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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Thor: Love and Thunder (Michael Giacchino/Nami Melumad)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you can accept a blend of fantasy leftovers from
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and 1980's rock and orchestral
tones worthy of Bill Conti's heyday.
Avoid it... if you value thematic consistency in this franchise, the filmmakers and composers once again depriving Thor of the lasting musical identity the character deserves.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Thor: Love and Thunder: (Michael Giacchino/Nami
Melumad) Because the prior three Thor films clearly weren't
enough, here arrives a fourth. As the 29th entry in the ever-expanding
Cinematic Marvel Universe, 2022's Thor: Love and Thunder tried
packing in so many character cameos that some had to be cut from the
theatrical release. Most important for the purposes of this part of the
franchise is the return of Thor Odinson's ex-girlfriend, Jane Foster,
courtesy an agreement between the filmmakers and actress Natalie Portman
that allowed the latter to largely determine her own fate in the story.
Perhaps not expectedly, Foster ends up wielding the powerful Mjolnir
after attempting to use it to cure her cancer, and she thus spends her
fleeting days as Mighty Thor herself, silly costume and all. (If she had
beefed up like Chris Hemsworth for the role, the twist would have been
more impressive.) She, the actual Thor, and a host of other god-like
beings come into conflict with Gorr the God Butcher, who becomes enraged
by his daughter's needless death and decides to lay waste to all gods
that obviously don't listen to prayers. The spirit of the movie was
intended to be a partial throwback, but unlike Thor: Ragnarok,
the sequel sought more of a traditional 1980's adventure vibe. That
focus extended to the soundtrack, which isn't quite as disjointed as
that of a typical Guardians of the Galaxy movie but also not too
far removed from it. The production relies heavily upon song placements
for Thor: Love and Thunder, including 1980's and early 1990's
flavor from several classic Guns N' Roses songs, ABBA, Enya, and Mary J.
Blige. Mixed in between is a score helmed by Michael Giacchino, who
reunites with director Taika Waititi after 2019's Jo-Jo Rabbit
and becomes the fourth composer to lead a Thor movie. Moreso than
the other branches of the MCU, the Thor soundtracks have failed
to establish any satisfying musical narrative despite containing some
impressive entries by major composers. Very little referencing of prior
scores is heard in these sequels, and Giacchino continues that
trend.
Joining the incredibly busy composer as the credited co-writer of Thor: Love and Thunder is Nami Melumad, who has become a reliable production partner for Giacchino and has been rewarded with an ascendant career as a composer for the newer "Star Trek" series on the small screen. Giacchino and Melumad approached this assignment as a hybrid model somewhat similar to Mark Mothersbaugh's music for the previous film and Tyler Bates' Guardians of the Galaxy entries, with outward rock elements mixed into a traditional symphonic and choral fantasy environment. The orchestra of 94 players lacks any woodwind performers, yielding a sound more in line with the pupils of Hans Zimmer, though the 36-member choir is standard to Giacchino's norms. Countering the orchestra's beefy brass section are electric and acoustic guitars, rock drums and percussion, and synthetics. Don't expect the composers to force a merging of these elements during most of the score, however. Aside from the suite arrangements and a few select cues, the rock elements are absent, leaving Thor: Love and Thunder as a fairly traditional fantasy score. The largest orchestral and choral sequences lean heavily on inspiration from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and, in some intriguing ways, this score sometimes sounds like a more satisfying direct sequel to that work than Jurassic World: Dominion, sans thematic connections, of course. There is even a reprise of Giacchino's rising, three-note harp figure that forms a rhythmic basis for the tragedy theme from Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom in this score's "Bedside Hammer" and "The Ballad of Love and Thunder" as a tool of empathy for Jane Foster. The score's two long suites bookending the album utilize largely the same rock-laced passages in a frustratingly straight reprise, so listeners seeking only the orchestral suite highlights could combine the first half of "Mama's Got a Brand New Hammer" and latter half of "The Ballad of Love and Thunder" into their own compelling suite. The vocal usage attempts to touch upon the majesty of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom at times, ranging from solo female to low male ensemble menace. Giacchino's 2022 scores have increased the composer's application of rising vocal crescendos to punctuate the end of a suspenseful cue; he continues that usage here in "Temple-itis" and the middle of "Surely, Temple," and this technique has become so ubiquitous for Giacchino that it's tiring and obnoxious. The role of the synths in the score is not as glitzy as some listeners might hope. Only in the annoying and accelerating synth pulses leading into the rock sequences in both suites do the electronics really take center stage. Some of the most engaging action sequences do involve the rock drums, however, and it's a shame that the composers couldn't find a way to incorporate this attitude in less obvious shades during other cues. Thematically, Thor: Love and Thunder is a fairly simplistic and straight-forward score. The composers don't go out of their way to reference the themes from the prior entries in the franchise, and cues from the middle portion of the score tend to meander away from the main two themes and explore others that never come back into the narrative. But Giacchino and Melumad provide two main themes for the heroes and a secondary theme for the villain, and the development of these ideas is pretty extensive. Giacchino has made it clear that he wrote one of his main themes for Jane Foster's character, anchoring it on solo cello, and another for the "Mighty Thor" concept on typical brass. The latter, essentially, can cover both Thor himself and Jane when she is wielding the hammer. Interestingly, Giacchino intentionally constructed Jane's theme with similar phrasing as a direct interlude to the more primary Thor identity, though both do receive independent treatment. Together, they represent the strongest duo of themes from Giacchino in his four major 2022 scores through the summer season, even if the theme for Jane does sound remarkably similar to the equally functional and attractive interlude to his Spider-Man theme. The primary theme for the Mighty Thor concept consists of four rising pairs in its first sequence before evening out in its second sequences. In later cues, as in the first half of "Foster? I Barely Know Her!," the composers sometimes drop the first note of the theme. Even though the main Mighty Thor theme is most memorably performed in Thor: Love and Thunder by brass via usual superhero methodology, it opens the score at 0:41 into "Mama's Got a Brand New Hammer" on the solo cello better destined to represent Jane. In that suite, the theme returns quietly on brass at 1:49 but is upended when it traverses squarely into Bill Conti Rocky territory with 1980's rock and orchestra at 3:33. By 4:28, the phrasing of the theme is abbreviated under wild electric guitar, and the accompanying choir is truly corny in its retro yearnings. At 5:12 into the suite, these rock elements yield back partially to a bold brass conclusion of the theme, and solo gospel voice hints the first four notes at the very end of the suite. That the composers didn't incorporate this distinctive and elegant solo voice into the remainder of the score is a mysterious disappointment. A similarly rousing choral conclusion supports the theme in "Indigarr with the Diva," and the composers shift it into action duties with the choir at 0:44 into "Gorr Animals," after which its easily-discernable, two-note phrases inform later bursts and shift into a humorously victorious fantasy variant at the end of the cue. After these early cues in Thor: Love and Thunder, the Mighty Thor theme does more cameo duties than the accompanying theme for Jane, and it receives less intelligent manipulation of its chord progressions for use outside of the melody. That main theme's fragments, however, are littered throughout the middle of "A Gorr Phobia" and battle the villain's identity effectively early in "Utter Lunarcy." Some listeners will prefer fuller, more simplistic renditions of the idea, including the brief horn nobility at 0:37 into "Surely, Temple" and a satisfying consolidation on brass late in "The Power of Thor Propels You." The Mighty Thor theme then moves the action along in "Foster? I Barely Know Her!" in various guises, offers light choral lament in the middle of "Jane Stop This Crazy Thing" before stately brass heroism at 2:22, and is reduced to somber, mostly underlying chords at 0:52 into "One Wish to Rule Them All." It enjoys a friendly acoustic guitar performance in "The Kids Are Alright" to wrap the story, a moment that wouldn't sound out of place in the contemporary parts of Henry Jackman's Jumanji scores. In the second suite of themes from Thor: Love and Thunder, "The Ballad of Love and Thunder," the composers reprise the same rock performance of the Mighty Thor theme from "Mama's Got a Brand New Hammer" at the start, with no meaningful variation. The Conti-inspired corniness at returns in the abbreviated phrasing from first suite at 1:21, and the reprised brass theme that closed the first suite at 1:40 and subsequent gospel vocals sound identical. Later, in the symphonic portion of that second suite, the Mighty Thor theme returns in a bubbling action mode at 3:42 with choir and is sent off with a melodramatic moment on strings at 7:09. This theme often alternates with Giacchino's main idea for Jane, and it is once again this identity that sounds like Spider-Man's interlude. Often carried by solo strings or harp, Jane's theme debuts at 1:07 into "Mama's Got a Brand New Hammer" over eerie atmosphere and returns at 2:16 for full strings and as a pure interlude at 3:51 in the Conti-like rock passage. The theme recurs after the opening fanfare of "The Not Ready for New Asgard Players" and at 0:16 into "See Jane Thor," both on harp, and massively on choir at 0:47 for a closing crescendo in the latter cue. Jane's theme is often reduced to only its underlying chords during more sensitive moments, at 0:48 into "Distressed Out" while tentatively exploring heroic variants and in the latter half of "The Ax Games" under pretty choir. The idea meanders liberally early in "Thorring to New Heights" but consolidates on trumpet, shifts to light piano at 0:47 into "Bedside Hammer," informs the choral fantasy at 1:55 into "Jane Stop This Crazy Thing," and guides the drama of "One Wish to Rule Them All" and "Bawl and Jane." Jane's theme returns to straight interlude positioning at 0:47 into the acoustic guitar performances of "The Kids Are Alright." In the closing "The Ballad of Love and Thunder" suite, the idea reprises its role from the first suite on strings at 0:44 but flourishes better later in the arrangement, slowed considerably on low strings at 4:54, then carried by piano, and finishing in eerie mode once more at 7:31. The only major secondary theme in Thor: Love and Thunder exists for the hapless villain, Gorr. While his identity can meander through descending notes of sadness or menace without obvious structure, his ideas do revolve around a rather simplistic but effective phrase of five notes. Sadly, the composers don't clearly and obviously twist the theme into a redemptive variant when needed at the end. The Gorr theme in Thor: Love and Thunder is developed quietly throughout "Just Desert" on solo cello, even flirting with main theme. By the opening of "Distressed Out," though, it is expressed better on low strings and brass, emphasized at 0:30 into "Gorr Animals" on brass. After its performance at 1:09 into "A Gorr Phobia" on low strings, the main five-note phrase of this theme is joined by a second five-note phrase, and that second group alone opens "The Ax Games." The best exploration of the idea comes in "Show Intel," where the theme opens the cue on low strings with the second phrase revealing an even more aimless third phrase to denote the character's wayward intentions. The sustained, low choral shades make this the longest villain cue in the score and its best representation given its relatively poor showing in only one of the score's two suites. It opens "Utter Lunarcy" with a quick stomp and returns late in the cue, while at 1:02 into "Temple-itis" the idea moves into large fantasy choral mode, closely emulating Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom again. Gorr's theme stews in the middle of "The Power of Thor Propels You," opens "Foster? I Barely Know Her!" with force, and occupies the middle of "All's Fair in Love and Thor" in eerie mystery with solo voice and cello. Its presence in the "The Ballad of Love and Thunder" suite isn't great, interjecting at 2:59 in abbreviated form and fully at 3:34, an unsatisfying representation in this summary. Giacchino also coins a few fanfares for the score, one of them familiar to David Arnold's Independence Day and heard on solo voice and trumpet to open "The Not Ready for New Asgard Players" and in minor mode with choir at the outset of "Gorr Animals." A more fluid rendition with choral fantasy opens "We're Not Emos We're Gods," and John Williams' Superman tones blend with a little Golden Age sensibility in the source-like trumpets and percussion of "The Zeus Fanfares." A brief burst of this material returns in the middle of the otherwise ominous "I Was in the Pool!" Much of that cue nicely explores unique villain shades, and also standing apart from anything else in the work is the first half and end of "Saving Face," which expresses action in pure Conti form. Overall, Thor: Love and Thunder is perhaps Giacchino's best work of 2022 to this point, with engaging themes that are well developed throughout. The rock elements will annoy some, but they are few; if anything, a more substantial combination of genres in the score would have been welcomed. Most importantly, this music has a sense of style and life that is not always apparent in the performances and recordings of Giacchino's other works of this time, and enthusiasm can alone take you far. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 64:22
NOTES & QUOTES:
There exists no official packaging for this album.
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