 |
Tyler |
Thor: The Dark World: (Brian Tyler) Another half a
billion dollars awaited the eighth installment of the Marvel Cinematic
Universe, as it has come to be known, when
Thor: The Dark World
hit the screens in 2013. The second of Thor's solo ventures in this
franchise, this movie shifts focus from Earth to the Norse mythology
home world of Asgard, where a plethora of relational problems exist
spanning eons of time and involving nothing less that mystical weaponry,
suspended animation, and deceptive personification. This universe
combines the mythological aspects of the past with the science fiction
elements of the future, providing the Marvel realm with its sole pure
avenue of exploring either. Because Thor is a god-like force and the
other heroes from the comics are humans in glitzy suits, a movie like
Thor: The Dark World can use the word "dark" in its title as a
license to steal some dirtiness and outrageousness from the Batman
franchise and shift it to another planet. Audiences soaked it up, of
course, making this entry one of the better received and profitable ones
in the Marvel series. Gone was director Kenneth Branagh, however, and
with him composer Patrick Doyle. Incoming director Alan Taylor tapped
Carter Burwell to write the music for
Thor: The Dark World, an
intriguing choice after that composer's evolving action sound for the
Twilight franchise. But Burwell was reportedly forced out of the
production by the studio and replaced with a safe workhorse of the
genre, Brian Tyler, who had already lent his talents to
Iron Man
3. The constant rotation of composers in these Marvel films has
absolutely devastated any chance for the series to maintain a consistent
sound in its music, with only Alan Silvestri having carried over a theme
from one film to another. Tyler, like Doyle, has proven capable of
satisfying studio executives by adapting his musical style to serve
expectations built by the Hans Zimmer/Remote Control operation while not
completely abandoning orchestral traditions. The score by Doyle for
2011's
Thor, in fact, is an engaging merging of those techniques,
albeit heavier on the side of orchestral nuance. Tyler claims to have
taken a completely different approach to the concept given the change of
location in the story, opting instead for a far more overbearing fantasy
tone, still symphonic but strongly influenced by the qualities of
today's more common blockbuster scores.
Tyler has stepped into the middle of franchises several
times in the past, sometimes recognizing existing themes (
Rambo,
Final Destination) while at other times only alluding to their
demeanor or style and branching off in his own direction (
Aliens vs.
Predator - Requiem,
The Fast and the Furious). In the case of
Thor: The Dark World, Tyler makes two decisions about the
direction the music should take; one of these decisions yielded solid
results while the other is nonsensical and disappointing. First,
however, the positive: Tyler must be commended for his ability to force
the Remote Control sound back into the orchestral realm, no easy task.
The irony of all the efforts of Hans Zimmer and his offshoots and
ghostwriters is the fact that much of the sound yielded from their
electronic manipulation of live recordings can actually be produced
organically. Tyler has proven this capability before, including in
Iron Man 3, a surprisingly decent symphonic venture, and shows in
Thor: The Dark World that all the pounding bass-heavy muscularity
of the average Remote Control-inspired score can really be generated
using the proper application of brass and percussion. It's interesting
to compare this Tyler music to the concurrent output of Steve Jablonsky
for
Ender's Game, the latter an exercise in tired stupidity and
generic regurgitation. Both works rely upon incredibly simple and
repetitive thematic constructs, overbearing muscularity, and mournful
female vocals that are spoon-fed directly to the raging hormones of the
listeners, but whereas Jablonsky offers no complexity of surrounding
activity to the soundscape, Tyler takes those basic ingredients and
layers them with effective counterpoint and organic performances. The
percussion element seems to be an area of pride for Tyler, his own
performances tending towards more ancient-sounding drums rather than
snare or sampled alternatives. Most importantly, Tyler doesn't bother
with distracting electronic manipulation of his recordings to achieve
desired results. While the end of "Into Eternity" does seemingly have
some unusual vocal emphasis, the rest of this score is the kind of
almost nonstop bravado that could be performed live by an ensemble
without the need for any overlays. Some listeners will despise the
unyieldingly ballsy and repetitive tone of this work and reject it much
like they did
Iron Man 3, but kudos absolutely have to be given
to Tyler for at least attempting to preserve some dying semblances of
Jerry Goldsmith's mannerisms in an era when frightfully dumb action film
music is being accepted by the mainstream.
Then there is the downside of this score: Tyler's
inexplicable decision to abandon Doyle's themes from the first film. In
his defense, Tyler has claimed that the different look and feel of
Thor: The Dark World, along with its even greater fantasy
emphasis, necessitated the increased size of the score's sound but also
the elimination of Doyle's identity. This is nonsense, and Tyler should
know that. He has been writing long enough now to realize that nearly
any identity can be manipulated to serve a different purpose. What
served Thor as a young man can still function for him as an adult, but
in different, evolving ways. Anyone can listen to Doyle's various
versions of his cue, "Thor Kills the Destroyer," and realize the
potential for Tyler to run with it. Instead, Tyler decided to provide a
new, very simple set of themes for the sequel, ones utilizing juvenile
progressions that are masked by their extensive orchestrations. The main
theme for
Thor: The Dark World is worthy of some eye rolls, its
anthemic performances blasting away countless times in full (often with
choir) during the score. The tender portions featuring female vocals by
two soloists are a lesser translation of this theme's same basic
progressions, all of these aspects reminiscent of the main theme from
Tyler's outstanding
Children of Dune. The amount of beef may be
greater in these renditions, but essentially half of
Thor: The Dark
World is constructed on ideas originally set forth in that popular
2003 television project, relating it to, of all things,
Partition
as well. While Tyler has insisted that there are several secondary
themes at work in the 2013 score, it's difficult to really distinguish
any of them outside of a sneaky string and harp motif for Thor's
troublesome brother, Loki. That's because every idea in this work is
blown so out of proportion that any nuances within the constructs are
destined to be lost. Not all of this emphasis on simplicity is negative,
however. At least Tyler knows how to hit the guilty pleasure points
effectively, "Into Eternity" an outstanding fantasy cue. Likewise, his
incorporation of the Captain America theme by Silvestri into "An
Unlikely Alliance" is a nice touch. His recording of a new Marvel
Studios logo fanfare is also a highlight, featuring a motif arguably
better than anything in this score. The lack of Doyle's themes in
Thor: The Dark World is a deal-breaker for some listeners, and
Tyler's explanations on this matter are inadequate. But you have to
appreciate what Tyler has done with this score and
Iron Man 3 to
wrestle the series back into the orchestral realm while instilling the
masculinity that a composer like Silvestri cannot supply. Ultimately,
that push for organic brawn edges out the deficiencies of the thematic
constructs and allows for this score to receive a higher rating.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check: |
For Brian Tyler reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.32
(in 32 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.1
(in 15,333 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.