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Review of Thor: Ragnarok (Mark Mothersbaugh)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if your ears are feeling lucky, for Mark Mothersbaugh brings his rowdy 1980's electronic style to the symphonic tradition of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with unashamed zeal.

Avoid it... if even the score's immensely impressive symphonic portions cannot compensate for the outlandishly hideous, source-like synthetic tones that dominate portions of the work.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Thor: Ragnarok: (Mark Mothersbaugh) Inspired by the sideshow humor of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, the Marvel Cinematic Universe steered the third Thor entry towards a blend of action and outward comedy, and audiences rewarded 2017's Thor: Ragnarok for that lighter tone. Director Taika Waititi was tasked with achieving precisely this blend, all the while resolving additional storylines involving the lead character, his highly dysfunctional family, and the aggrieved people of Asgard. Along his journey, Thor is imprisoned by the Grandmaster of a garbage planet and battles his wicked sister for control of his people after the death of Odin. The silliness factor of the concept is amped up intentionally, especially by the time Sam Neill and Matt Damon offer cameos as actors portraying other characters within the franchise, though the film does take the opportunity to bring together some of Marvel properties, including Bruce Banner and Doctor Strange, into the narrative. Waititi had originally intended to score Thor: Ragnarok completely with Queen-inspired 1980's electronic rock, and it is no surprise that he hired Wes Anderson collaborator and early synthetic and new wave Devo lead Mark Mothersbaugh for the assignment. Mothersbaugh had never tackled a project of this mainstream immensity before, though his career in film scores included a healthy dose of functional and occasionally impressive children's comedy music. His writing for 2014's The Lego Movie is a solid precursor for exactly the kind of sound audiences could expect for Thor: Ragnarok. Both the director and composer strongly believed that for the comedic tone of the film to thrive, a return to a sound similar to Daft Punk's stylish Tron: Legacy score should be explored. Marvel agreed, but only to an extent. Predictably, the majority of the score for Thor: Ragnarok resorts back to the 100-piece orchestra demanded by executives for the subject, though the setting of the garbage planet of Sakaar did allow uninhibited 1980's synthetic material to abound as something of a source application. Likewise, more conventional rock tones also bleed into the orchestral performances at times, yielding decent results.

One of the most interesting aspects of Thor: Ragnarok is Mothersbaugh's acknowledgement of protests from fans about the lack of continuity in the musical themes of the Marvel films. He explicitly sought to rectify that perception, though he did so while also infusing an all-new electronic style and his own title theme for Thor into the equation, oddly negating his other attempts to bring continuity to the franchise. In fact, what few, albeit intelligent attempts by the composer to resurrect the music of prior Marvel-related scores in Thor: Ragnarok are completely overshadowed by the sheer force of his style of writing for this particular film. There is a struggle constantly heard in this music between the symphonic and electronic elements, and the schizophrenia does cause the whole to suffer. At times, the combination of the two halves is extremely adept and satisfying, and Mothersbaugh will certainly impress enthusiasts of orchestral bombast with his intellectually superb constructs and renderings of the ensemble in parts. At other times, however, the straight new wave electronic passages are simply too disparate from the rest of the work to even function as source applications for Sakaar and its Grandmaster. The album presentation doesn't help the listener, either, with cues out of order and not containing some of the more pertinent connections to prior Marvel identities. Also to be contended with, of course, is the insertion of several vintage rock songs straight into the action scenes of the film, the most memorable of these being Led Zepplin's smartly placed and relevant "Immigrant Song" into multiple scenes. Mothersbaugh tries valiantly to balance the symphonic demands of the studio with the comfort zone of his heart, sometimes, as in the latter half of "Running Short on Options," succeeding extremely well, but, as in "What Heroes Do," taking the retro elements to ridiculous levels. For some listeners, the latter passages, or those in which the electronics dominate alone, will outright ruin the Marvel concept in "The Revolution Has Begun" and "Sakaar Chase." To those not accustomed to Mothersbaugh's vintage style and sense of humor, the duo of "Planet Sakaar" and "Grandmaster Jam Session" will be nothing less than insufferable to the extent that they disqualify the whole score. Indeed, they are ridiculously funny and obnoxiously unbearable on album, but don't let these portions distract you from the otherwise fantastic orchestral side to the work.

Texturally, Mothersbaugh impresses with his application of Nordic instruments such as the hardanger fiddle and nyckelharpa in Thor: Ragnarok. A duduk is less applicable, but he receives kudo points for at least using that, along with more stereotypical solo vocal layers, to provide sonic color to the score. In "Ragnarok Suite" and "Twilight of the Gods," listeners hear monumentally outstanding and dynamic symphonic music, exceeding even the most ambitious approach of Patrick Doyle and Brian Tyler for the character. The suite opening the album, perfectly incorporating Mothersbaugh's retro electronic tones in a supporting role, is among the best compositions of 2017 and alone justifies the entire album. This suite introduces the new Thor theme that is conveyed with rock tones in "Thor: Ragnarok" and with synthetic zeal in "The Revolution Has Begun." Interestingly, the other major new theme, representing Thor's evil sister, Hela, is not featured in this suite, its introduction saved for "Hela vs. Asgard." Mothersbaugh's own theme for Thor is a combination of progressions offered by both Doyle and Tyler, the latter's Thor: The Dark World music only reprised clearly in a parody recreation of events from that film shown in this entry. Meanwhile, the new Thor theme dances around the Doyle's chords before finally outwardly stating that theme in full glory during the coronation scene in "Where To?" Far less obvious are Mothersbaugh's apparent attempts to offer pinpoint musical connections to Bruce Banner and the Hulk, alluding to everything from Craig Armstrong's 2008 material for the character to Tyler's handling of him in Avengers: Age of Ultron and, most poignantly, Joe Harnell's classic "Lonely Man" theme from the television series. Unfortunately, this material does not seem evident on the album. By comparison, Mothersbaugh fails to state Michael Giacchino's Doctor Strange theme in "Weird Things Happen" despite obviously conveying the Indian instrumentation and rhythmic figures that underlay the identity. Overall, Thor: Ragnarok solves some of the franchise's musical ills while creating new ones, supplying some fantastic orchestral and synthetic blends at times while destroying your ears with them at others. The musical continuity that the composer sought to rectify is only partially successful. Mothersbaugh's own themes are either unnecessary or, in the case of Hela, not particularly memorable. The lengthy "Ragnarok Suite," however, is perhaps the best single composition in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe through 2017, and that's no small feat.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 72:51

• 1. Ragnarok Suite (8:53) • 2. Running Short on Options (2:46) • 3. Thor: Ragnarok (1:09) • 4. Weird Things Happen (1:46) • 5. Twilight of the Gods (6:14) • 6. Hela vs. Asgard (4:30) • 7. Where am I? (1:39) • 8. Grandmaster's Chambers (1:18) • 9. The Vault (3:47) • 10. No One Escapes (3:01) • 11. Arena Fight (3:32) • 12. Where's the Sword? (4:33)

• 13. Go (1:43) • 14. What Heroes Do (1:37) • 15. Flashback (2:59) • 16. Parade (2:20) • 17. The Revolution Has Begun (1:47) • 18. Sakaar Chase (2:12) • 19. Devil's Anus (4:52) • 20. Asgard is a People (4:20) • 21. Where To? (2:22) • 22. Planet Sakaar (2:14) • 23. Grandmaster Jam Session (3:16)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes extensive photography but no extra information about the score or film.

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