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Review of Vantage Point (Atli Örvarsson)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you adore the Hans Zimmer and Remote Control methodology of handling contemporary thrillers so much that you feel the need to pad that portion of your film music collection with another faithful regurgitation of that sound.

Avoid it... if you expect Atli Örvarsson to distinguish himself from his fellow Zimmer clones in this assignment whatsoever, his music almost robotic in its rearrangement of tired, stereotypical ingredients for this genre.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Vantage Point: (Atli Örvarsson) If there's one personality trait of every American president that is a certainty but never to be admitted, it's an ego that would prohibit them from allowing a body double to speak in public for them. Missing that basic fact is the 2008 thriller Vantage Point, which also failed badly with critics for the fallacy that a disloyal member of the Secret Service's presidential detail could plot against his employer unnoticed. Add to these problems an extremely fractured plot that portrays the same sequence of events through several different points of view and you have an extremely implausible whole. The premise probably looked good on paper, though, and promising acting performances from a veteran cast sold the movie well enough to earn substantial grosses. The story told from eight different perspectives begins with an assassination attempt on the American president during a treaty conference in Spain. After his shooting, a pair of explosions devastates the scene and leads to a frantic chase across the city. The portrayals of the event are seen through the media, the president himself, the Secret Service agents, an American tourist, and a host of terrorists who intend all along to kidnap the president rather than kill him. What potential upside Vantage Point originally had was lost as the movie disintegrated into a general chase and betrayal thriller in its final third, and reflecting this generic turn for the worse is Atli Örvarsson's score. The Icelandic composer had for years been one of the numerous assistants at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control clone factory, and in the middle of the 2000's, he ascended far enough up the company's ranks to be awarded his own scoring assignments on several occasions. None of these first half dozen projects was consequential, however, and by the close of the decade, he still had not managed to achieve the quick success that other graduates of Zimmer's operations have enjoyed. For Vantage Point, Zimmer served as a "consultant," which usually indicates that the composer and his company was asked to handle the film and the duties got shunted off to the underling for a variety of reasons that typically relate to money, time, or interest. It should not be surprising to see the normal collection of Zimmer and Remote Control associates handling the various duties behind the scenes in this recording, nor should it be expected that the music sound anything different from the stock modern action and suspense crap that these artists pass off as exciting blockbuster entertainment in this age.

It's always disappointing when one of these Zimmer clones emerges in a major assignment and only safely regurgitates ideas expressed by other associates in prior works. There is Harry Gregson-Williams' Spy Game and John Powell's The Bourne Identity (and sequels) written all over this score, with touches of vintage Zimmer thrown in for good measure. Music like this gives listeners absolutely no idea about what Örvarsson's actual personal writing style sounds like. The ensemble is predictable for this assignment. The orchestra assembled for Vantage Point includes only cello and bass string performers, dismissing all other elements in favor of synthetic layers and occasional soloists. The electronics consist of tired tones and manipulation from years past, many of the samples and their applications standard to the point of total monotony. Grating dissonant passages, stuttering synth blasts, and oppressive atmospheric muck are all frequent contributors to the dull, lifeless soundscape. When string ostinatos and their occasional smoother, melodramatic interludes ominously strike all the right moves, you can't help but be distracted by the Powell influence. The soloists would usually comprise the highlights in this kind of environment, but their usage is so stereotypical that there was clearly little intelligent depth exercised when planning this music. A duduk moans away early on to represent the location, and the standard Remote control acoustic guitar presence handles the softer tourist perspective. A mournful solo voice wafts through the background for the terrorists, aided by occasional puffs on an exotic flute. A solo trumpet is largely buried, an unfortunate diminishment of the American element. Most of these performers come together in "Vantage Point End Title," which also summarizes the same thematic material introduced in "Vantage Point Main Title." One of the score's major weaknesses is its inability to really develop Örvarsson's several motifs in the cue. The main theme of Trevor Rabin simplicity has little to offer, but there are a couple of suspense motifs in the opening cue that struggle to enunciate themselves well in the mass of the underscore, the only notable exception being the "Clockwork" cue. The "Epilogue" contains the most wholesome presentation of the primary theme for the moderate string ensemble. As arranged out of chronological order on the score-only album, Vantage Point does rotate through the instrumental identities for the different sets of characters in the film up front, later degenerating as the chase music confirms the score as one of purely derivative repackaging. The score basically serves its purpose, but it does so with no real class or originality.  **

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 41:23

• 1. Vantage Point Main Title (2:45) • 2. Motorcade (1:36) • 3. Enrique and Veronica (2:55) • 4. Run Enrique Run (2:33) • 5. Lewis and Anna (1:20) • 6. President and Decoy (1:38) • 7. The Chase Begins (2:50) • 8. Serendipity (4:40)

• 9. Epilogue (1:55) • 10. Tightening Circle (3:19) • 11. Clockwork (5:07) • 12. The President is Safe (1:15) • 13. Explosion Aftermath (3:38) • 14. Suarez' Plan (4:00) • 15. Vantage Point End Title (2:02)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information about the score or film.

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