| CLOSE WINDOW |
|
FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Danny Elfman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you love hearing Danny Elfman's most rambunctious
action mode, his approach to this concept hyperactive, loud, dramatic,
and defined totally by his familiar mannerisms.
Avoid it... if you are easily bothered by poor franchise continuity, Elfman abandoning Michael Giacchino's flair and shifting to an inferior new identity for the titular character while resurrecting an inappropriate theme from his past for the main villain.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness: (Danny
Elfman) Combining the existing Doctor Strange film series and
"WandaVision" television show, 2022's Doctor Strange in the
Multiverse of Madness exhausted audiences to massive box office
success. This, the 28th entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, devolves
even further into the insanity of immersive eye candy for the franchise,
reducing its story to incomprehensible and unsatisfying excuses for the
visual feast. Its premise argues that the main storyline exists in
version 616 of Earth and that there are countless other versions in the
"multiverse," a concept that badly diminishes the importance and
emotional impact of any one dimension and thus renders the characters
and situations of this story somewhat pointless. Don't like what's
happening in this dimension? Let's go over to version 237, where Donald
J. Trump had perished in 2007 from choking on a Trump steak. Not good
enough? Try version 491, where Trump perished in 1988 in a terrible
accident on a golden toilet. This film fails to explore those realities,
however, instead sending Dr. Stephen Strange and a teenage girl with the
ability to traverse between these dimensions, America Chavez, on a chase
through the multiverse to stop Wanda Maximoff's Scarlet Witch as she
causes havoc in version 838 and beyond for her own personal reasons. All
sorts of mystical elements come into play along the way, along with some
MCU cameos. (Audiences are treated to seeing a Patrick Stewart character
brutally killed. No Borg required.) Yanking audiences around for this
venture is director Sam Raimi, whose entrance to the concept brought
composer Danny Elfman along by default. The Michael Giacchino score for
2016's Doctor Strange was one of that composer's better works,
combining highly unique instrumental character with a
better-than-average superhero theme for Strange himself. This material
continued in Giacchino's Spider-Man: No Way Home, though not as
strikingly as hoped. The career interplay between Elfman and Giacchino
led the latter to utilize the former's original Spider-Man theme
in that score, and Elfman was, with Doctor Strange in the Multiverse
of Madness, presented the opportunity to return the favor.
Elfman, even more a veteran of the superhero genre than Giacchino, maintains interesting philosophies about other composers' themes for the same concepts for which he has written musical identities. It suffices to say that Elfman has a high opinion about his superhero themes. Sometimes, as with the Batman and Spider-Man characters, this confidence is well-founded. At others, as now heard in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Elfman fails to meet the standards of an already-existing musical identity by replacing it with an inferior version of his own. The composer remains highly cognizant of the fact that the MCU has become a playground of musical cross-references, token quotes of Alan Silvestri music almost a requirement. For this 2022 entry, Elfman was faced with a monumental set of themes and instrumental styles he could adapt, and he did make a concerted effort to include a variety of references to other composers' works. He indeed makes use of Giacchino's main theme from Doctor Strange, and joining that are brief references to WandaVision music, a vintage "X-Men" tune, and the obligatory Silvestri insertion. But none of these applications has any significant impact on the score, the Giacchino material badly marginalized and the other usage serving as pinpointed cameos only. Rather, Elfman takes it upon himself to rewrite the musical identities of both Strange and Wanda, essentially establishing his own alternatives for these characters after giving marginal nods to their existing themes. While this choice could be successful with Wanda's character, the ultimate abandonment of the Giacchino tone and theme for Strange is entirely unacceptable. None of the unique instrumental quirkiness identified with the character, courtesy sitar and harpsichord, is obliged, Elfman instead rooting the sound of this score firmly in his own blend of comfort zone sounds ranging from Alice in Wonderland to Men in Black, Mars Attacks!, Batman Returns, and Justice League. A fair number of techniques from Spider-Man is not unexpected, either. This is an absolutely pure Elfman score from start to finish, and judged as such, it's a fairly decent entry. There's a mixture of outstanding action and drama sequences with several largely unpleasant or annoyingly pounding cues of suspense and psychedelia. Those not offended by Elfman's poor strategic decisions for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will appreciate the rambunctious orchestral, electronic, and choral spirit of the score, its attitude often melodramatic or aggressively postured. The work also features some intriguing instrumental applications, particularly in trilling brass and sinewy strings. Among the composer's best techniques is the use of low brass in unison to really reinforce a muscular baseline, and, as in Alice in Wonderland, he utilizes these players to milk the appeal of heavy, descending minor-third progressions throughout. The brass performances in general are excellent in this score, their layering at all pitches quite adept. The choir, conversely, is slathered on for the multiverse fantasy, and it proves itself obnoxious all too often. Elfman tends to cap off crescendos with rising pitch choral and string stingers that are highly annoying, and his reprise of vintage "la la"-style vocals in the opening and closing cues sounds dated. No adequate replacement instrumental sound for Strange is offered, effectively neutralizing his musical identity completely. The thematic situation doesn't help, as Elfman, for whatever reason, decided to create a new Strange theme but not utilize it until after several perfunctory applications of the Giacchino theme in the first half of the film. The Giacchino theme for the character is catchier than Elfman's alternative, though part of that problem stems from the fact that Elfman's themes for this movie all start with a similar ascending phrase and don't often receive satisfactory enunciation, especially in the case of the new Strange theme. That motif features staccato four or three-note phrases up and down, and while these progressions are easy to manipulate into action sequences and counterpoint, the character requires a more sophisticated, longer-lined identity. These stuttering phrases struggle to emerge militaristically at 1:11 into "Multiverse of Madness" before partially closing out the cue with attempted Spider-Man bravado. Elfman introduces more of the theme in agony at 0:59 into "On the Run" but does little to clarify it in subsequent scenes. It tries but fails to overtake the Wanda theme on piano in "Are You Happy," reduces to heroic, two-note phrases in the middle of "Gargantos" (though it achieves a fuller stance at the end of that cue), and turns deformed and monstrous at 0:38 into "Forbidden Ground." The new theme by Elfman for Strange finally begins to assert some value to the latter half of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness once Giacchino's franchise theme is dispensed with. The Elfman replacement is used well as counterpoint in the middle of "Stranger Things Will Happen" and clarifies at 1:50 in that cue with cool suspense, defining the crescendo at its end. The idea mingles with the America theme at the start of "Buying Time," is barely evident at the outset of "Looking for Strange," returns as a counterpoint-like figure throughout "Getting Through," and finally achieves its purpose as it defines the action of "Only Way," where a major performance at 0:56 allows the theme to drive the cue thereafter. Elfman retreats a bit from this theme in the conclusive cues, however, only barely informing the start of "An Interesting Question" with it and straying closer in instrumentation to Men in Black than Giacchino's foundation. While the theme opens the thematic suite at 0:15 into "Main Titles," its performance here is skittish and doesn't bookend the cue after the other themes. Adding to the mystery of this new theme is Elfman's unsatisfying usage of the superior Giacchino identity for Strange. It's inserted briefly in the action at 0:17 and 0:36 in "On the Run" and opens "Gargantos" with several phrases, albeit too rushed. The idea is unnecessarily slight at 0:25 into "Strange Statue" and achieves its only significant presence on noble brass at 1:51 into "Battle Time," followed by the idea's biggest ensemble performance. Elfman forces a fragment of the theme violently against the Wanda theme at 1:56 into "Not a Monster" but totally abandons it thereafter. The loss of this franchise theme halfway through the score, and particularly its absence from "Only Way" and "An Interesting Question," is alone highly problematic and awkward. But Elfman compounds his mistake by offering the character no unique instrumental foundation as Giacchino had done with the sitar and harpsichord, the quasi-classical and Eastern tones replaced here with no unique personality whatsoever. It's as if Strange has been reduced to simply another generic superhero with none of the exotic and elevated allure that Giacchino had brought to that character. The Elfman theme and instrumental palette could have existed just as well for a variety of other Marvel characters, and its generic posturing isn't obvious enough to make the average movie-goer hum the theme as he or she leaves the cinema. As frustrating as the situation with the music for Stephen Strange might be in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Elfman's handling of Wanda's theme is even more maddening. Firstly, Wanda's theme is undoubtedly the main theme of this film, not Strange's theme. The Wanda identity is placed more frequently in the movie and dominates the two suite arrangements. It's a pretty, waltz-derived idea that has much to like, and keen ears will note that Elfman previewed its four-note ascending structures at 2:50 and again at 3:09 in "Twins" from Avengers: Age of Ultron. Secondly, upon last check, Willy Wonka and his chocolate factory were not featured in this film, and that presents a distracting musical conundrum in that the Wanda theme is clearly identical to Elfman's Wonka theme from "The Golden Ticket" in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The fact that "Wanda" and "Wonka" are so similar sounding in name may have played into Elfman's psyche, because there's no good reason whatsoever for upwards of fifteen notes from the Wonka theme to be resurrected verbatim here. On the upside, if you can shake that distraction, the theme is very compelling, and it yields the highlights of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as Elfman expands its usage into a more dramatic purpose. The theme (re-)debuts powerfully at 0:24 into "Multiverse of Madness" with robust, minor-third chords of resonance, and it shifts to dramatic strings and choir at 1:20 with a bit of Batman Returns flavor. Wanda's theme goes on to support the light rhythms and chord structures of "The Apple Orchard," shift to a major key variant on solo piano that intriguingly occupies "Are You Happy," swell romantically at 2:10 into "Gargantos" amongst the action, and quiver in suspense at the end of "Journey With Wong." It becomes dreamy with an element of horror at 1:20 into "Home?," its strained string sadness here (and "Journey With Wong") reminiscent of Christopher Young horror techniques. Elfman continues Wanda's theme in lightly choral shades at 0:35 into "Strange Statue" while it informs the first half of "Battle Time" in subtlety and persists faintly at the end of "Forbidden Ground." In its more voluminous performances, the theme is compelling on choir at 0:35 into "Not a Monster," a fuller version of the idea eventually competing loudly against the Giacchino Strange theme later. The identity establishes its romantic fantasy mode in the middles of "Tribunal" and "Illuminati vs Wanda" and extends out of the America theme in "Stranger Things Will Happen." Elfman allows the Wonka/Wanda theme to flourish in various guises later in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, achieving sadness by the time it follows both other, new main themes at 0:37 into "Buying Time." It stews in the background of horror at 1:34 into "Book of Vishanti" and during the middle of "Illuminati," and it becomes dramatic in the last minutes of "Getting Through" and "Only Way." A sense of increasing dramatic devastation throughout "They'll Be Loved" offers superb brass bass, with a monumental crescendo of resolution reserved for the theme at the end of the cue. The theme achieves a somber piano goodbye as it dissolves early in "Farewell" but is alluded to briefly in "An Interesting Question." It dominates the concluding title cue, romantic on strings at 0:37 into "Main Titles" and returning at 1:53 in choral fantasy mode. Despite all of that usage, however, perhaps Elfman's most intelligent adaptation of the theme comes as it transitions nicely out of the fluffy "WandaVision" material in "Wanda at Home." If there's one area where Elfman will admit that he excels beyond all others, it's in melodramatic sadness, and the melancholy waltz formations of this theme, despite occupying the space of Willy Wonka previously, supplies most of the highlights in the score for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Similarly structured in its opening three-note phrase to Elfman's Strange theme is the pleasant, albeit fleeting idea for America Chavez that sounds like something that would have fit well stylistically into an underdog film like Real Steel. Introduced with worry at 0:59 into "On the Run" with light dramatic appeal, the idea is twisted into action fragments thereafter over ripping snare and trilling trombones. America's theme occupies all of "Strange Awakens" on soft acoustic guitar and woodwinds, becomes compelling on cellos and piano at 0:22 into "Discovering America," merges structurally with the Wanda theme in "Stranger Things Will Happen," and opens "Buying Time" lightly. Elfman transitions the theme into a tool of action early in "Only Way," and it matures well throughout "Trust Your Power," another highlight of melodic development in the score. The theme is hinted against Wanda material late in "Farewell," figures lightly at 1:36 into "An Interesting Question," and receives its due suite arrangement at 1:09 into "Main Titles." Some of the moments in this film that represent Strange at his most vulnerable are handled with this theme, though you still won't likely recall its progressions after the movie concludes. Aside from the themes for the three main characters of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Elfman doesn't supply secondary concepts with more than passing motifs. Ideas for the sorcerers and creatures don't really connect. The references to others' themes include the material by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez from "WandaVision" in "Wanda at Home," Shuki Levy and Ron Wasserman's 1990's "X-Men" theme when Charles Xavier is introduced (two phrases at 1:50 into "Illuminati"), and Silvestri's Captain America theme in "Illuminati" and "Illuminati vs Wanda." Listeners grasping at other references may be able to stretch a reference to a fragment of John Ottman's X-Men franchise theme at 0:48 into "Illuminati," too. Otherwise, this score is filled with a variety of oddball cues that may turn off some listeners. The action percussion of "The Decision is Made" is highly irritating, vintage Elfman weirdness occupies "A Cup of Tea," straight horror dissonance interrupts in "Grab My Hand," monster invasion music in "Forbidden Ground" reminds of Mars Attacks! in its silliness, and distressed string suspense grates during all of "Strange Talk." On the upside, "Lethal Symphonies" is a brilliant source-like cue of literal musical fighting on screen that manipulates Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 and Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor into battle. The standout action from brass and choir in "Getting Through" is also worth revisiting. It's not clear if Elfman sets any precedence in the "An Unexpected Visitor" credits scene, but no distinct thematic material defines that cue. The entirety of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness seems poorly spotted, the composer struggling to successfully redefine the franchise's music. It's pure Elfman bombast at its most absolute, and some listeners will forgive his transgressions for a lengthy extension of that popular mode. There is some wickedly fantastic writing to counter the tired dissonant crescendos, allowing an enjoyable re-arrangement. But the score also remains a lesson in poorly handled thematic attributions, the existing theme Strange theme needlessly abandoned, the new Strange theme a poor substitute, and the Wanda theme a wholesale rip-off from an unrelated Elfman score. Compounding dissatisfaction is Disney and Hollywood Records' disgraceful handling of the album situation for this music. In its first few weeks of release, the score was a streaming-only item not available to buy. Then, an expanded version with three cues containing "spoiler" thematic references to the past were added (out of film order) for purchase. This frustrating release tactic doesn't deter spoilers and only annoys listeners. Leave that nonsense in a different dimension, preferably the one where Willy Wonka also stars in this film. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Streaming-Only Album:
Total Time: 79:26
Expanded Album: Total Time: 85:29
NOTES & QUOTES:
There exists no official packaging for this album.
Copyright ©
2022-2024, 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 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness are Copyright © 2022, Hollywood Records/Marvel Music (Streaming), Hollywood Records/Marvel Music (Expanded) and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 5/22/22 (and not updated significantly since). I want to exist in Earth-617, where there are only half the quantity of MCU films. |
