Filmtracks: Dune: Part Two (Hans Zimmer/Various)

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Written 3/9/24

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Buy it... if you want to study sound design suitable for an authoritarian regime, Hans Zimmer and his team evolving from their former anthemic masculinity to an insufferably abrasive and toxic tone of oppression.

Avoid it... if you expect the simplistic and repetitive new love theme for this score to actually convey heart, passion, or romance, for there is no room in this musical universe for subtlety or elegance.

Zimmer

Dune: Part Two: (Hans Zimmer/Various) Delayed by Hollywood labor issues, the second installment of writer and director Denis Villeneuve's cinematic adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic "Dune" met with an awkward release date of early 2024. His previous re-introduction of the concept, 2021's Dune was among the most widely praised science fiction genre entries in a generation, and the sequel and completion of the original novel's story, Dune: Part Two, was greeted by similar reactions. With much of the political intrigue of the tale tackled in the prior movie, the second one concentrates on the love story between Paul Atreides and Fremen warrior Chani before leading them on a charge to retake the desert planet of Arrakis for themselves. Their efforts to defeat the controlling Harkonnen yield success, but with the fulfillment of the messiah prophecy comes ambiguity for Paul Atreides. Does he upgrade to a bigger house? Does he design water features for suburban yards? How many women does he inseminate? Is he a benevolent ruler or just another asshole? These answers are destined to come in the next movie, of course, which is already on the minds of the filmmakers. What matters here is that Dune: Part Two, like its predecessor, is a spectacle of the senses, its visual and aural experience dominating the film's praise. Contributing to that immersive experience is the score helmed by Hans Zimmer, whose music for Dune earned him considerable awards recognition. That success remains proof that hype campaigns for film scores can indeed work, because, as Zimmer has obviously proven, if you tell the world that your music is both radical and revolutionary, then it must be so. Many of his collectors also soaked up this hype, making the score a monumental success across several album releases. Beyond playing the expectations game, however, Zimmer and his team also proved with Dune that simplicity and loudness equals artistry and invention even though very little of that score is functionally inventive. Indeed, it remains a highly polarizing work, and that designation naturally applies to the sequel as well.

Lingering frustration about Zimmer's approach to Dune relates to both the awkwardness of his own words about the score and his preference towards sound design over proven film scoring techniques. Many of Zimmer's statements about the score were erroneous when compared to the final product, supported instrumental applications that never functioned as he said they would, or were simply nonsensical. Ironically, some of his vaunted strategy for Dune was outright abandoned for Dune: Part Two, perhaps explaining why he's toned back his loquaciousness during the hype period for the sequel. The other reason the Dune score remains frustrating is because the composer continues to suggest through his work that the conventional rules of successful film scoring do not apply to him. In the sequel, he backtracks in terms of thematic usage but presses forward with his instrumental experimentation for the purposes of advancing sound design, the discord between these two movements ultimately yielding a result just as unsatisfactory. Zimmer continues to downplay the importance of conventional structure to film music in his handling of this concept, insisting that a futuristic, foreign world must have futuristic, foreign-sounding music. That's not how music works in movies, however. As stated in Filmtracks' review of Dune, "film scores don't exist to accentuate bizarre concepts on screen; rather, the music helps translate them for us to understand. After all, Dune is still essentially a story about people, and film music traditions, include leitmotifs, accessible tonalities, and narrative evolution are all key in assisting the music reveal that the world of the Atreides, Fremen, and Harkonnen experiences all the same perils of life that we do. By supplying a score that offers no such connection for the listener, Zimmer tells us that not only are the worlds unrelatable, but the characters and their relationships are as well." In Dune: Part Two, he continues to neglect the core emotional needs of the narrative, abandoning some concepts from the first score without reason while developing an all-new main theme that should have previewed its nascent development more clearly in the prior work.

The continuity issue between the two scores will be moot for most listeners, because Zimmer and his team use the same overbearing wall-of-sound approach for the most obvious cues in both. But the composer clearly didn't solidify his thematic identities prior to embarking upon the first score, perhaps not surprising given that he originally claimed that he wasn't even going to attempt such thematic integrity. The main theme for Dune: Part Two didn't really evolve into existence until after he had completed the first score. So enthused by the concept, he continued writing up to 90 minutes of music inspired by the experience, and this material was largely released at the time on supplemental albums. Reports indicate that he persisted in writing music after the second film, too, upon suggestion that a third entry would soon be in the works. Despite this dedication, however, he continuously misreads the needs of the Dune universe, hoping that the sheer style of his approach overwhelms you to such a degree that you don't actually sit back and start pondering the effectiveness of the individual parts. Like the first score, Dune: Part Two is the culmination of a group think effort, with the ghostwriters this time consisting mostly of David Fleming, Steve Mazzaro, Omer Benyamin, Steven Doar, and Andrew Kawczynski. If some of the music in the movie sounds a bit too familiar, then chalk up that phenomenon to some cues from Dune being tracked into the sequel wholesale, most notably "Premonition" and "Herald of the Change." Expectedly, the result of this group endeavor is a score with many disparate parts that are held together by a commonly oppressive instrumental style and mix. There is still no orchestra involved, Zimmer's array of synthetics augmented by electric cello, electric guitar, electric bass, Armenian duduk, Scottish bagpipes, electric and traditional violin, ethnic and traditional flutes, percussion, and ten voices. (Don't expect to hear the bagpipes anywhere on the second score's main album.) Where depth is necessary in the soundscape, the synths really carry a heavy load, and Zimmer doesn't do much to smooth out their edges. These keyboarded sounds are meant to sound abrasive and unrefined to compliment the ample manipulations of the organic players' performances.

Zimmer and his team rarely provide an even pitch to the music in Dune: Part Two, the manipulative processing of each instrumental element seemingly meant to blow unevenly like the sands of Arrakis. Most of the emphasis on specialty tones in Dune: Part Two continues to exist for female voice and duduk, though Zimmer really went off the deep end in this score with unconventional percussive scraping and bowing sounds. These recordings emulate the banging, tapping, and twisting of metal, much like sound effects of a sinking ship throughout and emulating noises appropriate for Das Boot. While an argument might be made that these noises merely represent the weird technologies of the tale, such sound effects make for extremely annoying sound effects in what otherwise might qualify as music, causing eye rolls in "Beginnings Are Such Delicate Times" and "Worm Army." And then there's the glassy groaning in "Each Man is a Little War," which is mind-numbingly pointless as "music." The sparse percussive rattling in "Seduction" accomplishes almost nothing as well. In the category of purely hideous torture noise, vocal manipulation in the brief "Spice" is among the most obnoxious moments of film music in history. And it's not alone; the wretchedly loud and hideous action blasting in "Gurney Battle" is followed by clogged drain effects that may perfectly accompany your teenage son using a toilet plunger to attempt to dislodge the stunningly immense sandworm he deposited there. All kidding aside, Zimmer's attempt to press deeper into the realm of sound design for Dune: Part Two isn't particularly surprising, and nor is it fatal. Far more important is the composer's total inability to express music that exists in the midrange of volumes. Like Dune, the sequel work is always either too soft or too loud. The pensive (and in this case thematic) parts stew too low in gain levels to appreciate in any proximity to the absolutely overbearing and overstated action and climax sequences. No place is this severe dichotomy more frustrating than in the conclusive "Kiss the Ring," which is one of the most tonally awkward culminations of any score in recent memory. Zimmer is certainly not known for his subtlety in this era, but he has made every attempt here to milk passionate poignancy in soft passages where none exists and then hammer you in the ears with deafening noise to drive home any point.

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From a strategic viewpoint, the most interesting development from Zimmer in Dune: Part Two is the relationship between the brazen, ultra-cool masculinity of the performance inflection and the debate over whether Paul Atreides is a benevolent leader or a tool of fear and retribution destined to become the next totalitarian leader of the universe. (Was Donald J. Trump in this film?) Villeneuve leaves the door wide open for Paul, having achieved his messiah status at home and some form of imperial title over the known universe, to be a Satanic figurehead rather than a true savior. The creep element is there, especially by the time Chani rides off in the end, and that doesn't even account for the theocratic aspect behind Paul's rise to power. The question for film score enthusiasts becomes this: Did Zimmer intentionally approach the ascendance of Paul with the brute blasting of overly masculine coolness as means of promoting or suggesting authoritarianism? When "Kiss the Ring" is so badly over-performed, the cellist nearly destroying her instrument to force another ounce of testicular prowess out of her instrument, is Zimmer reinforcing a notion that what was once a tone of music appropriate only for Hollywood villains is now acceptable for the heroic leader of a newly freed universe? This moment offers no major versus minor key conflict to explore whether Paul is hero or villain, and it's difficult to discern if Zimmer took this path intellectually or if he is simply continuing his quest for ever-more-obvious musical pomposity since obviousness is now the key to acclaim. There is no respite from the darkness in the score for Dune: Part Two. Even the newly evolved love theme cannot escape the composer's obsession with a morbidly brooding tone. There is no passion, no hope, and no true victory in any of this music, your senses struck with shades of despair and vengeful perseverance. It's not enough to provide a moment of optimism or astonishment when Paul mounts a sandworm; now, it's doused in shades of musical retribution, the fearless leader worthy of rough electronic textures and instrumentation so abused you can barely recognize any sense of humanity in them. When everything is dark, brooding, and molested, there is no comparison to help the narrative tell you when characters truly love each other or when they mourn their lost or when they prevail over their enemies. In this franchise, Zimmer never established a viable emotional narrative with peaks and valleys, a catastrophic blunder.

For some listeners, however, style is everything. For them, Dune: Part Two will impress just as much as the prior score. They'll even celebrate the fact that Zimmer betrayed his own word by writing a more consistently thematic framework for the second score. Indeed, therein lies some solace for all listeners, as the composer returns several themes from the previous entry and devises a new major identity for the leading romantic pair. That love theme is born out of the House Atreides theme in first film, and although it never appeared in that score, it did receive some development in his supplemental recordings. Zimmer even presented it on tour without revealing its purpose. As Villeneuve said, "I wanted something heartbreaking, and the most beautiful love theme ever written, and honestly I think he did it." Sadly, he's delusional. The theme is structurally juvenile and inadequate, highly repetitive in phrasing and often using the same eight notes. The first five-note phrase becomes annoyingly static, with no meaningful secondary or interlude phrasing to suggest any remote sense of conflict or complexity in a relationship that has such depth. This absolute failure by Zimmer to adequately address the Paul and Chani partnership is exacerbated by the composer's continued insistence upon presenting his progressions at excruciatingly slow tempos. This idea's languishing pace makes even repetitive John Barry themes from the latter portion of his career seem like spritely jigs. In fact, the new love theme is so slow that some listeners may not even recognize what the progressions of theme actually are, reducing any chance of memorability and rooting it further in the realm of sound design. It's no coincidence that the theme sounds much better when sped up to twice its regular speed, though that route does expose just how simplistic and repetitive it is. The theme occupies the long suite arrangement that opens the album, extended duduk and muted synths offering absolutely no complexity at all in this performance, merely simplistic chords and no counterpoint. Although vaguely pretty and easily digestible, the theme is also boring and completely passionless, containing absolutely none of the intensity of suffering or love heard in Zimmer and Mazzaro's The Creator the year prior. In this track, the idea only builds some depth at 7:11, but the synth ambience is distorted so badly that no truly romantic intonation can survive. Zimmer again forgets that otherworldly romance is still romance, and the music must convey at least some genuine affection.

The main love theme of Dune: Part Two receives a similar performance to "Beginnings Are Such Delicate Times" in the rearranged "A Time of Quiet Between the Storms," though the presentation remains simplistic and slow. Abrasive synth backing is joined by pounding percussion for an incongruous end to the cue. The idea's chords inform "Never Lose Me" without making much impact before a dissonant crescendo. It then makes its prominent pronouncement with a familiar refrain on duduk in "Kiss the Ring," after which Zimmer builds to the fullest performance of the theme on agonized electric cello with chime-banging accompaniment. Some passion begins to emerge here, but it's too loud and overstated to sound genuine, each performer pounding or slashing his or her instrument so that all perspective is lost. At least some counterpoint emerges, but it overwhelms the melody. Aside from the ineffective loudness of the moment, Zimmer doesn't make it clear who the theme is really meant to represent at this moment. Is the tortured and manipulated performance meant to suggest that Paul has become corrupt and his relationship with Chani is threatened? Is it because Paul actually wants to hump Princess Irulan Corrino? (Hell, why not?) Is it because the whole situation has become a romantic nightmare with the balance of the known universe at stake? Zimmer doesn't answer these questions, and the cue leaves the score on an extremely uneasy note despite its attempt to inject even more importance and majesty into a work that was already overflowing in volume. The theme is then featured during the end credits at 1:20 into "Only I Will Remain," once again in needlessly distorted form. Meanwhile, Zimmer doesn't do much to clarify the confusing situation involving the various themes for Paul Atreides, his destiny, and House Atreides generally. The first score threw all of these ideas together into mashups that occasionally branched off with purpose, but any hope that he would very clearly delineate each of these variants' actual representations are dashed here. He and his team rely mostly on the primary Paul Atreides theme as he completes his journey to being featured in every trading card deck in the universe. Of the secondary ideas, the House Atreides theme is really short-changed, though that's not particularly surprising in this portion of the narrative unless you expect it to linger around for Lady Jessica more than the less appealing Bene Gesserit musical alternative. The House Atreides theme is smothered in the overproduced force of "Paul Drinks" and quietly stews at the start of "Only I Will Remain," but expect little more impact than that.

Faring a bit better is the destiny or Kwisatz Haderach variant on Paul's theme in Dune: Part Two, affectionately known otherwise as the wailing "Wonder Woman motif" because it so closely resembles Tom Holkenborg's humorously pervasive and obvious idea for that character in Zack Snyder's Justice League. (The resemblance is so striking that the destiny theme is completely ruined in this context, almost like a bad in-joke for film score collectors or perhaps just the universe's way of recognizing that the breadth of original ideas to come from this particular group of composers is not infinite.) Building from Paul's theme in "The Sietch," this destiny motif returns in usual Wonder Woman form at 0:45 into "Worm Ride" and starts "Resurrection" with those standard female screams. It accompanies Paul's theme in "Worm Army" amongst the blasting action and finally opens "Lisan al Gaib" electronically with mechanical sound effects. This usage cannot compete with the insertion of the primary Paul Atreides theme from Dune, however, which returns in troubled shades throughout "The Sietch" on vocals and duduk, explodes most unpleasantly at the end of "Harvester Attack," and follows the Wonder Woman (destiny) motif on broad, slurring synths in "Worm Ride." The theme injects even more testosterone from there, reinforcing the question about hero versus villain. Electric guitar ramblings for the theme guide the second half of "Ornithopter Attack," and it blasts away with way too much attempted electronic coolness at the outset of "Travel South." (Is this material really the new standard for masculinity? Total inelegance and brute force?) It's twisted with malice on brutal, snarling electronic cello in "Arrival," and the electric guitar explosion of the idea in the middle of "Worm Army" has no heroic semblance at all, though voices and accelerated rhythms pick up the theme better in the cue's second half. It shifts back to subtle shades on duduk and electric cello in "You Fought Well," the groaning basslines under the theme representing Feyd-Rautha somewhat creatively but still overplaying masculinity worthy of a villain in the role of victor. Finally, Paul's theme slowly builds throughout "Lisan al Gaib" on electric guitars with disappointingly juvenile attempts at awesomeness. That suite track has all the intelligence of a garage rock band's grungy cover of a movie music theme and doesn't compete favorably with many of Zimmer's concept suites for the previous score. The final cues all generate a feeling of oppression that defy any sense of victory for a protagonist, the masculinity so toxic that it leaves anthemic territory in favor of brute authoritarian stupidity.

Although Zimmer pledged not to supply subthemes to particular concepts in these scores, Dune: Part Two confirms that such attributions in the first work were no fluke. The composer had used an ascending phrase in Dune's "The Shortening of the Way" that was distinctly similar to a motif in Toto's 1984 score, itself sharing some characteristics with Brian Eno's material for that work as well. That compelling phrase reveals itself to be a leadership motif in Dune: Part Two, heard first in "Eclipse" and returning in the latter half of "Southern Messiah" before being rudely interrupted. Most intriguingly, it barely informs early portions of "The Emperor" before exploding as his own nasty identity, exhibiting the theme's ability to represent all leaders, good and evil. Zimmer culminates with the idea at 3:55 into "Only I Will Remain" in an increasingly massive, simplistic form for choir and synthetics. The Harkonnen are musically short-changed in this score, the material for that house reintroduced with frightening, pounding menace in "Harkonnen Arena." Vocal chanting effects in that cue are promising but cannot save the track from becoming a percussive and sound effects nightmare with a few foghorn effects thrown in because, well, it's Zimmer. The more familiar, pounding Harkonnen theme meandering around key returns in the second half of "Southern Messiah," though the connections to Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" are thankfully not as obvious this time. Zimmer does concoct a new motif for Feyd-Rautha in this score, a slurring, upward bass figure in "Harkonnen Arena" and (barely) "Seduction." This motif appropriately dies underneath Paul's theme early in "You Fought Well," maybe the smartest layering in the score. Other material from Dune isn't as impactful, either. The Bene Gesserit vocals return in whispered chattering subdued by male vocals in the second half of "Resurrection." There never really has been a true sandworm motif, though Zimmer uses thumping effects dating back to 1984's Dune for the worms in "Worm Army." Altogether, Dune: Part Two is arguably more thematic overall, but it doesn't satisfyingly resolve several ideas from the prior work. The main new theme is ineffective in structure and personality, dooming the sequel score to the same lack of heart and compassion. There is no dichotomy between good and evil, no middle ground in volume, and no reason for such a manipulated soundscape aside from the composer's need to sound inventive. The 81-minute primary album contains the opening and closing suite arrangements, and "Ornithopter Attack" and parts of "Southern Messiah" don't appear in the film. It's a brutal listening experience, its respites nearly inaudible and the rest too eager to thrash your ears. Subtlety, elegance, and storytelling be damned. * @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.85 (in 128 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.96 (in 299,193 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

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