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| Ottman |
X-Men: Apocalypse: (John Ottman) Having nearly
jettisoned the original cast of actors involved with the "X-Men"
cinematic universe, the Marvel concept moves into its ninth feature
film with a younger generation wrapping up a back-story trilogy that
began with
X-Men: First Class in 2011 and continued in 2014's
X-Men: Days of Future Past. Following the laughable sideshow of
Deadpool earlier in 2016,
X-Men: Apocalypse manages to
retain the major characteristics of the franchise, exhibiting mass
casualties amongst the helpless human population, mutant personal
identity conflicts, an appearance by concept anchor Hugh Jackman, and
the continuing sense that the mutants in these films are Hollywood's
most pervasive allegory for homosexuality in modern cinema. Beyond all
of these basics in the formula,
X-Men: Apocalypse offers a more
traditional script in its battle between an ancient, existentially
threatening villain and the combined powers of the relatively young
X-Men. Unless you're an enthusiast of the complex character interactions
of this universe, a movie that combines a significant dose of backstory
with a rather typical threat from a villain may not be of much interest.
And, in fact, critics and audiences met
X-Men: Apocalypse with
only lukewarm enthusiasm, the film performing far more poorly than
X-Men: Days of Future Past at the box office. Returning from that
previous entry is the team of Bryan Singer and John Ottman, with Singer
writing, producing, and directing while Ottman co-produced, edited, and
composed the music for the project. Though Ottman's involvement with
X-Men: Days of Future Past allowed him to resurrect his themes
from
X2: X-Men United, marking the first time the franchise has
enjoyed any significant musical continuity, the quality of the
X-Men:
Days of Future Past score was comparatively underwhelming. Whatever
benefits awaited the film music collector in the reprisal of a previous
main theme from the franchise were nullified by an alternately
pedestrian and abrasive work, a major disappointment for enthusiasts of
Ottman that stoked speculation that the composer's other duties on the
film left him with either no inspiration for the score or an inclination
to over-rely upon his team of arrangers to assemble the more
synthetically-oriented music.
Fortunately, Ottman receives solo compositional credit
for
X-Men: Apocalypse's score (though be aware that his army of
arrangers remains involved) and listeners hoping to hear hints of his
fantastic symphonic mastery in
Jack the Giant Slayer will be
pleased by a marked improvement in the substantive thematic narrative of
this work compared to
X-Men: Days of Future Past. In many ways,
X-Men: Apocalypse is Ottman's most mature and engaging listening
experience thus far in the franchise, intelligently utilizing prior
identities while developing interesting new ones. The interpolations of
his main X-Men identity in this score aren't as excitingly engrossing as
the more extensive equivalents in the concurrent
Alice Through the
Looking Glass by Danny Elfman or
Now You See Me 2 by Brian
Tyler, but Ottman does make a solid effort to logically place and
develop his main theme with satisfying results. You hear the obligatory
fanfare placement in "Pyramid Collapse/Main Titles," and the composer
nicely applies the first two phrases of the theme as counterpoint at
moments when a character is seemingly "officially" confirmed as
belonging to the X-Men universe, whether it be in sonic battle with the
villain's theme at 3:15 into "The Magneto Effect" or in more triumphant
expression from the new Jean Grey theme at 3:00 into "Like a Fire." Most
appealing is Ottman's arrangement of the idea in "You're X-Men/End
Titles," in which he offers arguably the best presentation of the theme
thus far in the franchise, complete with choir. His melodramatic
manipulation of the theme as it transitions into and out of the
melancholy Jean Grey theme in the "End Titles" is a highlight of the
entire score. That theme for Grey is a dramatic gem in the score as
well, introduced softly in "Just a Dream" before reaching its action
pinnacle in "Like a Fire" and receiving the lovely, aforementioned
concert arrangement in "End Titles." Less cohesive is the material for
Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (oddly referred to by Ottman throughout his notes
and cue titles as "Eric"), a carry-over of a descending line for the
character from his prior two X-Men scores. Most fans won't recognize its
major-key form here, one must suspect, and the several contemplative
cues for the character aren't dramatic enough to really sustain
themselves like the development of the other themes in the score. A
largely unused lullaby extending out of this material, included as a
bonus cue on the album, is another highlight of the work, humanizing the
character like never before.
The most attention paid to Ottman's music for
X-Men:
Apocalypse will surround his identity for the titular villain,
however. The ancient Egyptian bad guy enjoys a pounding two-note phrase
on key to announce his awesomeness, heard immediately in "Apocalypse"
and reprised as an arrival fanfare of sorts thereafter. His actual theme
is a stylistic holdover from Ottman's propulsive, evil title theme for
Apt Pupil, intentionally religious and grandiose in its minor-key
elegance. Ottman tackled the theme from the perspective of the villain.
"Apocalypse is like Donald Trump; he's a narcissist," the composer
commented. "The movie has a noble conqueror kind of melody to it." A
distinct part of the theme exists in the midsection of "Apocalypse," a
seductive portion Ottman references as existing for the villain's "sweet
talker" capabilities. With the biblical element also at play ("He
fancies himself to be the God of the Old Testament, so I always wanted
for there to be some thoughtfulness," Ottman continues), there is an
overt organ and liturgical choral aspect to "The Transference" that
manifests itself in two distinct secondary melodic lines for the
villain. It makes for ball-busting orchestral music, with only
occasional electronic accompaniment in the bass region supplying
assistance to the acoustic performances. The opening three cues of the
score, encompassing much of this material and existing in the film
without interference from dialogue, will be the highlight of the work
for most casual listeners. Be prepared for some lovely interludes of the
Jean Grey and Magneto themes hidden in the rest of the score, however,
the latter half of "What Beach?" one such moment of bliss. And, of
course, there's "You're X-Men/End Titles," which is a necessity in the
listening experience. Outside influences are also littered throughout
the soundtrack, the second movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony smartly
combined with the villain's theme in "Beethoven Havok." Not featured on
the score-only album is the handful of 1980's-specific songs for the era
of the film (Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" and Metallica's "The Four
Horsemen") and the popular trailer songs. Some film music enthusiasts
will likely claim that 77 minutes of score on the album is too long, and
there is certainly some trimming that can be done. But whereas
X-Men:
Days of Future Past offered only ten minutes or so of suite-worthy
material,
X-Men: Apocalypse supplies two to three times that
amount of quality orchestral and choral music for repetitive enjoyment
apart from the film. Only a few times does this score impress on the
technical and melodic level of
Jack the Giant Slayer, but it's
nevertheless a significant improvement in the franchise.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For John Ottman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.17
(in 35 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.99
(in 19,320 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a list of performers and a note from the composer about the score's themes.
