I had been skeptical of this
project ever since it was announced. Video game film spin-offs have never
been any good, and Tomb Raider itself is just a different take off
of the excellent Indiana Jones movies. Still, I had to go see this
film for Angelina Jolie if nothing else. If you approach it with
that frame of mind, then the movie isn't too bad. Otherwise, if you're
expecting something to go head-to-head with the Joneses, you'll be sorely
disappointed.
Originally, Michael
Kamen was to provide the score for the film, but he was dumped shortly
before it was to be released and Graeme Revell accepted the daunting task
of composing and recording the score 10-12 days before the release
date! Why Revell chose to put himself under that kind of
pressure is beyond me, but I hope his services were duly compensated for
that crunch.
With such a short amount of
time to score the film in, a large orchestral sound was absolutely out of
the question. While some have argued that large orchestral music (such as
in The Mummy Returns) was what this
film needed, I tend to disagree. The whole tone of this movie needed what
Revell delivered: a primarily electronic score with orchestral textures.
Much like Mission: Impossible 2, I just can't
see this film scored any other way.
That is not to say that the
score has rare orchestral moments. I found the orchestra to be more
prevalent here than in Red Planet, but
the electronics still dominate. Revell does utilize a 50 member choir as
well though, which really helps to balance out the style of the music. In
addition, Revell's utilization of ethnic instrumentation (in the style of
his previous work on Dune) really adds to
the exotic quality of the music.
To be quite honest, despite the
extremely short amount of time involved with this score and the general
lambasting that it has received, I found it to be better than I was
expecting. It is most definitely an atmospheric score in the tradition of
Mark Snow's work on The X-Files, and while there are some bland
moments, Revell does keep things from getting to out of hand.
The short running time of most of the tracks probably helps the most
in this regard. And while this is no
Mummy
Returns it does have its moments, especially when taken on its own
merits. The head banging electronic action cues can be annoying for some,
but those who dig that kind of scoring can probably find some enjoyment
out of it. Out of these cues, I only found The Brahman to
come close to being annoying, but even then, Revell's chorus work helps to
spruce it up a bit.
As far as the album goes, be
aware that there are a few production problems. The track titles are
erroneously listed and I noticed some digital pops at times on my copy.
Due to the rushed nature of the score and the CD release this is not
entirely unexpected, but still disappointing.
This is not a stellar effort
from Revell, but its not so incredibly bad as some might make it out to
be. It did serve its purpose in the film, and on the album, it can come
across quite well at times. However, this is one to definitely sample before making
a purchase. ***1/2
