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Review of The Creator (Hans Zimmer/Steve Mazzaro)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you have longed for Hans Zimmer and his team to
recapture the melodramatic sensibilities of the composer's early years,
this score offering three pivotal cues of glorious tonal fantasy not to
be missed.
Avoid it... if you prefer artificial intelligence to write your film scores, director Gareth Edwards' joking comments about using fake Zimmer music in this film raising a dangerous idea without forethought.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
The Creator: (Hans Zimmer/Steve Mazzaro) With the
topic of artificial intelligence all the rage in popular society, writer
and director Gareth Edwards embarked upon a mission to create a
relatively low budget science-fiction extravaganza meant to make
audiences think. With varied results, 2023's The Creator swings
above its height in its examination of a future war between mankind and
the machines of artificial intelligence. A tough special agent leads a
team in the hunt for an advanced incarnation of the artificial
intelligence that poses a final threat to all of humanity, finding the
unexpected. With no big-name actors, the bulk of the relatively meager
budget for The Creator could be spent on the movie's impressive
special effects, which often overlaid real vistas as a method of saving
money. While initial buzz around the picture failed to live up the
promotional hype attempted by the studio, the project didn't require
massive returns to be considered a success. The lesser budget also had a
notable impact on how music was employed in the film. Edwards littered
the picture with song placements, choosing affordable options that left
comparatively little room for an original score. The director had
intentionally desired the initial edits of the movie to exist with only
sound effects and no temporary score, stating that this technique meant
that "you're not hiding behind music to save the storytelling." This
strategy seemingly informed Edwards' tact when considering the final
score, which accompanies surprisingly little of the long film. More
controversially, he also revealed that he had originally hired a company
that produces music via artificial intelligence to yield a fake score in
the style of Hans Zimmer. Disturbingly, he rated the results a "7 out of
10" and toyed with the idea of working that music into the movie as
something of an artificial intelligence-related prank on audiences.
Sadly, this revelation was completely tone-deaf given the concurrently
striking Hollywood artists worried significantly about how artificial
intelligence could replace them in the future. Zimmer himself has been
the target of discontent involving sampled musicians in the past,
complicating the whole situation.
It suffices to say that Edwards did score composers no favor with his behavior on The Creator, and he should be called out for even joking about using a computer emulation of Zimmer for his film. He reportedly played the artificial intelligence-generated music for Zimmer himself and claimed that the composer was amused by it. For Zimmer, this episode should serve as a wake-up call, because his extensive experience in re-shaping how scores are produced since the 1990's could be threatened, not necessarily enhanced by computer-generated music that would ironically redefine "remote control" scores. Edwards ultimately hired Zimmer in the flesh to provide a "10 out of 10" film score for The Creator, and the composer again turned to a common Remote Control collaborator of this period, Steve Mazzaro, for assistance in crafting the end result. Mazzaro receives primary production credit for this music, and while there are Zimmer drama characteristics in the work, it's not hard to imagine that Mazzaro's influence here is fairly significant. Building upon the emotional template from deeper parts of The Son, for which Zimmer had handed the production of the score to David Fleming, The Creator greatly expands the gravitas and features some remarkable points of writing, including really poignant counterpoint applications, that aren't inherently typical to Zimmer's solo work. The tone of the score has a cerebral intent seemingly aiming to emulate Vangelis but without the harsh synthetic edge of Blade Runner, which was an inspiration for the movie as a whole. Zimmer does provide his usual synth programming, but the atmosphere of the score is rarely electronic by nature, choosing instead to rely upon organic recordings and tasteful applications of synthetic elements on occasion. A slightly exotic aspect with pitched percussion resembles Beyond Rangoon in softer moments, and a female vocalist helps lend a breathy sound to similar moments. A solo cello is familiar for Zimmer, but the use of both exotic and traditional woodwind solos is a nicely rare touch. A choir offers adult wordless tones for the fantasy aspect as necessary. The resulting ambience, as a whole, is among the more digestibly compelling from Zimmer during this era. The majority of the score for The Creator is easy on the ears, but that doesn't mean the score is all smooth sailing. There is pounding dissonance in the middle of "Where It All Began" and end of "Standby," and the lone true action cue is "Lab Raid," a hostile expression for percussion, synths, and brass with a harsher edge. Listeners not enamored with the composer's more abrasive manipulations of sound will want to avoid "Lab Raid" despite some interesting, deep choral layering in the cue. The synthetic presence is less intrusive in the other, more suspense-oriented cues in which they appear. For some listeners, the use of an organ will sound synthetic, but its tones are effective at conveying the Armageddon implications. The electronics bubble along in the background of the contemplative, otherwise organic tracks featuring the meanderings of the woodwind or string solos. Interestingly, whereas brass sometimes causes headaches in Zimmer scores, its insertions in The Creator produce several highlights, especially as they are supplied in counterpoint duties rather than brazenly simplistic foghorn applications. Some listeners may not find Zimmer and Mazzaro's thematic development in the score to be particularly memorable, especially with its brevity caused by all the interfering songs, but the narrative within the score is definitely there. The composers choose to avoid an overly obvious role for the evolving main theme and its offshoots until late, however, potentially causing listeners to appreciate the tonalities of the renderings instead. The themes tend to pit ascending and descending phrasing against each other very deliberately, suggesting the dichotomies of the story as they inextricably intermingle in several cues. Fragments of the main theme and its ancillary, response-oriented interlude abound, often thoughtfully and slowly explored in lightly dramatic presentations. The main theme is dominant, its ascending phrasing not spectacular but conveying the right sense of aspirational optimism for the "true love" message of the tale. There is, intriguingly, a touch of Samuel Barber's famed "Adagio for Strings" in the opening measures of this yearning theme, but don't expect these connections to become truly obvious until the latter half of the score. In fact, some may not find satisfying clarity to the idea until the monumental "True Love" rendition of the theme at the score's conclusion. Zimmer and Mazzaro's main theme for The Creator debuts in dramatic fragments from weighty synths and strings only in "They're Not People," but a uniquely delightful, brighter variation occupies most of "A Place in the Sky." The climbing phrasing comes into focus against a notably descending bassline rhythm in "She's Not Real," and this passage's counterpoint offers some of the most compelling music of the entire score. The theme finally solidifies its phrases on flute at 1:38 into "Standby," a muscular brass rendition at 3:40 a highlight followed by the best of the theme's descending counterpoint lines at 4:19 with choir. The theme becomes urgent on organ at 0:23 into "Missile Launch" with adult choir while secondary sections of the idea layer the choir nicely. It is slowed and conveyed mostly by only its underlying chords in the choral "Prayer," the theme itself eventually factoring in the cue's middle as an organ joins the singers. The idea is deconstructed to barely recognizable ends in the middle of "The Wounded" and stews very softly throughout "Heaven" on exotic woodwind and percussion. (The end of the latter cue has an A.R. Rahman feel in its ethnicity.) Undoubtedly, the payoff for the theme comes in its dominating redemption during "True Love," a majestic performance conveying overwhelmingly warm tonalities rare for Zimmer since adopting his collaborative methodology decades prior. Secondary thematic offshoots also exist in The Creator, led by an idea of darkness utilizing somber, descending chord progressions as an adjunct to the main theme. Teased during most of "Where It All Began," this theme takes the spotlight from the main theme at 1:23 into "Missile Launch" and is slight at 2:04 into "Prayer." Alternately, a motif of menace and fear uses a cyclical bass motion twice notably in the score. It is subtle at 2:03 into "Where It All Began" but earns robust stature early and late in "Lab Raid" despite never developing into anything greater. In the end, though, it will be melodic grace of the trio of "She's Not Real," "Standby," and "True Love" that will deservedly garner all the attention for this score. It's mostly a three-star work with these immense, four to five-star moments that serve as a satisfyingly glorious expression of dramatic warmth from Zimmer. So much of the composer's music is mixed to sound clinical that hearing these cues of symphonic and choral grace is incredibly pleasing. For a somewhat short, score-only album of 44 minutes in length, the 12 minutes in that trio of highlight cues will easily carry the day for all of humanity in ways that Edwards' ridiculous noodling with artificial intelligence will struggle to accomplish. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 43:48
NOTES & QUOTES:
There exists no official packaging for this album.
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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 The Creator are Copyright © 2023, Hollywood Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 9/29/23 (and not updated significantly since). |
