Mainstream audiences likely won't care to notice whether the music in these films remains closely tied to the Lalo Schifrin style of vintage coolness or succumbs to the Hans Zimmer era of brooding masculinity, especially if the franchise's main theme persists. But for many film music collectors, Mission: Impossible - Fallout represents a completely unnecessary and potentially offensive surrender of a franchise to stylistic mediocrity by the demand of filmmakers eager to cater to a cynical, violent public stimulated by brute force rather than a wink and a nod... or even a sarcastic grin from Ethan Hunt. Some listeners argue that McQuarrie's replacement of Kraemer with Balfe should not constitute a problem so long as the succeeding film is vastly different. But the opposite is true. Kraemer and those who loved his smart approach to the prior score have every right to be deeply offended, for it's a composer's job to adapt to the director's whim. Certainly, had McQuarrie directed Kraemer to produce an edgier, moodier version of his already RC-guided material for Mission: Impossible - Fallout, the composer could have obliged with as much intelligence as before. Instead, listeners receive an occasionally engaging but mostly derivative and obnoxious capitulation of RC staples from Balfe. The Zimmer clone has been soundly criticized though the years, sometimes unfairly, for his frequently terrible regurgitations of the baseline RC noise (i.e. music meant to appeal to the loins rather than brains), and Mission: Impossible - Fallout will strongly reinforce such opinions. If you remove the Schifrin references from this work, you have a frightfully ridiculous homage to the Zimmer Batman-related scores and Inception, the techniques applied here so tired and unsophisticated that it's a shame audiences still react positively to them. Balfe blasts you in the face with this material without any significant deviation in technique, and the emotional variance within the score is surprisingly ineffective; you have diarrhetic action, action, and more action, followed by occasional constipation in the form of brooding, ambient suspense or emotionless drama. Balfe has mostly lost the sense of style inherent in the franchise's music in the process of confusing Hunt with Batman, and all of the score's highlights are tied directly to the Schifrin interpolations at their most obvious. Fortunately, Balfe does rely heavily on the recurring two melodies from the franchise, the primary theme and the "Plot" theme from the original series.

The use of the two legacy Schifrin themes in Mission: Impossible - Fallout salvages the listening experience from total mediocrity, and Balfe does offer his integration of their structures into Zimmer's realm about as well as could be achieved. He actually relies upon some of the underlying chord progressions established by Kraemer to convey the descending three notes of the main theme in super-dramatic fashion. Those three-note phrases are all over this score, as is the jumpier "Plot" theme, and the main melodic line from the franchise makes a handful of appearances for obvious needs. Some of Balfe's interpolations are really quite clever and deserve praise, though the rendering of his adaptations usually spoils the fun. Senselessly, the composer shuns Kraemer's themes for the IMF ("Steps Ahead") and Solomon Lane/Syndicate ("The Syndicate"), reassigning the "Plot" theme to the former and writing an obnoxious new mood-setter for the latter. The use of Giacomo Puccini's "Nessun Dorma" from the 1926 opera "Turandot" doesn't return, either, despite the character's persistence. These abandonments don't make sense given all the direct story and cast ties between the two films. Balfe instead provides a few new inconsequential and badly developed motifs, the most important of which existing most clearly in "We Are Never Free" and providing a tortured string identity for Hunt's emotional turmoil. The Syndicate and other motifs are best conveyed by Balfe's only truly elegant instrumental element: the piano. The meandering piano lines, typically punctuated by phrases in trios of notes, are a welcome addition to the mix in every instance. Otherwise, the instrumentation is disappointing all around. The tom-tom drums appear by necessity but are diminished here. Woodwinds were kicked out of the room. The brass could be organic or manipulated to the point of despair, parts of the score forcing symphonic elements through processors meant to give the instruments an abrasive, synthetic edge. The action sequences in the latter quarter of the score are outright obnoxious in their domineering, simplistic stupidity and harsh attitude. Listeners are even treated to a tribute to Brad Fiedel's The Terminator in "The Last Resort." Portions of "Scalpel and Hammer" will make one wonder once again if there is failing industrial machinery in earshot, and don't be surprised if you find yourself skipping these passages entirely for the sake of your sanity. Even the blasting horns from Inception had more intrigue than this.

There are, despite all these misgivings, a few highlights worth recommending in the score for Mission: Impossible - Fallout. When Balfe allows the natural style of Schifrin's main theme to guide an action cue, he generally thrives best. The rowdy "Stairs and Rooftops" is definitely the pinnacle of the work, with "Escape Through Paris" and "Kashmir" several steps behind. Depending on your sense of humor, the concluding performance of the main franchise theme in "Mission: Accomplished" may be of interest. As if you didn't get the point that the new world is a big, bad place full of planet-exploding perils, Balfe layers the obligatory tribute performance of Schifrin's full theme with gothic vocals once again appropriate for either masked superheroes or invading alien forces. It's so brazenly juvenile that you can't help but laugh. If you desire one remarkable summary of Balfe's "Ode to Zimmer" in this work, look no further than the rather pleasantly tonal "Fate Whispers to the Warrior," which overcomes its surface similarities to Dario Marianelli's far more genuine V for Vendetta to dwell in the lowest common denominators of slapping percussion, chopping string ostinatos, brass manipulated to near synthetic tones, long crescendos of mood, stomping low brass whole notes, and, of course, drawn-out noises in the bass that could have been the hum of propeller blades prior to the 27 separate filters that were applied to it over the past ten years. Overall, Balfe's approach to Mission: Impossible - Fallout provided the director with the dumbed-down attitude he desired, and some listeners will find the score to be a satisfying RC-inspired romp. But the exhaustingly long album presentation doesn't do it any favors; as if the lengthy digital release wasn't insufferable enough, La-La Land Records pressed a 2-CD set of 110 minutes that features six completely useless additional cues at its end. Also, be aware that the album's attributions of Schifrin's two themes to each individual track is incomplete, with both identities in far more cues than indicated by the packaging. Ultimately, it's difficult to blame Balfe for this disappointing score's existence, for McQuarrie led listeners down this unfortunate path. Kraemer had already supplied a fair dose of RC muscularity to the concept without sacrificing its roots. And those roots remain relevant despite the franchise's change in emotional emphasis because Hunt still exudes swagger and coolness in his mannerisms. In this respect, the concept is no different from that of James Bond, and Balfe's score here is the equivalent of hearing a frustrating Zimmer emulation for that storied franchise. Balfe has proven he is no fool, but he sometimes writes like one, and directors like McQuarrie are the reason for that continuing loss of finesse.  **   @Amazon.com: CD or Download