This score will probably go down as the biggest
disappointment in the year 2000 (or maybe even the millennium for that
matter). I for one closely watched the rumors and reports that pertained to
the selection of the composer for this much-anticipated film (of which the
reviews are somewhat mixed at this point, but I will be there on opening
day), and I must admit that the appointment of Michael Kamen was a
disappointment. The only score of his I've paid much attention to was his
only Bond film (License to Kill), which I enjoyed, but the reviews of
his other work, notably The Iron Giant, were not impressive. Still, I
hoped that Kamen would hunker down and deliver a score that would be as
cherished as Elfman's and Williams' forays into this genre. I was wrong.
What really hurts this film more than anything
else is the noticeable lack of a main theme. While there are a few second-level
themes (actually more like motifs really) for the different characters there is nothing to hold the music
together. A main theme would've gone a long way, but Kamen obviously
felt otherwise. This causes the score to be unbelievably boring and
predictable. The music itself falls into the hip trap with a style that
seems to contain more synth than orchestra. Some of the synth is cool, like
the synthy string effects for Magneto's Lair, but the rest is nothing
interesting and it gets in the way of the orchestra instead of flavoring it
like I feel synth is supposed to. There's even a wailing guitar in here ala Wing
Commander and The Rock, though it's
nowhere near as effectively used as it is in those two scores. On top of
that, there is a lone violin that crops up at certain times and it causes
the music to sound completely out of place. I would expect this kind of
sound to be in a Sherlock Holmes film more than a superhero flick.
Basically, this whole score is a mess and it
just makes me wish someone else had been given the assignment (I would've
either picked David Arnold or Danny Elfman for this job). Unless you're a
huge Kamen fan or you want every piece of X-Men memorabilia associated with
the film, avoid this one. **
