Archive
MATCHSTICK MEN – Hans Zimmer
Original Review by Peter Simons
One of the most unexpectedly fun albums of the year undoubtedly has to be Hans Zimmer’s Matchstick Men. The sheer joy with which this score was written just oozes from its pores. That alone is worth a million bucks for me. Its snazzy, southern European feel is slightly reminiscent of As Good As It Gets, the score for which Zimmer received an Oscar nominated in 1997, but although it would be deserved, Hans won’t get that kind of recognition for Matchstick Men. The score deliberately weaves in performances of Nino Rota’s theme from La Dolce Vita, which automatically renders the score illegible for the Academy Awards. This is a shame, because this wicked little score deserves all attention and recognition it can get… but on the other hand — who gives a hoot about the Oscars? Read more…
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL – Klaus Badelt
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
In giving Pirates of the Caribbean a four-star review, I’m making myself undergo a crisis of conscience. How can I, as a “respected” reviewer of film music, give such a high rating to a score which is quite blatantly inappropriate for the movie, predictable to the extreme, and derivative of virtually every major Media Ventures action score written in the last ten years? The answer, simply, is that it is a whole lot of fun. Pirates of the Caribbean is possibly the ultimate soundtrack guilty pleasure. Directed by Gore Verbinski, Pirates of the Caribbean is a large-budget action film based on the classic ride at the Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, in which visitors are treated to a stately underground boat ride through the old Caribbean, where animatronic pirates shiver their timbers on a daily basis. Read more…
PEARL HARBOR – Hans Zimmer
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Director Michael Bay so much wanted for Pearl Harbor to be his Titanic – an epic love story that takes place within one of the most tragic, violent, and talked-about events of the 20th Century. But, with Michael Bay being the director he is, it had to not just equal, but eclipse James Cameron’s Oscar-winning watery thriller. Instead of sinking one boat, Bay sinks a couple of dozen. Not content with presenting a simple boy-meets-girl story, Bay turns Pearl Harbor’s romance into a love triangle. And, in an effort to outdo James Horner’s work on the earlier film, Bay hired Hans Zimmer to wring every last emotional drop from his audience and his listeners. And he succeeds – almost. Read more…
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 2 – Hans Zimmer
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Hans Zimmer’s score has come in for a lot of criticism over the last few weeks but, when you consider the film which his score accompanies, it’s a wonder it turned out this good. After everyone complained about how confusing Mission: Impossible was, it was decided to make Mission: Impossible 2 simpler. Simpler, yes. Dumber, no, but once again the Hollywood executives have pandered to the lowest common denominator of the movie-going public, and made M:I2 a stupid, albeit enjoyable movie, at least on a visceral level. After being forced to watch producer/star Tom Cruise show off his glistening biceps while hanging off a mountain during the opening credits, Mission: Impossible 2 actually turns out to be a virus movie with delusions of grandeur. Rogue IMF agent Sean Ambrose (Dougray Scott) has stolen the antidote to a killer virus called chimera which, when released into the atmosphere, will incapacitate anyone who encounters it within 20 hours. With the help of his nasty Australian henchman Stamp (Richard Roxburgh), Ambrose plans to steal the virus itself from the laboratory where it was made, release it, and blackmail the world into paying him for the cure. The mission, should the ubiquitous Ethan Hunt (Cruise) choose to accept it, is to travel to Australia in the company of his loyal technical whiz Luther (Ving Rhames), and thwart Ambrose’s plan – but not before he has made a diversion to Spain to elicit the help of Nyah Nordoff-Hall (the luminous Thandie Newton), Ambrose’s former lover. Read more…
GLADIATOR – Hans Zimmer, Lisa Gerrard
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
When I’m not actually sitting down and listening to a Hans Zimmer score, I like to tell myself (and anyone else within earshot) that I’m not a great fan of his work. He’s too simplistic, I say. He relies far too much on synthesisers and banks of programmers, and he has a style that virtually never differs from score to score. Every other score he writes is just another variation on the patented Crimson Tide heroic anthem. And, to some extent, each element of the above arguments have some shred of truth within them. But, when I do actually sit down and listen to a Hans Zimmer score, I usually thoroughly enjoy doing so. It’s a painful contradiction, but it proves one thing: as a composer, he has a rather limited range, but as a dramatist and as a manipulator of emotions, he has few peers. Read more…
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