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Review of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Alan Silvestri)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you like being pounded into submission by anonymous
but effectively noisy symphonic and synthetic blends of immense
density.
Avoid it... if you expect Alan Silvestri to return to his better developed (and fan-favorite) style of bravado for The Mummy Returns or Van Helsing.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra: (Alan Silvestri) It's
official... the number is eight. Eight years, more specifically. That is
the amount of time Hollywood has decided constitutes enough of a healing
period after the terrorist attacks on New York in 2001 to show another
world landmark graphically destroyed by terrorists on the big screen.
Perhaps some leeway has to be given to the fact that the perpetrators
this time descend from plastic toys rather than radical Islam. Not only
that, but they exist in a film that is so pretentious in its
expectations that it was intentionally filmed with a rapid-fire sequel
in mind. Didn't Paramount executives watch The Golden Compass?
Then again, why let the other Hasbro toys of 1980's cartoon fame steal
all the glory? The Transformers franchise was no doubt the model
for the 2009 film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, including the
total sacrifice of character development or any other redeeming
intellectual element. Even fans of the 1960's toys and the 1980's
cartoons, along with comics and other incarnations, can admit that the
concept has been sold out to the least common denominator here. The only
glimmer of hope for the elite forces of G.I. Joe in this futuristic
reshaping of the concept is the fact that capable director Stephen
Sommers is chronicling their mad dashes across the planet to stop the
evil forces of Cobra from using a super weapon against landmarks and
other convenient targets. On the other hand, so incredibly
underdeveloped is the script for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra that
not even Sommers could shoot anything other than two hours of nearly
constant action scenes requiring glitzy special effects. Don't be fooled
by the ridiculous flashbacks devoted to character background. G.I.
Joe: The Rise of Cobra, like Transformers, exists only for
the action, sharing its sister franchise's poor critical response and
high grosses, too. Paramount conceded that reviews of this film would be
so terrible that they didn't even offer press screenings for it. Their
reasoning was solid; getting trashed in the reviews is unnecessary when
hoards of intellectually devoid movie-goers will stand in long lines for
a film anyway, simply because it's "cool."
For film score collectors, there was at least some satisfaction in the continuing collaboration between Sommers and composer Alan Silvestri, who has, for the director's previous films (The Mummy Returns, Van Helsing), produced some of his best career action material. Unfortunately, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra didn't offer Silvestri the opportunity to really expand upon the resounding orchestral bravado of those works, due in part to several reasons. First among these is the common perception in the industry these days that every blockbuster summer action score has to sound like something a clone of Hans Zimmer would produce. Indeed, Silvestri cranks up the electronica influence in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra to appease these expectations. Secondly, because the script is absent of genuine character development of any significance, it must have been difficult to create, nurture, and mature thematic identities for the film. Third, the breakneck pacing of the script isn't conducive to lengthy structural explorations in any one cue, yielding a wall of sound that is built with competition with sound effects more in mind than intelligent flows or crescendos. Still, despite these fatal flaws inherent in the assignment, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is a Silvestri score. You can hear pieces of Van Helsing, Back to the Future, and even Cast Away in small, 10-second fragments spread throughout the work. The orchestra is rowdy and energetic, emulating the magnitude of Silvestri's previous scores for Sommers' films despite the lack of overarching structural continuity. The electronic elements in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra are not quite as well refined as you would hear in the music of David Arnold or Brian Tyler. The first half of this score especially suffers from a poor mixture of the synthetic and organic halves, emphasizes the electronic textures and loops far too heavily. By "The JOE's Mobilize," however, Silvestri has not only found a more comfortable balance between the two, but he's also managed to find complimentary loop tones that fit the character of his orchestral writing quite well. These tingling, rambling, and pounding synthetic effects wane in the latter half of the score, allowing elements like an exotic flute effect to better break through in the soundscape. Constantly at war in Silvestri's score for G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the limited thematic development and the overbearing tone of the somewhat generic action material. The mix of the album is extremely heavy in the bass region at times, again emulating Steve Jablonsky's Transformers scores and everything related to them. Some listeners won't be able to hear past the incessant ensemble hits (and their synthetic counterparts) to appreciate Silvestri's two themes for the film. The composer is intensely loyal to both of these themes throughout the score, though with so much ambient noise in the nearly constant slapping and pulsating of the action, casual listeners may miss them. Part of this circumstance is also owed to the fact that Silvestri's themes here really aren't that memorable, generating even less of an impact than John Ottman's rather tepid hero and antihero themes for the Fantastic Four franchise. In the most basic sense, however, you can be assured that if the progression you're hearing is in the major key (or a combination of minor and major, ending in the latter), you're being treated to a representation of the G.I. Joe organization theme. Unfortunately, it takes until the "End Credits" before you get a truly consolidated, rousing performance of that theme (the opening of "Deploy the Sharks" withstanding). Always a bit more elusive is the theme for Cobra, a five-note motif rooted firmly in the minor key that has a more substantial dramatic impact on a majority of cues in the score. The two themes frequently battle each other directly, as in the latter half of "Who are You?" Overall, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is completely adequate. Silvestri earned his paycheck. Will his music sell as well on album as the two Transformers scores? No, because the themes, while simplistic, aren't obvious enough for the average, dumb blockbuster. On the guilty pleasure meter, the Jablonsky scores rank more highly. The album release of G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is, at 71 minutes of only score, extremely tiresome. At the halfway mark, you'll have sworn you've already heard over an hour of it. Some complaints from fans about inconsistent sound quality (which couldn't be confirmed with the label) won't matter for casual listeners because of the generally high volume level of the entire score. Be weary of this long album for a different reason; Silvestri is capable of far better in more intelligent circumstances.
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 71:42
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a list of performers, but no extra information
about the score or film.
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