Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,771
Written 4/12/11
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Buy it... if you're interested in Brian Tyler's evolution of this
franchise's music towards a standard, orchestral blockbuster sound,
despite the lack of spirited electronic pizzazz that comes with that
shift.
Avoid it... if the more prominent role for guitars, percussion, and
a variety of electronic overlays gave the previous entry in the series
the engaging spark of energy you prefer to hear in a hybrid score for
the muscle car genre.
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| Tyler |
Fast & Furious: (Brian Tyler) Box office gold
awaited the reunion of the original cast of The Fast and the
Furious for the fourth installment of the franchise in 2009. Set
preceding the events of the previous film chronologically, Fast &
Furious places the friendship between Vin Diesel and Paul Walker's
leads once again at the forefront, pitting the savvy brutes against each
other in terms of the law but as usual wavering Walker's enforcement
commitment in the process of sympathetically pursuing Diesel's vigilante
justice. The film concentrates on a Latin American theme that includes
chases between Mexico and America, as well as the expected role of the
drug trade in that action. Interestingly, the muscle cars on display in
Fast & Furious are focused much more heavily on American brands,
perhaps a nod to the patriotism rallied behind domestic auto companies
at the time. Intelligence still lacks in the franchise, however, though
expectedly poor critical response did nothing to deter undereducated
audiences from making Fast & Furious the most profitable entry in
the series at the time (with an astounding $360 million in worldwide
grosses). With director Justin Lin firmly planted at the helm for this
and Fast Five in 2011, composer Brian Tyler returned for both.
Tyler had competently adapted the style of Brian Transeau and David
Arnold's prior contributions to the franchise into his own
action/electronica style for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo
Drift, an extremely dense score with a fair share of highlights but
also some pre-records and loops that are painfully intolerable outside
of context. One can't really fault Tyler for driving home his talents in
the area of his guitar and percussion performance capabilities, because
of all of his career assignments, these merit such an approach more than
any other. Anyone familiar with Tyler's personal interest in exotic,
extremely expensive European vehicles, racing in them, and playing video
games emulating them knows that he is certainly more than entitled to
getting rowdy with the concept. But the lack of much style or even
intelligent secondary lines in the music, often favoring brute force or
saturation of genre cliches instead, is something of a disappointment
given Tyler's talents. Unlike Arnold's music for 2 Fast 2
Furious, for instance, Tyler has never seemed inclined to actually
employ automotive-related sound effects in his arsenal of manipulated
noise for the concept, a nagging and curious absence. Unfortunately,
even fewer interesting choices were made in the assembly of Fast &
Furious, which plays like a surprisingly pedestrian score by
comparison.
The ingredients in
Fast & Furious have been
shifted around by Tyler, emphasizing a larger orchestral ensemble in an
increasingly melodramatic stance. The more traditional dramatic power of
the group is conveyed for both the symphonic version of the "Letty"
theme and in the numerous chase scenes. Strings, horns, tubas, and a
lone oboe supply this depth, lending something of a blockbuster tone to
the franchise despite the infusion of Latin-tinged rap songs. The
"Landtrain" cue is the action highlight of the score, though Tyler
reinforces perceptions (here and in other strong action cues such as
"The Tunnel" and "Dom vs. Brian") that he has adopted the Hans
Zimmer/Remote Control methodology of broad, low brass and string
ostinatos for such situations. The role of pre-recorded drums and
guitars is still prominent, but not as overbearing in most situations.
It seems that Tyler was bridging the gap between the role of guitars in
the previous score and his forthcoming
Battle: Los Angeles, by
which time he had found a way to make the instrument a really effective
member of a larger ensemble. Thematically, the main melody from
The
Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift returns in hints and fragments,
heard in the middle sequences of "Landtrain" and "Dom vs. Brian."
Additionally, an aggressive motif hovering around key in "Fast and
Furious" seems to suggest a resurrection of Arnold's thematic material,
and the overarching identity of Tyler's music for the concept may
ultimately resolve to a series of three blasts on guitar or brass in the
bass (which carries over to several cues here). Like the previous score,
a subdued, pretty secondary theme exists, this time in mourning mode.
Introduced in "Letty," this idea is gracefully carried on acoustic
guitar in several places, including "Memorial," and is handed to the
orchestra in the redemptive "Suite." While such respites (extending to
"Amends") are nice, they remain somewhat anonymous. In fact, the entire
score suffers from an anonymity issue, especially given that it lacks
the flair of its predecessors. That doesn't mean that Tyler doesn't let
rip with obnoxious sampled effects in brutal loops; "Accelerator" and
"Outta Sight," the latter complete with the silly vocal overlays
inspired by an equally wretched That Handsome Devil song, are just as
hideous as their equivalents in the previous score. The only use for
such music outside of context is for the torture of plants, animals, and
fellow human beings who have fallen out of favor. Overall,
Fast &
Furious is a more consistent listening experience on album than
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, but the first score in the
pair has more intensity and personality in its enduring highlights. A
very long album presentation for
Fast & Furious contributes to a
feeling that the score is both adequate and evolutionary, but lacking a
degree of gutsy horsepower, responsive handling, and throaty exhaust.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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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.
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