immediately
cements a Filmtracks nomination for composer of the year.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For Patrick Doyle reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.83
(in 29 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.49
(in 22,408 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes notes from both the composer and director about the
film and score.
