There is definitely a place for films like
Eagle
Eye in Tyler's career; after all, if he's going to so accurately
emulate the sound of Powell for this kind of situation, then why not
throw some guilty pleasures like Powell's strong score for the equally
substandard
Paycheck into his own career, picking up a healthy
paycheck of his own along the way? Scores like these are exercises in
noise, and as the era of Media Ventures and Remote Control has proven
time and time again, any number of properly synthesizer-equipped
amateurs can produce a basic sound that satisfies producers and
audiences of the genre. Sometimes, the popularity of such relatively
mindless music is frightful. The question is this: does
Eagle Eye
join the few rambunctious orchestral/electronic blends that stands head
and shoulders above the crowded field of entries? In almost every cue,
Tyler makes an attempt to elevate this work to the realm of
memorability, though ultimately, in the process of complicating the
orchestral lines and cranking up the volume, all he really accomplishes
is a very competent imitation of a typical Powell work in the same
genre. There is much owed to the genesis of Hans Zimmer's influence back
in the 1990's as well. The title theme is an easy, rising figure that
reminds of several Media Ventures scores of an era past, with a brass
performance in "Eagle Eye" that actually rips an entire phrase from
Zimmer's memorable
Crimson Tide theme. Underneath the theme is an
ostinato that frantically chops on strings as though Jason Bourne was a
character in this film, and Tyler even tones back the action for a
moment in "Honor" to pay tribute to the kind of simplistically
optimistic thematic statement that you have heard in everything from
Trevor Rabin's
Armageddon to Steve Jablonsky's
Transformers (in fact, there are even pulsating strings present
from the former score late in "Honor").
At times, as in "Escape" and "Clutch Then Shift," Tyler
attempts to build upon the density heard in his
Aliens Vs. Predator:
Requiem work, though with this score so consistent in tone and the
album release so overwhelmingly long, he ultimately bashes you over the
head with the same idea to the point where you may as well have watched
the actual chase scenes to help distract you from the obvious attempts
to use the music as a basic tool for adrenaline production. The score
never evens out in its presentation of themes to give you sections of
satisfying statement like those that are heard in
Children of
Dune or
Timeline, both of which maintain significantly
greater doses of style than
Eagle Eye. All of that said, though,
Tyler's workmanlike task here is accomplished well, and if you
appreciate extremely consistent scores that maintain frenetic levels of
orchestral excitement for lengthy periods of time (as some of Powell's
equivalents accomplish), then this will be a rewarding experience. As
usual, Tyler's balancing of orchestral and synthetic elements is smart.
Varied percussive effects help a dynamic soundscape that is rooted in
the power of deep strings. Softer, rock-like tones in "Copyboy" and
"Eagle Eye End Title" show the composer's ease in bending genres for the
occasion. Overall, though, unless you're a fan of this very specific,
predictable sound for the contemporary techno-thriller, then you'll be
left only appreciating the merits of Tyler's complicated rendering while
the uncompromising tone unwittingly gives you a headache. You can't
really fault Tyler for providing this music for such an appropriate
match on screen, but he has the ability to take these sounds to another
level of intrigue without simply cranking up the intensity of his
constructs and laying on the volume. In terms of substance, it's fine;
in style points, it fails to impress.
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