Arranged and Programmed by John Powell

Conducted by Pete Anthony

Produced by John Powell

Release Date: July 27, 2004

 Varèse Sarabande Records
 

     The second film in the series proved that the franchise is still very strong and can probably last one or two more sequels, especially if Matt Damon stays with the project. While not as good as the first film, The Bourne Supremacy deftly handles its material and proves to be a film that can do equal battle with the other notable spy franchise of the James Bond films. However, for the third film, I would like to see just a bit more conventional cinematography. It wasn’t too bad in this one until the car chase, but in watching that sequence on a big movie theatre screen, it quickly gave me a headache. This isn’t a good thing for a film that still has to finish off its third act. I was able to recover and enjoy the rest of the film, but that car chase  made me uncomfortable watching it, and I would hope that the filmmakers would consider that a lesson learned from all the complaints I have heard about that particular sequence so far.

     But that’s enough of film critique and now on to the score. Thankfully, though the franchise switched directors between the first and second films, most of the cast and crew remained the same and that includes John Powell for the music. Powell migrates all of his themes from the original over to this one and manages to drop in a few new signatures and themes as well. For The Bourne Identity, Powell used an interesting array of electronic noises and synth effects, the like of which is also identified with David Arnold’s Bond scores (though not totally to the extent that Powell uses them), and even closer, Michael Giacchino’s work on Alias. The electronic-to-orchestra level was exceptionally lopsided towards the electronic side and was not immediately appealing to those looking for something to return spy music to the heyday of John Barry. I, for one, enjoyed it immensely and found it to be one of the most expert uses of that style I have ever heard. This time around, the electronics are just as much a part of the experience as the original, though the string section is strengthened to a point where, in a few cues, they come off as sounding very "Barry-ish" in nature. Whether this was intentional or not, it was the thought that immediately came to mind, and I appreciated the nod. And more conventional listeners will have something to identify with now.

     When it comes to Powell’s themes that he established in the first film, this score offers far more to the listener than a simple rehash. Almost every theme has been tweaked in some way when it appears, and often to great effect. For being as familiar with the first album as I am, I found the tweaks to be very interesting and they build upon the originals without distorting them to the point where it turned annoying. Cues such as To the Roof and Berlin Foot Chase come off as practically suites of the old material, while the opening cues of the album play well off the main theme, giving it a hint of exoticness that was missing in the first go-round.

     The cue for the aforementioned car chase, Bim Bam Smash, originally proved to be just as headache-inducing as the visuals, but the more I listened to it, the more I caught on to the complexity that Powell has weaved here (and it ends very well too) and has such become another one of my favorite cues on the album. Rounding out the all-too short running time is Moby’s Extreme Ways, which is interesting in that you can pick up on a lot of subtle musical phrases that Powell turned into themes for both scores. Thus, the song has enough influence on the style that it blends in well and doesn’t stick out like most song attachments do.

01 - Goa (2:59)
02 - The Drop (3:42)
03 - Funeral Pyre (2:21)
04 - Gathering Data (1:54)
05 - Nach Deutschland (2:40)
06 - To The Roof (5:32)
07 - New Memories (2:48)
08 - Berlin Foot Chase (5:16)
09 - Alexander Platz / Abbotts Confesses (3:35)
10 - Moscow Wind Up (6:55)
11 - Bim Bam Smash (5:09)
12 - Atonement (1:32)
13 - Extreme Ways

       Performed by Moby  (3:56)