: (Alan Silvestri)
Paramount's most shameless attempt of 2003 to milk more money from the
wallets of fools, otherwise known as
, was understandably ridiculed for its poor script and shoddy
direction, both of which ultimately causing a two-hour bore on screen.
Even lead actress Angelina Jolie didn't retain her enthusiasm from the
preceding
of 2000, and a franchise that was
marginally excusable at its outset had sunk to miserable depths of
despair where a plethora of dumb, poorly-rendered CGI monsters awaited.
As an excuse to exhibit Jolie's physique, the movie shows her treasure
hunter character trotting across the globe once again, this time to save
the planet from a "pandora's box" that is being pursued by both friend
and foe for the usual purposes of power and domination. Contributing to
the dissatisfaction with the movie, which performed badly domestically
after poor reviews, was the plot's insistence that Croft kill both the
leading male antagonist and protagonist, leaving everyone with a sour
taste. The soundtrack for
featured the typical alternative rock song collection, but not immune
from criticism was Alan Silvestri's surprisingly techno-defined score,
which was noted as being obnoxiously mixed in the film during early
fighting sequences. In the composer's defense, the summer of 2003 was
one destined to test his professional endurance. Silvestri was enjoying
another period of ascension in his career, especially in the genres of
fantasy and adventure. His mature talent in large-scale action scoring
was confirmed among fans and industry ears by his impressive music for
two years prior, and 2003 promised to yield
another summer of similarly-styled success. The only person who seemed
at the time to have failed to realize Silvestri's writing capabilities
was producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who outright fired the composer from
and
replaced him with Hans Zimmer and a horde of mediocre Media Ventures
ghostwriters that proceeded to bang out a simplistic and underachieving
score for the otherwise popular film.
Seeing a sudden opportunity fall on their laps like a pot
of gold, Paramount and director Jan de Bont hired Silvestri immediately
for
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, and within two days of
ending his frustration with
Pirates of the Caribbean, Silvestri
was back in action. He was ironically replacing a well-known composer
himself in the case of the
Tomb Raider sequel; Craig Armstrong
wrote and recorded some material for the film before his own dismissal
by the studio. One Armstrong cue, "Lab Scene," was actually utilized in
the final cut, though it didn't provide much indication that the
composer was headed in any particular musical direction that Silvestri
did not later follow. Perhaps neither Armstrong nor Silvestri had
consulted with Michael Kamen or Graeme Revell, both of whom experiencing
the poison of this franchise during the post-production mess of
Tomb
Raider. The finished score for that film, completed in just a matter
of days by Revell without much advance notice, offered the sequel
nothing of merit to build upon. With a hint of frustration in his voice,
Revell even admitted that his music for that project was substandard at
best. For the sequel's score, Paramount had reportedly demanded a
continuation of the same electronic base construct that Revell had
utilized, but this time a considerable budget was allotted for greater
orchestral accompaniment as well. With that cash in hand, Silvestri
frantically wrote the score for a 100-piece orchestra and 40-member
choir, still writing the day before flying to London to record. The
schedule was so hectic by the time of his involvement that he continued
writing during the week of recording sessions as well. Despite the
probable temptation, Silvestri refused to explicitly resurrect any of
the material he wrote for
Pirates of the Caribbean, which was
something of a personal rule for him. During the recording of the music,
Jan de Bont, who was a fan of heavy electronic rhythms in his
soundtracks, pushed Silvestri to jazz up the synthetic elements of the
score. The composer did exactly that, describing the result as one of
his most techno-electronic efforts. In fact, the David Arnold-inspired
loops and other synthetic elements in this mix are as much a deviation
from Silvestri's career as his fans had ever heard in this genre. For
the most part, the end result functions well enough, even if those
electronic accentuations do tend to get on the nerves more often than
not.
Surely, the score for
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of
Life is not a classic, nor does it really break fresh new ground.
But Silvestri does offer glimmers of the best material he had produced
since
The Mummy Returns, with a modern mix of electronic loops, a
brass-heavy orchestra, and the obligatory choir in prominent roles. Many
of the same musicians had performed on the composer's
Judge
Dredd, and you get much of the same horn-dominated attitude here. A
simplistic but very serviceable main theme is present for scenes of
techno-gadget adventure and changes of location, defaulting as Croft's
identity as well. Joining this theme is a secondary motif for the
pseudo-religious moments of melodramatic awe that accompanies the
arguably mystical artifacts central to this story. While the artifact
theme takes until the final third of the score to really enjoy the
limelight, defined best with notable vocal accents in "Orb Transmission"
and maturing at the end of "Pandora's Box," Silvestri's main theme is
the only one you'll remember, mainly because of its use in transitional
shots of natural beauty. Creative development of the theme is somewhat
limited by its basic melodic constructs, but it certainly suffices for
the occasion. The lengthy score has about twenty minutes of straight,
timpani-rumbling, orchestral bombast, sometimes with the aid of a snazzy
drum loop or other glitzy synthesized effect. Silvestri shows the hip
side of his contemporary electronic use by throwing staggered, almost
jazzy brass bursts over the looped rhythms with the same kind of
enthusiastic touch that David Arnold exhibited in his James Bond scores,
and these moments of cohesion between the modern and traditional
elements are the defining style of
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of
Life. The "Opening" cue and finale, "Not Meant to Be Found," employ
this melding to finally establish the hearty, adventurous tone for the
spirit of Lara Croft. No offense to Graeme Revell, but this is the kind
of satisfyingly cohesive music you need to hear when Jolie kicks someone
in the head. There are several lengthy fight sequences in the score
during which the electronic rhythms are heard alone, and a few of these
are cranked up so far in volume that they obtain a fatally abrasive
edge. In the handling of the electric guitar recorded alongside the
orchestra, Silvestri utilizes the instrument as an accent piece, much
like John Debney's treatment in
The Scorpion King. In fact, the
stylish action in
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life shares much
more in common with
The Scorpion King than Silvestri's own
popular sound in
The Mummy Returns.
The personality of the score for
Tomb Raider: The
Cradle of Life has a distinct jungle-swinging emphasis as well, with
stereotypical, forest-related effects drawing from as early as
Silvestri's
Romancing the Stone and throwing in a native flute
for predictable atmosphere. Ethnic vocal accents are one idea that does
carry over from Revell's work, though they aren't as wildly obvious. To
appreciate this sequel score, however, you have to suspend your desire
for complexity in your film music, because although Silvestri did a
decent last-minute job for this project, there is isn't anything
groundbreaking in construct or performance here. The engineering of the
recording is commendable, although the rotating sets of players did
suffer from a few blatant flubs, especially in the brass section. (Note
errors at 3:18 into "Pandora's Box," for instance.) But given the
Tomb Raider series' low musical expectations, Silvestri's output
was a much-welcomed explosion of raw energy. The original 2003
Varèse Sarabande score album (as opposed to the usual song album,
which offered only a five-minute suite of Silvestri's score) presents
exactly an hour of uninterrupted music, containing all major cues from
the film. Be aware that the presentation takes quite a while to cook if
you're less interested in the hard-nosed synthetic side and are solely
seeking the orchestral bombast. Only in the pairing of "The Cradle of
Life" and "Pandora's Box" do the symphonic ensemble and choir's
contributions explode in the absence of electronic accompaniment. The
final fifteen minutes of material more than compensates for the
comparatively underwhelming fight music at the start. In 2022,
Varèse expanded the presentation to 92 minutes on a 2-CD set, and
this "Deluxe Edition" really only serves to pad the experience with poor
filler material. The tone of "Jet Ski - Meet Lara" is moderately
entertaining, as is the militaristic diversion late in "Kill Me -
Leaving Prison," but the duo of "She Escaped - Break In" and "Shoot Her
Between the Eyes" accomplishes nothing in ten minutes. An especially
hard, synthetic version of the main theme debuts in "Skydiving
Sequence," and there's a burst of Bond-like coolness at the end of "Why
Didn't You Kill Reiss." On the whole, however, the expansion diminishes
the score experience on album, requiring a consolidation that the 2003
album already provided well enough. Armstrong's music, meanwhile,
remains unreleased. Overall,
Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life is a
serviceable and occasionally engaging action score, with some fantastic
highlights at its conclusion. Those hoping to hear what Silvestri might
have produced for
Pirates of the Caribbean will be disappointed,
though, and the better match for such listeners remains
The Mummy
Returns.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Music as Written for the Film: ****
- Music as Heard on the 2003 Album: ****
- Music as Heard on the 2022 Album: ***
- Overall: ****
| Bias Check: |
For Alan Silvestri reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.46
(in 41 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.33
(in 39,965 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
