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Composer John
Ottman continues his ongoing collaboration with Bryan Singer in their latest
film, Valkyrie.
In addition to producing and editing the picture, Ottman's best known
contribution is with the music for this highly anticipated film; a movie
that seemingly couldn't find its green light. After suffering through
several delays, Valkyrie finally
secured a Christmas release date, which I am sure all of you are now aware
of given the numerous television spots that have been running for it, and is
primed for a Holiday push. While I am sure the studios would publicly differ
on this, I believe the release date was pushed further out to give the Tom
Cruise hoopla a chance to leave the public forefront. It's a strategy that I
feel is wise. As far as the soundtrack, the album offers 18 tracks, one of
which is a choral piece, and is a departure from some of Ottman's recent
work.
I
had high hopes coming into this one. Valkyrie
seemed to offer the kind of opportunity that could produce a tense, tragic
and valiant score. While the film might still meet my expectations, John
Ottman's score did not.
When critiquing a soundtrack that is powered
primarily by suspenseful underscore, one must take into account that a
middle ground is rare to find. In my experience, music like that typically
will serve the movie alone and will not grant a memorable listen on its own.
That's the case with Valkyrie, a score
that has its moments but eventually succumbs to the movie's requirements.
That approach is great news for filmgoers but not so enthralling for those
of us who have dual interests that include the appreciation of soundtracks.
The album lays out the tracks out of sequence from the movie, most notably
with the first cue, which is a rather elegant choral piece intended for the
end credits. That it was moved to the beginning of the album was a smart
choice since it's the best track from the score. From there, Ottman's work
does start off well enough, using a strong representation of percussion to
emphasis the aggressiveness in the film. Alas from there, from about track 5
on, the score sinks into the world of the underscore, not to re-emerge until
the second to last track on the album.
Truly, I'm not sure if a score album was needed for this, that's how
prominent the underscore is. Sure, there are tense moments and cues of
danger, but there's little else in the way of themes or motifs. The
superlative instances of the score occur when Ottman emphasizes the tragic
components of the story, providing a bit of emotion and drama to relate to
but it's sparse. Again, I am confident much of my dismay about the work will
be balanced out once I've heard the score in the context of the movie, but
as far as the soundtrack experience goes, it's one of Ottman's weaker
efforts.
The canvas of Valkyrie might have not
provided an adequate opportunity to create a powerhouse score, but I do feel
something a bit more dramatic could have resulted from it; Ottman's too
talented for this end result. This is one soundtrack you can take a pass on,
at least until you hear it in the movie itself and decide otherwise. |
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