Rarely do I see a 2.5-plus-hour film and not want the film to end and then when it does want to see the film again immediately.  This, however, was the case with Avatar.  Written and directed by film-making-pioneer James Cameron, Avatar is a phenomenal film and an amazing and spectacular visual and technical achievement.  Providing the score for Avatar is past-Cameron-collaborator James Horner who composed a fantastic and very effective score, one which will likely—and deservedly—win him some hardware come awards season.

I’ve been listening to the score for a few weeks, but I decided to wait until I saw the film to write about the music.  Film scores, of course, are primarily intended to exist as a cohesive part of the overall motion-picture experience.  Many scores, though, work just as well outside their corresponding film as they do inside it.  James Horner’s score for Avatar works wonders both in the film and out of it.

The score starts with a somewhat unsettled mood in “You Don’t Dream in Cryo….”  In “Jake Enters His Avatar World,” we are treated to a musical interpretation of the film’s visual and thematic juxtaposition between the human world and the Na’vi world.  As paraplegic-main-character Jake first experiences his avatar body in the confines of the human laboratory, the music is very troubled with hammering pianos and pulsing shakuhachis, but as Jake escapes and experiences running again, the music segues to a fantasy-like dreamscape with tinkering harp, uplifting brass, and rhythmic percussion.
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“Pure Spirits of the Forest” gives us our first taste of the musical ideas and textures Horner created for the Na’vi people and the forest as Jake first interacts with both; “The Bioluminescence of the Night” continues this.  The music is often very dreamy, ethereal, and relaxing—just like the spectacular visuals on screen.
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Finally in “Becoming One of “The People”, Becoming One with Neytiri,” we are treated to the first major statement of Horner’s main Avatar theme (previous tracks flirt with the theme).  This statement is layered with ethnic-sounding percussion and vocals to great effect:
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“Climbing Up ‘Iknimaya – The Path to Heaven’” continues the Na’vi-inspired magic, again using percussive elements very effectively:
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…as does “Jake’s First Flight”:
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After these few tracks that heavily favored the Na’vi music, we have a few tracks that bring the musical world back to the human world.  “Scorched Earth” and “Quaritch” with their frantic chanting, percussion, and brass is a 180-degree-turn from the previous track:
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In “The Destruction of Home Tree,” we are presented with some oft-tragic, distressed action-based music:
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The final track in this group is the unsettling, mournful track “Shutting Down Grace’s Lab.”
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Then we arrive at my favorite track on the album, “Gathering All the Na’vi Clans for Battle.”  The track starts slowly, but the second half is pure Horner magic.  When I first started listening to the score before I had seen the film, I had a fairly good idea of what was happening in the film based on the track’s title and the music.  When I was watching the film with the music in the forefront of this particular scene, I had a huge smile on my face from the combination of the inspiring music with the sequence.  I saw the film with my dad, who knows how much I enjoy film scores, and he leaned over to me and asked if I had the music from Avatar yet—because the sequence with the music was that good.  The music is stirring and propulsive, serving the scene extremely well:
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“War,” the final score track from the online-download version, is a behemoth of a track both in terms of length and content.  The track starts with music that accompanies the human mobilization for war and continues with music from the battle between the humans and the Na’vi.  Horner wrote some exciting, tense, and, at times, heroic music for the battle, and this track is easily one of the best on the album:
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The online-download version of the album concludes with the song “I See You,” performed by Leona Lewis.  The song is serviceable and is a nice rendition of the main theme.

For those who bought the Avatar soundtrack in stores (or found the track online), the album concludes with a bonus track, “Into the Na’vi World,” which makes me want what else was left off the album given the rousing quality of the track.  I was listening for the correct placement of this track in the film, but if it’s in the film somewhere, I missed it.
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Speaking of missing music, there is, of course, some missing from the album, notably music from after the battle.  All of the major pieces, though, are on the album, but I would still gladly purchase an expanded edition of the score.

To someone who has known me for several years, reading my gushing portrayal of James Horner’s music for Avatar would likely come as a major surprise.  Just a few years ago, I despised Horner and his music.  I felt—and still do—that he was lazy and ignorant for frequently repeating past musical ideas and blatantly quoting themes from his other scores.  Avatar, to no one’s surprise, continues this nasty habit with the inclusion of Horner’s notorious four-note danger theme as well as an interpretation of his theme from Glory that here is used for the Na’vi.  I’m not very familiar with lesser-known Horner works, but other reviewers have mentioned other scores that had material lifted from them for Avatar.

These days, though, I have taught myself to overlook Horner’s misgivings simply because he can—and often does—write some kick-ass music.  Great music is great music.

And Avatar is great music.  Horner masterfully created a music world for Avatar, including magical sounds for the forest and the Na’vi.  The percussive elements he layers with the rest of the orchestra are terrific.  My only issue with the score is that the main theme isn’t stronger and more memorable.  Otherwise, from the mystical tones for the forest to the lighthearted and gleeful music for the Na’vi to the epic call-to-action set piece to the propulsive action music, James Horner has written a grand and magnificent score, one which unquestionably deserves recognition come awards season.

I came across something today I was unaware of: a rejected theme song for the Bond film Quantum of Solace.  As I noted in my review of the film (which was also a review of the music), the title song was performed by Alicia Keys and Jack White and was written by White.  In my review, I wasn’t shy about my distaste for the song and its lack of a discernible melody that composer David Arnold could use in his score for the film.

Well, today I learned that not only did David Arnold write a song for the film, he used pieces of the song throughout the score—like a Bond score should when a decent tune is written—and recorded the song with the legendary Dame Shirley Bassey, who is no stranger to the Bond universe with performances of the title songs for Goldfinger, Diamonds are Forever, and Moonraker.  Arnold’s song, though, was rejected.  Thankfully, Bassey has included it on her new album, The Performance.

Some wise YouTube user decided to strip the title sequence from Quantum of Solace of its gag-inducing song and replaced it with the Arnold/Bassey song.  I posted the title sequence for Quantum of Solace a while back, but the YouTube video I linked to was taken down, so for comparison’s sake, here’s the original:

And here is the title sequence with the Arnold/Bassey song:

The song, titled “No Good About Goodbye,” is a classic Bond song with sweeping strings and a sultry voice—and is far superior to the mess of a tune that was the White/Keys “Another Way to Die.”  Perhaps the film’s producers didn’t think this song fit the edgier feel of the film, but the song fits with the classic Bond persona and is a nice throwback to the Connery films: edgy film (as compared to latter entries in the franchise) plus Bassey anthem.

If you’re interested in a digital copy of the Arnold/Bassey song, unfortunately, as of this writing, an MP3 version isn’t available from either iTunes or Amazon.  Hopefully one will be available soon.

(Nod: Movie-Wave Capsules)

While I was on my road trip and traveling to multiple Civil War battlefields, I had a theme from the score from Gods and Generals in my head, so as I was driving, I listened to the full score several times. What a fantastic score written as a tribute to the events and the men depicted in the film and in the larger war and era.

Gods and Generals is a 2003 film based on the Jeff Shaara novel of the same name. Jeff Shaara’s novel is a prequel of sorts to his father Michael Shaara’s novel “The Killer Angels,” which the 1993 film Gettysburg was based on. Gods and Generals covers the Battles of First Manassas, Chancellorsville, and Fredericksburg (three of my road trip stops). Gettysburg featured a score by Randy Edelman, who employed an obvious and distracting array of synthesized instruments in place of a fully orchestral score. Edelman returns in Gods and Generals for a few tracks, but the majority of the work for the film is done by John Frizzell. Both composers thankfully use an entirely orchestral ensemble.

Not having seen the film, I am unaware of what or who themes in the score represent, but from a purely musical viewpoint, the score is remarkable.

The score begins with the titular track, “Gods and Generals.” The theme introduced in this track is an emotional heartbreak of a theme appropriately set in minor key.
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The theme returns elsewhere in the score, notably in the track “Loved I Not Honor More” in an almost haunting rendition.
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The second major theme of the score is introduced in the track “You Must Not Worry for Us” with a beautiful horn solo.
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This theme is a beautiful companion piece yet absolutely opposite of the first theme. The most extraordinary performance of this theme is the track “To the Stone Wall.”
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Other tracks of note include “Lexington is My Home” which gives listeners a delectable taste of the South.
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“The School of the Soldier” is a fitting military period piece.
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Finally, “These Brave Irishmen” pays tribute to the Irishmen that played a large role in these battles with a moving piece with ethnic instrumentation.
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Gods and Generals is a powerhouse of an emotional journey from start to finish. Frizzell remarkably captures the essence of what one might think a Civil War score should sound like in the 21st century. His themes are somber and heart-wrenching, hopeful and heartwarming. For film score and history enthusiasts alike, I can’t recommend this score any higher. Absolutely a five-out-of-five score.

I’ve been listening to Michael Giacchino’s score for Land of the Lost, and something I noticed on my very first listen was a curious quotation of a motif from another Giacchino score. Subtly included 19 seconds into the second track “The Lighter Side of Archaeology” is one statement of the island motif from the TV show Lost, also scored by Giacchino. Curious. And subtle. But the motif is definitely there. I wonder why.

How’s the rest of the score? More later, but the short answer is if I were making a movie, Giacchino would be scoring it.

Michael Giacchino is back with his second feature film score of the year, this time composing the score for Disney/Pixar’s latest film Up. Giacchino again soars with his musical accompaniment to the endearing and delightful story of love, loss, companionship, and adventure.

Giacchino’s score for Up marks his third score for a Pixar film, following The Incredibles and Ratatouille. For The Incredibles, Giacchino wrote a super-hero-esque-slash-John-Barry-scoring-James-Bond-sounding score, and for Ratatouille, Giacchino wrote a charming-and-heartfelt-yet-energetic score. Up falls more closely with the mood set in Ratatouille, so if you enjoyed the latter, you’ll likely enjoy the former.

Throughout the score are two prominent themes: Carl’s theme for the Ed-Asner-voiced crotchety old man and Muntz’s theme for the Christopher-Plummer-voiced, old-time explorer/hero character. Carl’s theme is a delightful waltz usually orchestrated very lightly save for a few heroic outbursts. The theme gets generous use in the track “Married Life”:
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The theme also gets an energetic rendition in “Memories Can Weigh You Down”:
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And an all-out orchestral rendition in “Up with End Credits”:
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Muntz’s theme, performed with lyrics in “The Spirit of Adventure,” is, appropriately, more adventurous than Carl’s theme.  The theme:
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And the song, which, appropriately, sounds like it was recorded in the 1930s:
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In “Walkin’ the House,” we’re given a motif for the adventurers’ walk through the jungle.
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The track “Canine Conundrum” is the first to feature the music for Muntz’s dogs. This music is part savage- and Conan-the-Barbarian-sounding, and for some reason is strangely familiar to me. I can’t, though, pinpoint why the music is familiar-sounding; perhaps this is an homage to something else I know?
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More comes later in “Seizing the Spirit of Adventure”:
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Giacchino supplies listeners with a healthy dose of action material for Up, including “Escape from Muntz Mountain” (with a short muted-trumpet burst of Carl’s theme:
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And “The Small Mailman Returns”:
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And as is his usual custom, Giacchino treats us to a wonderful end credits suite of the film’s themes and motifs followed by the aforementioned “The Spirit of Adventure.”  Curiously, the track title of the end credits suite follows the naming convention of his two previous Pixar-film scores: melding the title of the film with “credits.”  The end credits track title in The Incredibles was “The Incredits”; in Ratatouille, “End Creditouilles”; and in Up, “Up with End Credits.”  Another naming convention tradition he maintains here is naming a track “<#> <object> Dash.”  In The Incredibles was “100 Mile Dash”; in Ratatouille, “100 Rat Dash”; and in Up, “Three Dog Dash.”  Very nice, Michael, very nice!

Michael Giacchino’s score for Up soars with energy, charm, and fun like his previous Pixar scores. The fun-factor in the music is definitely a reflection of the fun Giacchino must have had composing this decidedly feel-good music. Another terrific score from Michael Giacchino.

Ron Howard and Tom Hanks are back in this The Da Vinci Code sequel (even though the novel Angels & Demons was released first), and they again bring along Hans Zimmer and his usual band of goons to provide the score.  Zimmer’s score for The Da Vinci Code was terrific; the score included tension, elegy, brooding gothic chants, and a magical theme for the revelation scene at the end of the film.  For his Angels & Demons score, Zimmer brings all that and more to create a score more enjoyable and better composed than his The Da Vinci Code score.

One’s enjoyment of this score, however, is likely predicated on one’s opinion of the composer.  Zimmer, much like composer James Horner, instantly sparks controversy amongst film score collectors.  Zimmer often is heavy on synth sounds and frequently employs the use of ghostwriters while taking full credit for his scores.  Most of his Angels & Demons score is purely orchestral, but a few tracks employ synth textures that, fortunately, do not detract from the score.  And of course, Zimmer’s happy band of goons (this time it’s Lorne Balfe, Geoff Zanelli, and Atli Örvarsson) assist him here as usual.

The score opens with an exciting and frenetic action-packed choir piece humorously titled “160 BPM,” as in 160 beats per minute, or the tempo of the piece.  A definite highlight of the score, this track serves as a fantastic opening and sets the mood for a great listen.  The track has an almost-dueling quality to it with the different layers of chorus as bells punctuate the action and organ undertones propel the energy.  This music accompanies Robert Langdon’s pursuits around Rome and is thus split-up throughout the film.  Only during the end credits do we hear this extended piece.
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Following said explosive opening, the score slows down a bit with “God Particle,” in which we’re treated to a lovely rendition of the “Chevaliers de Sangreal” theme from The Da Vinci Code.  This is the first track to feature violin solos by Joshua Bell, and he doesn’t disappoint (this is the actual musical opening of the film).
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In the film, there is a soft, religious-toned choir interlude between the Bell solo and the rest of the track, but sadly this piece is left off the album.  The track continues with a markedly different mood, one of more technical-ish sounding tones and textures but concludes with a haunting piano solo of the “Chevaliers de Sangreal” theme.

Next is another highlight of the score, the nine-minute track “Air” that accompanies the second Illuminati killing to great effect (nerd alert: there’s a close-up shot of a car headlight in the film, and when the headlight turns on, a sudden and forceful burst of choir fills the theater with masterful visual and aural effect).  Part brooding, part propulsive, part haunting, this track returns to the excitement that began with the opening track and features some familiar-sounding material from The Da Vinci Code.
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“Air” is followed up with “Fire,” another solid track.  Two great additions here are the choir and the tolling church bells that chillingly break the silence throughout the brooding and action.
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“Black Smoke” gives us some more action with some synth layers.
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We then get to another highlight, “Science and Religion.”  This over-twelve-minute piece features gorgeous religious-esque choir and is nothing like the mood of the preceding tracks.  The music features Joshua Bell again to terrific effect as he accompanies the camerlengo’s flight and aftermath.
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In “Immolation,” the mood becomes frighteningly dark with this brooding piece…
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…but in the penultimate track, “Election by Adoration,” the mood lightens up, and we hear another motif from The Da Vinci Code score, again performed by Bell.
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Finally, in the ultimate track, “503,” we get the “Chevaliers de Sangreal” theme unleashed to beauteous heights not achieved elsewhere on the album.  This track is extremely gratifying yet blisteringly disappointing.  Joshua Bell returns with a dazzling violin solo, and the magic captured in “Chevaliers de Sangreal” is back, but the track is frustratingly short.  Part of the magic of “Chevaliers de Sangreal” was the extended build-up to the climax of the piece, but with the brevity of “503″ and the quicker tempo, some of that magic is lost.  Still, though, if you appreciate a) the theme and b) Bell’s gorgeous performance, you’ll have this track on repeat.
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“503″ isn’t the only thing that is frustratingly short.  If you enjoy this score as much as I did and do, you’ll want more.  While we aren’t likely to get any kind of officially-sanctioned expanded score, we have as a consolation prize a downloadable-track titled “H20.”  This track fits nicely after “Fire” and has a very trying, strained performance of the “Chevaliers de Sangreal” theme.  Even though the track only adds just under two minutes to the score, the track is a nice addition if you’re looking for more music.
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More music aside, with Angels & Demons, Hans Zimmer proves once again how good he really can be when he tries.  All the magic and heights he achieved with his The Da Vinci Code score are matched and surpassed with his Angels & Demons score.  For Zimmer-detractors, this score isn’t worth much, but for Zimmer-enthusiasts, those who enjoyed The Da Vinci Code score, or those who appreciate orchestral music of the dark-and-brooding-yet-action-packed-and-divine variety, you’ll enjoy Hans Zimmer’s part-angelic and part-demonic Angels & Demons score.

(P.S.: back on 15 May I mentioned I had listened to “503″ 42 times.  Well, that number is now at 97!)

Composer Michael Giacchino provided the score for the latest Star Trek film, and he did a terrific job.  On a personal note, seeing Giacchino attached to such a high-profile film pleases me, as I was an early fan upon hearing his score for his first Medal of Honor video game.  I’ve followed his musical career closely as he has developed with additional video game scores, TV scores, and now film scores.  His music has evolved over his several projects in his thus-short career, and when he’s needed, Giacchino doesn’t disappoint—and that goes for his latest score, Star Trek.

I concede, though, I was at first slightly disappointed with Giacchino’s Star Trek score.  Prior to purchasing his score, I had been repeatedly listening to James Horner’s fantastic score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  Horner’s Trek score is easily one of his best, with its high-octane, seafaring-esque attitude.  Then I listened to Giacchino’s score for the first time, and not having a stirring, captivating main title composition was disappointing.  The main title composition unleashes the main theme and sets the mood for the remainder of the score.  Jerry Goldsmith did this wonderfully with his Star Trek: The Motion Picture score, as did Horner with his Trek 2 score.  Added to the absence of the hit-you-over-the-head main title music in Giacchino’s score on first-listen was that his Trek theme didn’t really get started until track 4, “Hella Bar Talk,” where the theme is in a more muted, reflective mood.  I recall during my first listening thinking, “Where’s the theme?”  But then I arrived at “Enterprising Young Men” where the theme is unleashed in all its glory.  Once I heard the theme in this track, I was satisfied (and hit repeat on this track), and the disappointment of not having a strong main title cue subsided (little did I know at the time that this track doubles as the film’s title music). “Enterprising Young Men”:
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Giacchino’s Trek theme is unlike Goldsmith’s and Horner’s, but not in an unfortunate or unsatisfactory way.  Instead of a major-key, brass fanfare, we’re treated to a more introspective-yet-powerful theme, heard as a beautiful horn solo in the first track “Star Trek” and in other renditions and orchestrations throughout the remainder of the score, including the aforementioned “Enterprising Young Men” cue with its exciting brass rendition.  For any listener, the success of this score may depend on whether or not you enjoy his Trek theme because of its generous use throughout the score. “Star Trek”:
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Doubling as Kirk’s theme, Giacchino’s Trek theme gets a healthy and musically pleasing workout throughout the score.  In between the various renditions, though, are a full library of other themes, motifs, and set pieces.  Spock gets a theme, which is a light, other-worldly theme performed by what may be an erhu.  Spock’s Theme:
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The bad guys get a bad-bad-brass-heavy motif that’s as propulsive as it’s thudding.  Giacchino also ensures his action music is always tight and never boring, with the track “Nero Fiddles, Narada Burns” a standout:
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And “Nero Death Experience”:
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What I find most impressive about the album is the “End Credits” track, where Giacchino assembles a nine-minute montage of the film’s themes and motifs mixed with an exciting rendition of the Alexander Courage Star Trek theme:
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Modern film scores and films have lost the art of creating a separate and original composition for the end credits.  Most films these days simply mix preexisting cues together to form an end credits suite.  Gone are the days of John Williams’s Star Wars scores where he exceptionally weaved together his themes in custom-composed end-credit compositions.  Giacchino has thankfully brought this practice back, not only with his Star Trek end credits composition, but with compositions for the end credits of The Incredibles and Ratatouille.  In addition, the Star Trek “End Credits” track features an awesome few seconds that use Courage’s Trek theme as counterpoint to Giacchino’s Trek theme:
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What I find least impressive about the album is the length: about 44 minutes.  The film is just over two hours, so clearly there is missing music, including the exciting fight scene on the drill platform and the terrific musical moment with the USS Enterprise rising above the clouds on Titan.  I have no doubt an expanded album is up someone’s sleeve somewhere.  And I’ll be happy to purchase it.

With his Star Trek score, Giacchino finally finding his own musical voice is evident.  In a handful of cues on the album, a few seconds of the music sound like it could either be from one of his Lost or Medal of Honor scores.  This doesn’t mean he is merely copying himself, but rather he has developed specific musical styles and textures.  Hearing these textures in multiple scores signifies Giacchino’s personal development as a composer in his own right.  In many of his earlier scores, though, he sounded like another composer: John Williams in the original Medal of Honor score, John Barry in The Incredibles, Ron Goodwin in Secret Weapons Over Normandy, etc.  Not until his later Medal of Honor scores and his work for Lost did Michael Giacchino start wholeheartedly sounding like Michael Giacchino and not another composer (both situations are a testament to his skills: on one hand the ability to incorporate other composers’ sounds; on the other his development as his own composer).

Michael Giacchino’s Star Trek score is Michael Giacchino’s Star Trek score and no other composer’s.  As a result, I can see diehard fans of the Star Trek scores of past, particularly Goldsmith’s The Motion Picture and Horner’s The Wrath of Khan scores, being disappointed with this score.  Giacchino’s score, though, aptly fits this more character-driven film.  Giacchino has created his own world of Star Trek music, a world I am delighted to boldly go through with each repeated listen.  Bravo, Michael!

I saw the latest Jason Bourne James Bond film this weekend.  Although not as much as Casino Royale, I thoroughly enjoyed Quantum of Solace, and I will be seeing it again.  What follows are some lengthy thoughts and reactions.

Since any cinematic experience for me heavily involves the music, I’ll begin there.  The title song, “Another Way to Die,” was written by Jack White and performed by White and Alicia Keys.  While hailed as the first duet in Bond music history, the song is terrible.  When I first heard the song several weeks ago, my first listen left me cringing and shuttering in disbelief.  The song has grown on me significantly, though, and I actually enjoy listening to it.  As a Bond song, however, it’s only slightly better than Madonna’s atrocious “Die Another Day.”  White’s and Keys’s voices during the song don’t mesh well, and because they cover about the same vocal range with slightly different timbres, they seem to almost clash with dissonant cacophony.  Instead of singing the chorus, they shout it; the orchestrations throughout are barren, and in the full version of the song, the intro meanders almost incoherently while stealing the same notes from “You Know My Name,” the title song from Casino Royale.  Aspects of the song are catchy, hence my continual listening to it, but overall it fails.

Performance aside, though, the most damning aspect of the song is the lack of a usable, discernible melody to use with the film’s score.  The best Bond title songs are those which can be weaved into and interpolated throughout the score proper.  When this extended use happens, the song becomes more than a seemingly-disjointed, tacked-on prefix to the film; instead, it becomes a more intricately developed musical identity to the film.  Composer David Arnold returns to write his fifth Bond score, his first being Tomorrow Never Dies in 1997.  Throughout his tenure, he has had (at no fault of his own) mixed success with song melody utilization.  For Tomorrow Never Dies, he wrote a classic Bond song titled “Surrender” (performed by k.d. lang) that was skillfully and successfully woven into the score.  The song’s melody served as a propulsive base to several action cues throughout the score.  The song, though, was replaced at the last minute by a sub-par song, titled “Tomorrow Never Dies” and performed by Sheryl Crow; “Surrender” survived, though, to appear during the end credits.

For The World Is Not Enough, Arnold wrote a song performed by Garbage.  This song remained in the title sequence and, although not as often as “Surrender,” appears during the score.

Die Another Day was a musical amalgam of awfulness.  Arnold had nothing to do with the song; instead, Madonna wrote and “performed” the song, which was nothing more than a cesspool of techno filth (and the words “die another day” were spoken a sure-to-make-anyone-say-enough-already sixteen times).  Arnold, slowly descending into techno madness from his brilliantly modern-yet-classic-Bond score for Tomorrow Never Dies to his not-as-good-but-still-enjoyable score for The World Is Not Enough to his disappointing score for Die Another Day, seemed to attempt to out perform the song’s techno nonsense.  Because of the overly techno feel and the absence of a strong melody, other than the “James Bond Theme,” to focus on, the score suffered immensely.

But for what Die Another Day lacked musically, Casino Royale more than made up.  Arnold collaborated with Chris Cornell to write “You Know My Name.”  The song was a fitting answer to the “re-invented” Bond, giving him a modern, harder edge song to fit his new rougher, edgier persona.  Several melodies found themselves masterfully sprinkled in the score numerous times, and the way the song melodies intertwined with the classic four-note Bond chord progression made their appearance in the score better than the appearances from “Surrender” in the Tomorrow Never Dies score.  The song served as more than just a song to accompany a beautiful title sequence; it served as a musical identity to the rest of the score and therefore the film as a whole.

The score for Quantum of Solace shares much of the same musical identity with Casino Royale except for a strong melodic line to create a cohesive whole.  The action pieces, the reflective pieces, and the sleuthy pieces all are strong and enjoyable, but the score could have been stronger and more enjoyable with a unifying melody.  While two cues on the soundtrack quote a “melody” from “Another Way to Die,” the quotation is relegated to a softer, sleuthy rendition, far from the outstanding usage of song melody in Tomorrow Never Dies and Casino Royale.

What I find most interesting about my reaction to the Quantum of Solace score is regardless of how much I love the theme, I don’t miss an outright, bombastic performance of the “James Bond Theme.”  A statement of the theme like its abundant usage in Tomorrow Never Dies just doesn’t seem to fit with this new Bond.  Is that good or bad, though.  If you consider the Bond theme to be overused, then I suppose its absence, save for the several skillful additions of the Bond chord progression and the famous guitar line rendered for strings, is welcome and allows for other musical ideas to take shape and precedence.  Like Casino Royale, though, the end credits feature a rousing rendition of the theme.

The title song, if not a part of the score, is, of course, the underpinning of the Bond title sequence.  Since GoldenEye in 1995, Daniel Kleinman has created the stylized and themed title sequences.  I was shocked to learn he had been replaced for Quantum of Solace but was cautiously optimistic that MK12, who designed the wonderful end title sequence and in-film motion graphics pieces for Stranger Than Fiction, was designing the sequence.  Unfortunately, though, the Quantum of Solace title sequence was underwhelming.  The sand and desert theme is an appropriate and obvious tie-in to the film’s climax location, and the women emerging from the sand was an interesting effect.  Unlike previous title sequences, the names of the cast and crew didn’t just fade on, they had a cool animation to bring them on screen, and the best name animation was for Dame Judi Dench (her name appeared from circles animated identically to those of the gun barrel sequence).  But the sequence as a whole meandered and wandered through its desert-like setting.  The latter half seemed to throw a non-congruent slew of swiftly animating elements, from silhouettes of naked women to lines in the shape of a globe amongst some stars.  Unlike the Kleinman sequences, this sequence seemed at a loss for a driving purpose and focus.

In addition to the title sequence, MK12 designed the in-film motion graphics associated with the Microsoft Surface touchscreen and the satellite-phone-call/villain-database-search wall in M’s office.  These animations were superb and inspiring.

But enough with the music and the design.  What about the rest of the film?  Overall, the film was good, but not on the same level as Casino Royale.  In Quantum of Solace, the film seemed like a never-ending chase sequence; there was a car chase, a foot chase, a boat chase, and an airplane chase.  All this action is great, but there could have been some more exposition and character development (especially since the film shockingly came in under two hours).  A few scenes (the ending comes to mind) could have benefited from a couple more minutes to explain the unanswered questions that arose from them.  The action sequences, though, were great, and the stunts performed were top-notch.  Several times I cringed at the intense physicality Daniel Craig put himself through for the role.

Although the scene didn’t involve intense action, one of the highlights of the film was the Tosca opera scene.  Bond is doing some actual spying, trying to discover what he can about the mysterious group who wear “Q” lapel pins (fashioned in the same font as the film’s title).  After Bond finds out what he needs to, he encounters the bad guy and the sound drops from the film.  Instead of bullet firings, shouts, and destruction, we only hear the music from the opera sung over the scene of Bond fleeing resulting in an unexpected and incredible scene.

The main Bond girl Camille, played by Olga Kurylenko, was an interesting psychological counter to Bond.  Both are seeking revenge, but what Bond learns from Camille helps shape him into the more familiar Bond character.  Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene played a non-typical Bond villain.  Instead of the supervillain intent on seeking world domination, Greene was a philanthropist-posing, dastardly-scheming corporate boss, and he played his character well.  But for me, other than Craig as Bond, the best performance came from Dame Judi.  She, apparently being the only authority figure in Bond’s life, was crisp, forceful, and yet funny.  One of her best lines (and I’m paraphrasing, as I don’t remember the exact quotes): she, through her aide on the phone with Bond, asks about someone Bond was to investigate; he responds the guy was a “dead end”; M, in an outburst of surprise and fury, says, “that means he killed him!”  The delivery of this line and several others made me laugh.  When producers decided to reboot the series with Casino Royale, I’m very pleased they kept Dame Judi as M.

Also with the rebooted Bond came a more Jason-Bourne-like persona.  While I’m sure this persona will get mixed reactions, it doesn’t bother me.  Like Bond, Bourne is a spy; and now like Bourne, Bond deals in a more realistic, edgier world than the old Bond did.  No invisible cars here.  Thankfully.

Couple other notes: as with Casino Royale, I fail to comprehend why one of M’s aides couldn’t have been Moneypenny instead; I hope we see more of Felix Leiter in forthcoming films; the Goldfinger reference with Fields was outstanding; Mathis and the dumpster was disturbing; the gun barrel seemed tacked-on and lacked the sophistication of Kleinman’s Brosnan gun barrel sequences; and Universal Exports makes a Bond-geek-pleasing return.

And, as customary, the credits end with “James Bond Will Return.”  I’ll be eagerly waiting.  I just hope that Q, Moneypenny, Daniel Kleinman, and David Arnold as title song composer return, too.