I was a big fan of Jerry
Goldsmith's score to the first Mummy film, and I was anxiously
awaiting his return for the sequel. His next score for
The 13th Warrior,
which many dubbed The Mummy 2, only whetted the appetites for a
true sequel score. But alas, Goldsmith dropped the sequel over strange
protestations as to the artistic merits of the first film (in simpler
language, he thought it sucked). Alan Silvestri was called
upon to provide the music for the sequel, The Mummy Returns.
I must admit that I was
really dubious at first. Here I was, anxiously awaiting Goldsmith's
return, and now I find out that Alan Silvestri, who I really only know for
the Back to the Future films, What
Lies Beneath, and some clips from Predator, will be doing
the score. While all those aforementioned film scores were quite good, I
was still not sure how Silvestri would approach this film, and especially
how it would stand up to Goldsmith's original. Well, the soundtrack is
finally out, and while Goldsmith's first score is not in any danger of
being displaced, Silvestri has delivered a fine work that works perfectly
in the film and makes a rather good album.
To give an accurate
description of this score, I would describe it as
Cutthroat Island mixed with
Godzilla and Back to the Future.
There are a lot of similarities with those scores though Silvestri does
not do any outright copying. Like
Cutthroat Island, this is an adventure score through and through.
The music only lets up when it needs to, and while this may be annoying to
some, those who love swashbuckling adventure scores will be in seventh
heaven here. There are very few quiet moments, usually only to provide the
needed breaks from the intense action cues, though they are usually quite
pleasant and flow along with the rest of the album. The style is pretty much the standard
Arabian stereotype, but it's not as strong here as it was in Goldsmith's
score. For those who like this style of
music though, there is enough of it there to be satisfying.
One of Alan Silvestri's trademarks is his creation of memorable themes. The themes in
here could have been stronger, but that's not to say that they are weak or
forgettable. On the contrary, they are very fun and pop up quite
often (another Silvestri staple). The main heroic theme is really good
even if it is no Indiana Jones. It is always a treat whenever it appears
and Silvestri makes good use out of it, especially when he begins building
up to achieve a tremendous climax (something from the
Back to the Future scores that I have always loved). Several Goldsmith
themes from the original are hinted at and it is nice that Silvestri isn't
entirely divorcing himself from the original.
The CD has a nice long
running time, although some of the music covering the final battle seems
to have been left out. The 3 1/2 minute Live song would've been better left off, but if it sells more CDs than
would have been otherwise, who am I to complain? Especially since at least
it is only one track instead of a bunch of songs which take up half the
album.
Overall, I was quite pleased
with Silvestri's work here. While I will still always cherish Goldsmith's
original score, Silvestri has managed to deliver a strong follow-up and is
fun in its own right. Fans of rousing adventure scores, such as
Cutthroat Island, should waste no
time in checking this out. On the other hand, if intense, loud orchestral
music is not your cup of tea, then you probably want to stay away from
this one. ****1/2
