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Review of X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Harry Gregson-Williams)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you have low expectations for this predictable
formulaic score, for it is actually more cohesively developed than many
of its underachieving counterparts in this era of superhero films.
Avoid it... if you demand continuity in the music of your favorite franchises, for Harry Gregson-Williams applies his gothic and industrial blend from a different direction than his three predecessors.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
X-Men Origins: Wolverine: (Harry Gregson-Williams)
With a troubled production from the start, it should come as no surprise
that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was widely considered a generic and
pointless venture in its final form. Controversy surrounding the
competence of director Gavin Hood erupted when Richard Donner was
retained by 20th Century Fox to help clean up some of the script's
action sequences, resulting in several re-shoots. Still plagued by a
messy ending, the production suffered from poor press and an
embarrassing leak of a work print of the film. Still, despite the
entry's arguably needless place in this cinematic franchise, the
character of Wolverine from Marvel Comics' "X-Men" is among the most
popular to ever exist on the printed page, and by its positioning at the
outset of the 2009 summer season, X-Men Origins: Wolverine
cracked the $100 million mark with ease in under two weeks. The primary
complaint regarding the film's execution involved its lack of depth,
operating like a vehicle to haul the audience from one action sequence
to another and disregarding any complexity in dialogue or underlying
reasoning. This trait carries over to Harry Gregson-Williams
understandably formula score for X-Men Origins: Wolverine.
Luckily, among the mass of composers to come from the side of Hans
Zimmer, Gregson-Williams is among the most talented, allowing for even
his formula scores to occasionally transcend the muck expected for films
of this limited intelligence. The history of the music for the
X-Men franchise hasn't been consistent by any means, but it has
managed to avoid the most mundane levels of mediocrity that inhabit the
music for franchise counterparts Daredevil and Iron Man.
Michael Kamen's brooding but effective score for the original 2000 film
was brightened by John Ottman's exploration of more upbeat heroism. By
the time John Powell entered the equation for the third entry, the topic
was ready for a fully apocalyptic identity, one served well by Powell's
very dynamic score. The task at hand for Powell's former collaborator
didn't allow for much continuity in the music for X-Men Origins:
Wolverine, if any at all. The individual characters in the franchise
have never been blessed with a consistent musical identity, and when
combined with the perpetually shifting composition duties,
Gregson-Williams was left with the only sensible avenue of action:
starting from scratch. As such, don't expect to hear any meaningful
connections between this score and its predecessors.
If you value continuity in your franchises, a concept that was tested significantly with the release of the rebooted Star Trek a week after this film, then know that the few nuggets of familiarity built into the script of X-Men Origins: Wolverine don't translate into its score. This music is once again a clear attempt to merge the gothic elements of a broadly rendered orchestra and adult chorus with the harsh, industrial side of contemporary coolness and technology. Better than most, Gregson-Williams manages a decent balance of these elements in his work. There are two-minute sequences that are impressive in their ability to lay a harmonic choral performance over pleasant synthetic loops. At the same time, the score does predictably degenerate into nonsensical ramblings of the latter element, often taking its slashing metallic side to intolerable levels of scratchy noise. Sometimes in the orchestra alone and occasionally buried in the mass of ticking, thumbing, and groaning sounds from Enemy of the State are a pair of relatively appealing themes. The first is, not surprisingly, for Wolverine. Its muscular brass statement in the opening summary of Logan and his half-brother's lives is better than expected, staying loyal to the character through the final cue of defiance after his memory has been lost. More interesting, as you might imagine, is the romantic subtheme for Logan's love interest, developed extensively in "Kayla." Although somewhat cold in its distant renderings, a nice touch of warmth is offered by a piano in that cue. The composer's insertion of a dying rendition of the idea at the end of "Memories Lost" is likewise compelling. Otherwise, the application of themes is typically overwhelmed by distant cries of electric guitars and the standard string ostinato effects that both Zimmer and Powell have popularized in the 2000's. Often times, as in the performance of the title theme by full ensemble in the waning moments of "Special Priviledges," the more interesting and cohesive explorations of the best ideas in X-Men Origins: Wolverine are unfortunately abbreviated. The most irritating modern effect of them all is included at times as well; the artificial, sudden stops or accentuated backwards edits of a single note are particularly irritating and, at this point, aged beyond their usefulness as a shock tool. Overall, Gregson-Williams' score is the kind of formulaic application of music to a substandard superhero action film that will most likely be dismissed by those outside of his loyal collecting group. That's a fair response, though this score is better than many to grace similarly underachieving films of the era. Approach with low expectations and you might be rewarded. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 45:22
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a list of performers and plenty of photos of actor Hugh Jackman's
freakish vascularity, but no extra information about the score or film.
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