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The staccato style of Tyler's main theme was largely absent from F9: The Fast Saga, and while he does supply it in more applications in Fast X, the usage remains sadly fleeting. Hints of its melody guide the ultra-cool "Fast X" remix, complete with humorously effective "move" vocals. The theme understandably rediscovers its prior glory throughout "Veloce e Forte," on violins at 1:32 and fuller at 2:20, including rare choral chanting. (Tyler hasn't utilized voices often in this series.) The theme returns to original Fast Five form for a moment at 3:50 into "Veloce e Forte" and opens "Momentum" on percussion, building to a full string version with brass counterpoint. The "move" vocal and basic rhythms from "Fast X" is reprised in "Move," and the idea segues out of the F9/Jakob Toretto theme in "Aviation Schism." From there, it slides into oblivion, though, hinted slightly in the middle of "Home Invasion," informing rhythms in the first half of "The Final Lesson" (and coming clean for a moment at 2:52), and influencing movements again in "Finale X." But that's it, and the lack of better development of a theme so integral to Fast Five in this extension of its plot is disappointing. On the other hand, as lead characters Dom and Letty tend to their post-criminal family life and that sanctity is threatened, their pretty, Latin-flavored love theme is treated to an increasingly diversified role. The initial ascending five notes of this idea are all over the score in various guises, starting at 0:40 into "Scales of Power" in action mode, fragmented in suspense after 1:16 into "Nobody's Rome," opening "Letty and Dom" lightly in contemporary tones, and somber but appealing at 1:24 into "Hermana." Thereafter, it really strays, its opening notes staggered tentatively in "While Rome Burns," agonized in fragments at the start of "How Do You Choose?," reduced to very slight keyboarding in the middle of "Visions of the Past," bloated to an action burst at 1:39 into "One if by Plane," and carrying heavy weight at 1:55 into "Family Values." A variant of the Dom and Letty theme offers quick hope at 1:48 into "Viaduct Dodge" while similar structures are hinted early in "The Final Lesson." It returns to impressive action support at 1:22 into "Finale X" (emerging out of the F9/Jakob Toretto theme later), and closes "Finale X" as part of the cue's action crescendo, affirming its new protective purpose.

Tyler's continued exploration of the F9/Jakob Toretto theme is one of the more successful aspects of the music for Fast X, though the theme never experiences the satisfying, expected catharsis given the plot of this film. Heard at 0:36 into "Nobody's Rome" on piano, the idea is intertwined with the new villain material in "Jakob's Ladder," becoming boldly dramatic at 1:56. It guides the drama in the second half of "Legacy" and is devious early in "Aviation Schism" before transforming into a cool action variant at 1:46. Fragments on brass intersperse with the action in "One if by Plane," and the theme struggles against the villain's music in the middle of "Family Values." Not surprisingly, the idea becomes somber at 2:11 into "Finale X" on low strings. Don't expect any elongated performances of the theme as compared to its treatment in the prior score. Meanwhile the family theme attached now to Mia Toretto receives some marginal air time, heard dramatically in the latter half of "Letty and Dom" and providing acoustic guitar warmth in "Hermana." The slew of other themes by Tyler for various characters affords cameo appearances, and listeners interested the most obvious of these moments will appreciate 1:54 into "Momentum," the opening of "Nobody's Rome," an infusion of Latin flavor in the middle of "Piquete," the melodic elements throughout "Under New Management," the later portions of "Black Site," slight inferences in "The Lens of Time," the latter half of "Visions of the Past," 1:42 into "The Final Lesson," and the concluding moments of "Finale X." These singular passages are supplied sparingly because Tyler opted to dominate Fast X with his new villain theme. It's not hard to get the impression that the composer over-thought this idea, especially by the time he built the theme on twists of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" due to a story connection. But the theme essentially works, Tyler proud of utilizing "the devil's interval in reverse" and intentionally creating a third chord in his melody that is, as he says, "wrong" in its harmonics. Don't expect overt Tchaikovsky connections in the melody, though Tyler does outright restate the actual swan theme's first two phrases with a distinctly Hans Zimmer style of bravado at 3:57 into "Back to Swan Lake." If anything, more of this overt, straight usage of Tchaikovsky may have better served the character and the score. Approaching Dante as an alluring but sinister villain, Tyler rather sought a blend of high orchestral sophistication and electronic modernism akin to Ludwig Göransson's Black Panther.

The composer divides his music for Dante into two parts that often overlap: a slithering, introductory motif around key that is not actually that seductive despite such intent and a four-chord theme of simplicity with that off-kilter third chord. The intro motif is heard immediately on strings in "Dante's Inferno" while the actual theme is keyboarded 1:00 with that intro motif underneath; the theme sounds like a Jon Carpenter idea and is repeated with brass and electronic interference from 2:16 to the end of the cue. The underlying Dante motif drives the action rhythms of "Veloce e Forte" on strings all the way through the cue, the rare choral element joining in the middle. That motif dominates the end of "Momentum" with heavy force while the theme proper interjects on brass at 4:15. The motif emerges late in "Scales of Power," closing out the cue. The theme is keyboarded at 0:58 into "Origin Story" over the intro motif, gaining momentum briefly, but the motif reasserts itself powerfully at 3:14 and mingles with the theme later, its best instance at 5:15 before saturating with the Black Panther style. The motif rumbles against the F9/Jakob Toretto material at the start and end of "Jakob's Ladder," opens "Legacy" with sinister attitude, is distorted in "Showtime," and dominates the first half of "How Do You Choose?" The theme returns at 2:50 into "Back to Swan Lake" over the diluted intro motif, that motif stuttering at the start of "Roman's Riches" (shifting to almost James Bond-like coolness), barely guiding the action rhythms of "One if by Plane," stewing to open "Family Values" but extending to flamboyant brass, and continuing a subdued posture into "Rebalance of Power" over groaning electronic effects. The intro motif offers swagger to the middle of "Viaduct Dodge" and becomes sickly and distorted at 0:28 into "Standoff" before the theme returns ominously at 1:19 and is repeated several times. This idea grinds over electronic dissonance in the second half of "The Final Lesson" and supplies intrigue to "Finale X," in which the intro motif gains steam again at the outset while the theme is defiant at 0:46, the motif returning for the conclusive crescendo. The villain music is adequate but cannot alone float the score. More compelling is Tyler's good orchestral adaptation of the rap song "Won't Back Down" as a score element. Other than that, Fast X continues Tyler's run of proficient and occasionally entertaining but totally anonymous music for this franchise. An overly long album presentation over 100 minutes can be trimmed to half an hour of decent additions to similar highlights from the prior entries. Three-star music seems to be this concept's destiny.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Brian Tyler reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.2 (in 41 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.13 (in 19,742 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

Total Time: 103:48