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| Elfman |
Wanted: (Danny Elfman) Doesn't everybody at some
point sit in their cubicle at work and wonder if there is a higher
calling in life (outside of those obnoxious Scientology ads on
television, of course)? Perhaps
The Matrix glorified this premise
as it could best be imagined, though 2008's
Wanted takes another
slow-motion, bullet-flying, and car-spinning stab at the idea. The
Hollywood directorial debut of Kazakh director Timur Bekmambetov, this
double-studio event was generally praised as being dumb fun by the
rounds of critics but, despite some obvious sex appeal of lead actress
Angelina Jolie, didn't fare as well as hoped at the box office. The
young man in a dead end job and without a life to speak of in
Wanted is destined for a fate tied to a Jedi-like fraternity of
assassins, informed of his absentee father's membership by none other
than Morgan Freeman and expected to avenge himself of his father's
betrayal and murder. Having Jolie there to kick him in the ass and
provide other forms of stimulation doesn't hurt, either. In its genre,
Wanted owes much to
The Matrix and
Spider-Man, and
it is likely in part due to composer Danny Elfman's long history in the
reluctant superhero genre that he was offered this assignment. Elfman's
tenure in the
Spider-Man franchise did not end well, and he had
subsequently explored classical writing for concerts and ballet,
documentary film music, and even some high profile involvement in
politics courtesy of the collective fear of one governor of Alaska.
While 2008 would prove to tax Elfman's abilities in a number of genres
and yield him awards consideration for his efforts in the second half,
Wanted defies the boundaries of usual summer thrillers in terms
of Elfman's attention to the intricacies of its music. It's easy to say
that Elfman over-thought this assignment; any number of less capable
composers would have been able to stir up the adrenaline adequately with
a synthetically pounding score for this event. But more fascinating
about
Wanted is Elfman's ability to take stylistic pieces from
both his superhero music of the past and combine them with stereotypes
of the genre in general and still produce a remarkably unique piece of
music that transcends even his own trademark sounds at times.
Ironically, one could probably make a case that
Standard Operating
Procedure contains more "Elfmanisms" than
Wanted, though the
latter score is easily more engaging in its wild personality, a
characteristic that definitely ties the work to Elfman's devious
side.
On the surface, Elfman's genre-bending bombast for
Wanted may seem either unorganized or overwhelming in its tone.
Indeed, for some listeners, these characteristics will prove too
irrational at times and yield a headache. The mid-section of
Wanted, while maintaining loyalty to Elfman's constructs, does
wander off course at times. But that doesn't account for the fact that
Elfman's journey in this score, while unpredictable in its application
of predictable sounds, is quite intelligently rendered even in its most
flamboyant portions. It is a thinking man's blend of rock and orchestra,
a presentation of processed sounds that not only function in this
context, but are, at the very least, interesting to behold. The primary
theme for
Wanted is a vaguely Russian piece that revolves around
one surprisingly elegant phrase that repeats in creative spurts to form
continuous harmony at times. Heard almost immediately in "Success
Montage," this theme's most intriguing performances are often carried by
solo oboe or other unexpected instruments; the last minute or so of
"Rats" is particularly clever. An electric guitar motif for the primary
character is joined by two ideas for Jolie's persona, the first a mean
ostinato on low strings and the latter a yearning piece for female vocal
effects and, oddly, a duduk. The ostinatos that Elfman employs (and
especially those that smoothen out into straight pounding) are perhaps a
carry-over from the popular employment of that technique by Hans Zimmer,
but without Zimmer's overbearing, droning bass mix, Elfman's equivalent
in
Wanted is strikingly sharp. It's tempting to say that the
employment of vocals and duduk is a reprise of a sound that went awry in
Hulk, but Elfman's handling of the sound here produces extremely
attractive tones in "Fox's Story" and "Fox's Decision" without resorting
to bland, over-generalized harmonics. The motif for the primary
character is equally deceptive, actually based upon a four-note motif
from Elfman's rock song "The Little Things" that accompanies the
picture. Several diversions from the norm for typical orchestral and
synthetic action blends include smart employment of the electric guitar
as Jerry Goldsmith would have done, as one member of the ensemble rather
than a standout solo piece. Electronica loops and pre-recorded
percussion rhythms are applied in ways not unfamiliar to Graeme Revell's
industrial sounds (though in lighter variations, both David Arnold and
Craig Armstrong music will come to mind). A slight retro synthetic
effect in "Exterminator Beat" is joined by straight forward wailing
electric guitar blurts in "Revenge."
The processed sound of the guitar and loops utilized by
Elfman is countered by the composer's typically morbid sense of
melodrama coming from the orchestra, though late in "The Train," one of
the synthetic loops does suggest the worst effects of indigestion.
Another unique element in the music for
Wanted is Elfman's
handling of the secret society, which receives neo-classical treatment
in "Fraternity Suite" complete with clanging metallic sounds of austere,
religious importance and deep, fluid Latin chanting from a male chorus.
This sound, led by forceful string chops that remind of Zimmer's
Backdraft, only partly evolves at the end of "Welcome to the
Fraternity," one of the score's unfortunate missteps. A reprise of mixed
choral tones at the end of "Fox's Decision" is a more familiar vocalized
Elfman sound. After all the frantic movement and practical wall of sound
heard in the action music in
Wanted (often reaching the density
of
Hellboy II: The Golden Army), the redemption for some
listeners will come in the final three cues, utilizing high strings (as
a replacement for the synthetic elements) to create a more organic sense
of direction and resolution to the score. In "Fate," Elfman even builds
the ostinato and chopping motif into a bold crescendo not unlike many of
his other superhero scores. A lack of prominent role for the flowing
title theme in this closing cue is a disappointment. As a listening
experience,
Wanted does need to be divided into its components,
for it contains material that will appeal to both Elfman's contemporary
Mission: Impossible fans and those who long for the composer's
morbidly tragic melodies from the early 1990's. With the five or six
most hyperactive action tracks removed from the presentation, a very
strong and harmonious collection of the ethereal and more conservatively
determined material will result. Otherwise,
Wanted, like
Men
in Black, may be a little too spread all over the musical landscape
for some listeners. An added treat is Elfman's own rock song original to
the film; "The Little Things" not only gives his vintage fans a chance
to hear his voice in its original context, but the song defies
categorization in any subgenre of rock music, giving
Wanted a
hard-nosed but distinct sound to extend its muscle outside of the
underscore. In the end,
Wanted is an admirable score with many
highlights, though Elfman's attempt to draw his ideas into a cohesive
evolution falls short in a few key places. It's a hell of a romp,
though, and any formula film should count itself fortunate to have such
richly textured and interesting twists on the norm in its music.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Danny Elfman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.16
(in 89 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.27
(in 153,899 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a list of performers, but no extra information
about the score or film.
