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| Mansell |
Faster: (Clint Mansell) In all of its advertising
for the picture, Castle Rock Entertainment pushed the 2010 film
Faster as an adrenaline-pumping action extravaganza. It features
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as an emotionless killer with enough muscle,
weapons, and fortitude to blast through any assassination list with
ease. Unfortunately for those seeking cheap testosterone thrills,
director George Tillman, Jr. and the screenwriters decided to create an
action thriller with a deeper narrative, translating into a finished
product that spends more time setting up the characters' back stories
than it does showing them in conflict. While
Faster has been
praised for attempting to transcend the usual level standard of shallow
discourse in its genre, its long scenes of moody contemplation may
prohibit the film from satisfying its intended audience. Johnson's
character, having spent ten years in prison for a bank robbery, is
released and immediately sets upon the task of executing a list of
people he believes responsible for his brother's death. Pursuing him,
meanwhile, is a troubled cop and a professional killer, both with
reservations about their jobs and looking for a better family life. The
concept of redemption is explored throughout the story, sometimes with
an awkwardly religious tilt. A miserably depressing ending for
Faster doesn't help the film endear itself to thrill seekers,
either, though there has been significant talk from the studio about
expanding the concept into a trilogy, so perhaps the payoff rests in
future entries. A logical choice to score
Faster is English
singer, guitar player, and composer Clint Mansell, who had created
something of a cult name for himself as a writer of film music over the
previous ten years. That following resulted mostly from his
unconventional scores for
Requiem for a Dream and
The
Fountain, though the former leader of the band "Pop Will Eat Itself"
has also strayed into rock-inspired action at times as well. With
Doom and
Smokin' Aces in the mid-2000's, Mansell developed
a tough sound that would lend itself well to
Faster. This
assignment would also incorporate an orchestral presence, a sign of hope
for film score collectors seeking a touch of
Sahara once again.
In the end, however,
Faster is a pretty standard contemporary
revenge thriller score that is largely forced into a bottle because of
the many scenes of character development in the plot. Aside from its
rather tepid overarching personality, the score is predictably
functional and strives to find absolutely no original avenue in which to
address such a concept.
The instrumentation comprising Mansell's music for
Faster does include an orchestral string section, though without
Nicholas Dodd's contributions (as in
Saraha), expect the
ensemble to be employed in such a fashion that Mansell could likely have
used samples and nobody would have noticed the difference or cared.
Percussion ranges from drum pad to rock band tones, with other sounds
more likely synthetic in origin. Generic keyboarded passages could
feature an authentic piano or otherwise; once again, it makes little
difference. The heart and soul of the score, not surprisingly, is the
electric guitar, which is employed as a tool of outright coolness
(attempting to emulate early Hans Zimmer works like
Point of No
Return) and also as a rhythmic device mixed sometimes in a purely
supporting role. The instrument's range of performance capabilities is
stretched include some stabbing jabs and screeching wails as well.
Thematically,
Faster is completely focused on a single idea that
is introduced at the end of "Ten Year Stretch" and concludes with
attitude in "On a Mission." A rising three-note structure of extremely
simplistic minor-key form is repeated several times before extending to
two additional basic notes. Because the theme is so repetitive by nature
and devoid of complexity, it can be utilized as its own rhythmic device
underneath howling guitars. The unwavering instrumentation and the
constant referencing of the one theme cause
Faster to enjoy solid
continuity. And, by the end, the score has also managed to tell a
marginal narrative. The problem with its flow, however, comes when
Mansell is forced to meander in near silence due to the
character-building scenes (as in "Family Matters"). In a few instances,
as in "Lost Lives" and "Lovers," he uses keyboarded tones to solicit
more obvious sympathy, though even these sequences are stereotypical
applications of a piano to mundane suburban lifestyles. Everything in
Mansell's score sounds as though the composer was trying to meet
expectations rather than exceed them. There is no originality and no
true conflict between hard-ass style and personal introspection. It's a
functionally bland score begging for more emotional punch. Unlike some
of the soundtracks for Mansell's previous, most popular works, at least
Faster's album offers a very healthy representation of his music.
It follows a collection of rock songs from yesteryear that somewhat
matches the generally downbeat attitude of Mansell's contribution. The
inclusion of the "John the Revelator" religious preaching in the middle
will make sense to enthusiasts of the film, but is an annoying detriment
to the album. Overall, this revenge score could suffer the same fate as
its film, generally palatable with glimpses of coolness smothered by
extended sequences of quietly discomforting turmoil.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
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The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
