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In what has
become a long string of composers to write music for the
X-Men
franchise/spin offs, Harry Gregson-Williams steps up next with his music
for, Wolverine. Ironically, Harry
follows his former writing partner, John Powell, in the footsteps of this
franchise, with Powell having scored X-Men 3.
Though Wolverine is not a linear sequel to the X-Men
portfolio, I do consider all the films to be
part of one film franchise with this origin story providing the background
of its most popular character. The soundtrack was released a few days after
the film debuted and provides 45 minutes of Harry's score.
Okay, so the
main theme for Wolverine is a nice,
rugged representation of the character. Beyond that, unfortunately, there
really isn't anything unique or terribly interesting about Harry's score. It
seems that the studios are content with a safe, predictable approach when it
comes to scoring these types of superhero pictures and that trend doesn't
appear like it will change any time soon. Wolverine is just another example
of the modern soundtrack simply fitting into a formula.
When
I look at the crop of movies that are being released today, I can only
imagine just how awesome it would be to have some of the veteran composers
take a shot at this material. With
Wolverine,
there isn't any excitement generate by its music. Theme aside, the
background and action music could have been derived from any recent feature
film score. There really isn't a memorable signature etched here.
The
soundtrack begins with the debut of Wolverine's theme, which is solid and
just "tough" enough to get the job done. It's a theme I wish that Harry
could have built on because it really is a good foundation for the score,
particularly when it is first heard in the opening title sequence. It was
actually quite an exciting blend of visuals and music in this opening
sequence. When the typical action music arrives, however, that is when the
score becomes just another job, seemingly. There isn't any innovation or
crafty variations of the theme to make the bulk of this material stand the
test of being played on its own. It should also be noted that the album
concludes meekly as the main theme builds to an apex and then simply
whimpers off.
With
Prince Caspian
proving to be a bit of a disappointment, and now Wolverine,
I am just hoping Harry gets back to writing music that upholds the promise
of his work on a Sinbad or
Kingdom of Heaven. Until then, we have to
make do with Wolverine, a functional
score that lacks the attitude of its main character. A
score that most soundtrack fans can probably do without. It's missing
ingenuity and strength, two components that no super hero can do without! |
