| CLOSE WINDOW |
|
FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Avengers: Age of Ultron (Brian Tyler/Danny Elfman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you seek a fabulous reworking of Alan Silvestri's main
concept theme by Danny Elfman on top of functional Brian Tyler music for
this messy but ultimately satisfying superhero score.
Avoid it... if you can't shake the nagging feeling that while Tyler's music for this genre is very accomplished and functional, nothing really can compete with Elfman's superhero prowess, and the mixture of the two styles serves as a detriment to the whole for you.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Avengers: Age of Ultron: (Brian Tyler/Danny Elfman)
As long as the Marvel Cinematic Universe continues to generate over
billion dollars of revenue per flick, expect more of them to be cranked
out indefinitely. The eleventh such feature, 2015's Avengers: Age of
Ultron, is, like 2012's The Avengers, a mash-up of all the
characters introduced in the various movies dedicated to those
individuals, thrusting them against another common enemy while
attempting, at least in this case, to develop some new character
plotlines on the side. Those relationships are explored, but the focus
remains on massive fight sequences in Avengers: Age of Ultron,
the heroes this time coalescing to stop an artificial intelligence bent
on eradicating humanity for the sake of the planet (wait, wasn't that
also the goal in Kingsman?). This villain, Ultron, is the
Frankenstein allusion for this universe, and once dispatched, the
overarching franchise storyline can move back to galactic matters. One
has to wonder how the world's population would really deal with all this
ruckus if fantasy became reality; there's only so much "running out of
the away" bystanders can do in these flicks before they adopt
X-Men universe leanings. One of the areas the Marvel Cinematic
Universe has sought to improve upon in itself is its music. The scores
for these movies, typically battling a variety of song placements along
with the sound effects, have always struggled to form any kind of
cohesive identity. The most successful composer to accomplish such
memorable thematic presence in the franchise has been Alan Silvestri,
who has ultimately defined the Captain America and Avengers portions of
the universe's music. In later Marvel entries, however, Brian Tyler then
became the favored composer, with strong scores for both the Iron Man
and Thor storylines combining the masculinity of the Hans Zimmer
blockbuster expectations from the studio with the Jerry Goldsmith
rhythmic flair that actually (still) works. Tyler vowed upon taking the
assignment to bring some cohesion to the franchise, combining his own
prior themes with those of Silvestri to form some much-needed
continuity. Somewhere along the way, though, veteran superhero score
master Danny Elfman stepped in to provide additional and replacement
music for Avengers: Age of Ultron, taking the references to the
franchise's themes even a step further.
While rumors flew rampant about Tyler's departure from Avengers: Age of Ultron, fueled in part by his own somewhat uncomfortable, evasive answer about the circumstances in an interview about the topic, one can hope that his busy recording schedule for Furious 7 was responsible for a conflict that left him unable to compose and record around late edits to the film. At any rate, what matters to the film music enthusiast is that you have this dual-composer score that stands as one massive irony. Here we have, after years of complaints about these Marvel scores offering no thematic continuity, a new Marvel score that is so saturated with references to prior themes from two separate composers that it's nearly impossible to sort through all of them. Both Tyler and Elfman go to great pains to adapt Silvestri's Avengers and Captain America themes and styles into the work, not to mention Tyler's referencing of his Iron Man and Thor themes, Elfman's referencing of Tyler's Iron Man theme, and even Elfman's referencing of his own Hulk identity (though that one's more of an in-joke). How the two composers go about these inclusions is different as well, Tyler opting usually for wholesale quotes while Elfman was content to re-work the existing material to make a new identity off of the clear foundations of the existing one. You also have several new secondary themes as well, two by Tyler and one by Elfman. This score is, simply put, a free-for-all of Tyler and Elfman ideas, and, thankfully, their styles for the project, while definitely distinct, are adequately similar enough to function well next to each other. Casual movie-goers won't even notice the difference. Tyler's contribution is the dominant force in terms of running time, and his original ideas for the picture are its most important. The general style of his approach is exactly as one might expect. Unlike Furious 7, his approach to Avengers: Age of Ultron is mostly orchestral and choral, leaving the obnoxious electronic manipulation behind and only occasionally allowing synthetic ambience and rhythmic thumping to play an auxiliary role. The masculinity factor is what sets his music apart from Elfman's. Whereas the older composer wows with high style, Tyler accomplishes the same end through brute force. There is a significant amount of bass-centric power and ascending lines from his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles score to be heard in this one, the hints of Goldsmith brass and rhythm supplanted by more of the Zimmer influence. The execution is still sparkling in much of it, however, matching the prowess of Tyler's previous entries in the franchise. Tyler's most impactful contribution to Avengers: Age of Ultron is his sinister theme for Ultron, heard immediately in the score and woven into the fabric of countless cues. Its five note progression is really quite memorable and effective in its cyclical simplicity to represent the one-track mind of the villain. Tyler litters this idea throughout the score's later suspense cues wonderfully ("Keys to the Past" is subtle but nicely handled) and even uses its progressions to inform a secondary idea for another character, Vision, which makes perfect sense given their type of existence and other connections. For Vision, however, the theme understandably takes on a different tone. The Ultron material haunts Tyler's other new identity for the picture, a love theme for Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff that occupies much of the downtime in the score. In "Wish You Were Here" and "The Last One," among others, Tyler conveys what will sound to listeners like a combination of similar melodies from Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Titanic (either one a bit distracting in this context). The composer's references to prior themes is plenty, starting with nods to his Iron Man theme in "Rise Together" and "Hulkbuster" and a cameo for his Thor theme in "The Battle." In his treatment of Silvestri's material, Tyler quotes it briefly in "The Battle" before really paying tribute in "Uprising" and "Outlook." The former reprises Silvestri's trademark snare-slapping rhythms while the latter is one giant rephrasing of "Helicarrier" in its original Silvestri glory. All of this re-use by Tyler is generally done in wholesale manner, meaning that you'll pretty much recognize it when you hear it (assuming that you remember the themes, which is a problem Tyler's identities might have for mainstream listeners compared to Silvestri's). The Captain America adaptation is best recognized by its rhythmic introduction and even this stands out like a sore thumb when referenced. Tyler's contribution on the whole is really quite good, even down to the ethnic flair that accompanies certain specific scenes, but its one major weakness is the lack of any overarching theme for the group of heroes. Certainly, the straight forward adaptation of Silvestri's theme would have been the answer, for that idea has enough punchy coolness in The Avengers to seemingly satisfy Tyler's own awesomeness meter. The Danny Elfman passages in the score are clearly meant to rectify some of this deficiency in absence, the composer wasting no opportunity to flash his own (what he calls "hybrid") adaptation of Silvestri's theme from the previous film into this one. The results are surprisingly glorious in the dynamism of their layered brass usage. You so often hear complaints about composers entering a franchise and simply paying lip service to a famous prior thematic identity. At the time of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Jurassic Park franchise was dealing with this same issue, for instance. These thematic statements are typically perfunctory cameos dropped in like a token extra with no adaptation really attempted. In Elfman's case, he entered the Marvel universe with the task of helping Silvestri's theme evolve rather than simply arranging it for regurgitation. Nobody could have expected him to succeed so well. Using all the necessary rhythmic devices and minor third alternations and churning (which at times actually make one think there are allusions to Fifty Shades of Grey, especially at 0:42 into "It Begins"), Elfman manages to produce the perfect combination of Silvestri's Avengers theme and his own Spider-Man score. The use of harmonics, a four note sequence, and brazen major-key transitions are clearly Silvestri's influence, but everything else about the theme is pure Elfman in construct, and it's the best of fanfare-mode Elfman in its unashamed extroversion. Aside from Spider-Man, which is all over his cues, you hear pieces of his Batman, Black Beauty, and Alice in Wonderland mannerisms, with some acoustic guitar easy listening from several of his scores for good measure. These sidetracks in "Farmhouse" and "The Farm" (look for the subtle Hulk references) still manage to scale back Elfman's new main theme for the picture into an easy going package. To show respect for Tyler, Elfman throws in a quote of his Iron Man theme in "Inevitability - One Good Eye." Overall, the most intriguing aspect of this Elfman and Tyler combo score is the difference in their orchestration and recordings. They're similar in many ways, but the use of low brass is one area in which they really differ in the final product. Both use that section in lieu of electronic bass enhancement, but Tyler applies them with other bass elements as more of a generic brooding effect. Elfman, on the other hand, offers up tuba performances in this score to die for, including some poignant moments when the lack of bass in a thematic performance is suddenly rectified by prominent tubas. Both "Inevitability - One Good Eye" and "Avengers Unite" (holy brass layers!) are prime examples. Unfortunately, some of these strong Elfman cues went unused themselves in the film (one has to wonder if "Heroes" wasn't a demo for the studio or some other initial working of the theme). The music on screen remains an absolute mess, some cues re-worked compared to what is on the album and a fair number of album highlights totally missing from the film. Still, Tyler's music is solid and Elfman's is fantastic, producing a functional score on the whole that makes you appreciate Tyler's workmanship and Elfman's style. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 77:26
* composed by Brian Tyler ** composed by Danny Elfman
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes an abundance of character pictures but no extra information about the score or film.
Copyright ©
2015-2024, Filmtracks Publications. All rights reserved.
The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Avengers: Age of Ultron are Copyright © 2015, Hollywood Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/8/15 (and not updated significantly since). |
