: (John Ottman) Every
long-running franchise reaches a point when producers have to make the
difficult determination about how to handle the inescapable fact that
actors get old. In the case of the Marvel's "X-Men" brand, that
discussion had been underway for years by the time of
in 2014, a movie which further attempts to bridge the
way for a younger generation of actors to take the place of aging
favorites. Critical acclaim awaited the time-bending tale of this entry,
the central heroes of the mutant community tasked with changing the past
to prevent humanity's "Sentinel" creations from the future damage to not
only them but everyone connected to them. A fair dose of American
politics is thrown into this story as well, media favorite President
Richard Nixon figuring prominently in the action. With the film grossing
over $700 million worldwide, a sequel (
) was
planned immediately for 2016. The franchise has flailed around
considerably in its storyline emphasis, a product of the constant
shifting of filmmakers behind each successive entry; this same
phenomenon has affected Marvel's other properties on the screen and it
makes these films somewhat difficult to appreciate as anything but
standalone flashes of the concept. The music has suffered badly from the
changes in filmmakers in particular, no thematic cohesion resulting
across the films prior to
. Despite the
studio's ownership of the thematic identities of each soundtrack,
composers from John Ottman to John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams, and
Henry Jackman have decided not to explicitly employ any of the previous
scores' established ideas, causing additional consternation for film
music enthusiasts attempting to enjoy these films. With the return of
director Bryan Singer to the series came another crack for Ottman to
guide the franchise in some significant direction.
While Ottman had been unavailable for the first film in
2000, he did compose the music for the 2003
X2: X-Men United
sequel. For the 2014 film, Ottman not only provides the score but also
edits the product (another fantastic talent for the man that, for some
people, is actually superior to his compositional skills). Ottman
himself has undergone a transformation over the previous ten years,
evolving from a composer of wildly creative and almost devious scores to
a workmanlike producer of rather mundane and conventional background
noise. Unfortunately,
X-Men: Days of Future Past is further
evidence of that general transformation. Aside from the clear anomaly of
Jack the Giant Slayer, there is debate in the film music
community about the disintegration of Ottman's creativity since the
1990's. Some attribute it to the need to emulate the Hans Zimmer
methodology of the 2000's to remain employed. Some believe that his
earliest collaborators were actually responsible for his 1990's hits.
Others suggest that Ottman has become more of a producer of soundtracks
in the mould of Zimmer, relying upon his newer generation of
contributors and arrangers in much the same fashion as he has become too
busy to score the films himself. No matter the reason, the result speaks
for itself:
X-Men: Days of Future Past is an insipidly
conventional and boring score. Some of it isn't any more inspiring than
Non-Stop or
Unknown, and the rest has distinct connections
to Remote Control methodology of the worst kind. The mass of this score
consists of either uninspired action music for tired drum loops,
electric guitar, and basic orchestral figures or, on the other hand,
underplayed dramatic meandering that stews without accomplishing any
true emotional impact. There are exceptions in a few cues, of course,
but most Ottman and film score collectors are justified in being
tremendously disappointed in this work. In terms of instrumentation, a
heavier electric guitar presence is the only deviation from what you'd
expect for Ottman, the orchestra, electronic textures, and deep male
choir all returning from previous endeavors.
The thematic element is where the composer really
misses the mark in
X-Men: Days of Future Past. He does thankfully
reprise usage of his main theme from
X2: X-Men United briefly in
"The Future - Main Titles" and "Do What You Were Made For" before a full
statement in "Welcome Back - End Titles," with the counterpoint usage in
"Do What You Were Made For" a highlight of the work. Some listeners will
appreciate the rearrangement in the final cue as well. Two other cues
worthy of noting as important to the score are "Time's Up," a set action
piece with deep male chanting that has its allure, and "Hope (Xavier's
Theme"), a soft
Inception-like progression that informs some of
the contemplative moments in the score. A listener could combine ten
minutes of solid material from this score for a suite, but the rest
badly underwhelms. Downright unlistenable is "I Have Faith in You -
Goodbyes," the Remote Control-guided hardest action cue on the product.
The album concludes with two rather somber source cues from the 1970's
era. A year after the film's debut, 20th Century Fox released the "Rogue
Cut" version of the film, adding 17 minutes of material mostly dealing
with a previously limited side-narrative for the Rogue character. In
conjunction with this release, the score received expanded treatment in
digital form, pushing the available Ottman music from 69 minutes to
nearly 112 and dropping the source cues. The additional music is mostly
mundane action, suspense, or drama filler, though there are exceptions.
This album's "Xavier's Plan" and "There's Someone Else" present
attractive brooding suspense tones while "We Need You," "Letting Raven
In," and the end of "Charles n Charles" do the same on the dramatic
side. The pair of "Raising RFK" cues is an action highlight, containing
some impressive passages, and fans will enjoy the post-credits "En Sabah
Nur" music, though it lacks some power without the associated, chanting
crowd effects. That said, the duo of "Trask Hearing" and "Costly Escape"
are highly obnoxious, and the sum of additional material is hardly worth
a purchase. Overall, you have to wonder if Ottman and his crew mailed in
this effort due to the composer's emphasis on editing the film. So much
of it is underplayed or derivative that something definitely went wrong
in the creative process. At least we finally have thematic continuity in
the franchise. Baby steps.
** @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 3.05
(in 21,438 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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