Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #194
Written 6/23/03, Revised 3/10/09
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Buy it... if you react well to smooth, cosmopolitan scores with stylish
electronic rhythms and occasionally roaring, metallic action.
Avoid it... if the score's tendency in its latter half to digress into
flamboyant, vigorous, and downright nasty electronic action motifs is a deterrent
for you.
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| Powell |
The Italian Job: (John Powell) In this remake of the 1969 film
of the same name, the only true crossovers from the first film to the second are
the fashionable Mini Cooper cars that are pivotal in an unlikely escape sequence
because of their very small size. Some viewers argued that the Mini Coopers have
more charisma than the stars of the film, but most others would say that The
Italian Job, regardless of its problematic acting, is a classy and well
executed heist flick. The film lingered for several weeks near the top of box
office charts and remains a popular cable television event. Despite the
overwhelming interest in the extensive placement of songs in the film, demand for
the contemporary score by John Powell also swelled during the first month of the
film's release. Powell was quickly establishing himself as an artist more highly in
demand than many of his peers from the Media Ventures complex run by Hans Zimmer.
Aside from his light comedy scores, Powell had been venturing further into the
straight action genre, with a disappointingly incoherent score for The Bourne
Identity only a year previous to The Italian Job. For this newer heist
story, however, the element of sophistication in the complexity of the robberies
taking place on the screen led to a slightly different approach from Powell. After
all, for a story that features the mass rigging of traffic lights on a city-wide
scale (as means, of course, of escaping from those pesky Los Angeles police), the
score has to hit a reciprocal stride with stylish energy and pizzazz. Powell's
response is a work that will remind listeners very much of the style of
contemporary artist David Holmes, whose score for Ocean's Eleven struck a
similar chord for a comparable film. The propulsive nature of the music will indeed
remind some Powell collectors of the chopping ostinatos of The Bourne
Identity and its sequel scores (and that string ostinato effect is actually
employed in a few of the moments of pursuit here). The likewise
electronically-based underscore for The Italian Job is rhythmically
flamboyant and downright vigorous during moments of high speed chasing. That modern
edge, while not containing a thematic identity of any significant kind, would lend
a continuously cosmopolitan, smooth, and gregarious seasoning in the updated
rendition of this old story.
Representing the minds and actions of lovable criminals is a task
that Powell accomplishes well in
The Italian Job. His primary instrument is
his array synthesizers, with looped rhythms, varied percussion, guitars, electric
bass, and keyboarding constituting the majority of the effort. The cohesive element
is obviously the series of rhythms that Powell utilizes consistently throughout the
film. Even in the softer moments, the rhythms that sit at center stage during
action scenes are omnipresent in the background of the music. Thus, the churning
minds behind the plot of the film are constantly in motion and the score reflects
that pace. To infuse the blockbuster with greater power, Powell hired a partial
orchestra (full strings and brass, with one percussionist and no woodwinds) to
elevate a handful of cues to the status of elegant high style exposition
(culminating in "The New Plan"). He also lets rip with electric guitars and other
heavy metal-inclined instrumental tones for rocking sequences of disbelief like the
almost ridiculous "Tunnel Run." The rhythms become more forceful in their ferocious
synthetic behavior as the film reaches its climax, allowing the sophistication to
drain slightly from a score that was otherwise very streetwise in its first half.
On album, the first half of the score will play much like a David Holmes
underscore, with more power behind the rhythms due to a larger ensemble. The
smoothest cue comes in the early portions as well; the slight, synthetic choral
tones of "Venice Gold Heist" are an eerie interlude. The latter half of the score
begins to digress in its more primitive emotional expressions, but given the
payback that being exacted in the film, such a transition to feverish success could
be expected. The score returns briefly to the more stylish, sophisticated attitude
in the final victory cue. On the whole,
The Italian Job is a considerably
improved and successful score for Powell when compared to
The Bourne
Identity because the more recent work is rich with interesting rhythms that
maintain a mood for a much longer period. Some listeners may still find the
slapping, pinging, and sometimes ripping personality of Powell's score to be
obnoxious, and others may have problems with the shifts in tempo and looped rhythms
from cue to cue (likely because of a team of additional composers and arrangers on
the job). But bridging the gap between techno and orchestral action enthusiasts,
The Italian Job is a good candidate for repetition in the background during
mindless activities.
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Bias Check:
For John Powell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.31
(in 51 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.16
(in 52,894 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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