Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
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Music Reviews of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Music Review: Indiana Jones is back! And so is his music!
Rating: 4 Stars
The score to "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is a worthy entry into the series' pantheon of film music.
Notable Tracks: The "Raiders March" is as inspiring and rousing a piece of film music ever composed. "The Call of the Crystal" introduces one of the film's new motifs, a three-note string repetition that builds with a tenuous flute progression. This is an understated and atmospheric piece, obviously meant to build tension and suggest a great mystery. Is it a piece you will hum? No. But it has structure and a presence that is actually pretty diverse (when it shows up in later tracks) given its simplicity. Other notable pieces: "The Adventures of Mutt", "The Snake Pit" and "A Whirl Through Academe" are whimsical pieces reminiscent of the motorcycle music from "The Last Crusade." "Irinia's Theme" is a string-heavy romantic piece, with a down-tone to suggest evil! "The Spell of the Skull" repeats the "Map Room" theme from "Raiders of the Lost Ark" (which raises an eyebrow and wonders if there is a direct connection to the Lost Ark of the Covenant happening in this new movie). One of the bigger surprises is "The Journey to Akator" which midway thru breaks into an indigenous arrangement of South American music (full-on tropical dance stuff). "Return" is a repeat of the "Crystal Skull" theme, this time sounding more cohesive and focused. The film's more traditional creepy-crawlies action music blends together mostly, sounding more incidental and less like concert music (these selections include "Grave Robbers", "Secret Doors and Scorpions" and "Ants!"). "The Jungle Chase" is structured almost identically to pieces from past Indiana Jones scores, and its quite rousing. "Hidden Treasure and The City of Gold" is another satisfying piece, suggesting a great discovery takes place by the track's end. "Temple Ruins and The Secret Revealed" has an excellent version of the Crystal Skull motif. At this point in the score, the Crystal Skull motif has evolved from a delicate suggestion into a big, classic Hollywood-style theme (a la Bernard Herrmann's work on Hitchcock's films). And then there's the "Finale" which starts with "Marion's Theme" from the "Raiders" score and then moves to the classic "Raider's March" to other motifs (Mutt's theme, Irinia's theme) and closing on the traditional Indy ending (with a little pop at the end).
In the end, this is a very enjoyable score. There's enough nostalgia to satisfy our memories of 20-plus years ago, and the new music blends in perfectly as well. It's really difficult to "rate" scores by John Williams as he does operate on a different level from other composers. And usually, people will rank his work against himself, which may be unfair. Bottom line: if you enjoy this type of music, get this score.
Music Review: If you're any kind of fan of John Williams, this is a must own...if not...maybe itunes
Rating: 4 Stars
Well I must say it has been a long two and a half years since the last score by John Williams...Steven Spielberg's Munich. Since then, we've heard variations of previous score franchises such as Superman Returns, and Harry Potter. However, it's just not the same as an actual John Williams score. For two years, we've had to hear the numerous poisonous score from Remote Control Scoring...and now we have a chance to clean the speakers out, with some good, old fashion orchestral music, roaring through at you in the audience. Does this score live up to this hype?
In my opinion it does. It's not something I'm jumping over, the last score I did that was Jurassic Park. However, it is a nice, light, fun score, that somehow puts a smile on my face everytime i hear it, despite its flaws.
The good: If you're into complex, orchestral, rhythmic style of action cue writing, pieces you cannot predict, like myself, then this score is a real treat. Such cues as "A Whirl through Academe," "The Jungle Chase," and "Ants," and "The Adventures of Mutt," will be a lot of fun for you to listen to. If you like omnious, and tense atmospheric writing, complex, yet effective, this is the score for you. If you like the nostalgia of reoccuring themes from old such as "Raiders March," "Marion's theme," and "Keeping up with the Joneses (though not on the soundtrack...only in the film)"...then this is a score to buy
The Flaws: Is it blasphemous to say a John Williams score has flaws? In any event, this score, like the script to the film, has a few clunky flaws...though not many, are painfully obvious when they occur. One, is that John Williams must be studying the habits of James Horner these last two years...for there are literal copy and pastes in this score from "War of the Worlds" and "The Lost World Jurassic Park." Though these rips are not quite copy and paste in the literal sense, Williams has taken exact motifs from these films, and elaborated...however, these elaborations (such as trumpet 32 note licks, not found in the prior films...or slight change in the rhythm) don't hide the obvious flaw.
Overall, though if you're any kind of John Williams or Indiana Jones fan, this score is a must buy. You'll smile from ear to ear from start to finish, despite the flaws. If you like complex musically grammer and writing, this score like everyother Williams score is a must own...but if you're just interested about it for the next twenty minutes...save your money and get it on itunes.
Music Review: A fun musical romp, but more of the same
Rating: 3 Stars
I've always been a fan of John Williams, but my devotion to his compositional prowess began to wax and wane around 1993. By 1998, his scores seemed to fall into an extremely safe production pattern, and nothing he's written in the last 8 or 9 years has been as memorable as some of the stuff he wrote in the 1970s and 1980s. I'd say that his last truly inspired score accompanied the Stephen Spielberg-directed box office bomb 'Hook', and that was released on CD all the way back in 1991.
I went into 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' with moderate expectations. While I was extremely satisfied with the over-all experience of seeing my first 'Indiana Jones' film in the cinema, the score itself is another matter entirely. On first listen it feels like the umpteenth rehash of stuff we've heard from Williams in the last 20 years. There's a very 'Hook' vibe to the album, which is a trend I've noticed with a lot of his more recent scores. He doesn't repeat any of the motifs from 'Hook', but a lot of these new motifs feel as though they'd be right at home in the film.
Now I'm not saying that the score is bad. It's actually a really pleasant listen, and there are a few tracks that stand out ('Call of the Crystal' is an interesting, eerie motif for the title artifact, although it's nowhere nearly as powerful as the 'Ark Theme', which ironically enough appears in all its glory on this score). The action cues are quite fun, and in the context of the film they work really well, but despite the fact that this is all new music, that familiar vibe to the motifs creates an atmosphere that feels a little less than fresh. It takes a couple of listens to really appreciate the quality of the album, which isn't a problem that some of his earlier work suffered from ('Temple of Doom', for example).
If you're a die-hard Williams fan, you'll probably enjoy this score no matter how familiar it seems, but if you're a casual fan who owns most of his well-known compositions, you won't be skipping anything integral if you give this one a miss.
Hook: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Music Review: I was hoping for a lot more...
Rating: 3 Stars
It was great to hear John Williams in action again with another Indy score, but to be honest, I was reluctant to give into this new CD. To me, the Indy series wrapped up nicely, and cleanly, back in 1989 with 'The Last Crudade.' A fine send-off to both the Indiana Jones character, and to Williams' rich thematic material. But nope, Lucas is off to milk the Indy cow again, even though Harrison Ford is really, really growing implausably old to be playing the adventure hero.
Anyhow, Williams - I consider John Williams to be the greatest composer ever. Granted, the prime of his scoring was around the late 1970's - mid 1980's, but I've inconsistently enjoyed a great number of his scores since then (I think the general rule is, the less serious the tone of the film, the more enjoyable the score that Williams writes.)
But this Crystal Skull score just does not work for me. We've got the main title, which sounds note per note identical to 'Raiders' (not even a slight variation from Raiders? Was this another cut-n-paste job, like the opening credits of Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith?)
Then we get into the main score, which, to be honest, just isn't all that engaging this time. So much of it just sounds reminiscent of Sith, as if we're listening to more of Obi-Wan chasing after, er, whatever that big, skull-looking CGI-robot thing was called. Nothing here really made me take pause and think, 'Wow! Williams is back in action again!'
Instead, this CD sounded very much like a Williams-inspired FAN, writing music ala Williams: close sounding, but not quite right.
The one highlight to me, sadly brief, was the first minute of the 'Finale' with a very gorgeous retelling of the Marion theme. Over far to fast, then it's just another recap of the material.
Sigh.
Music Review: Another Jewel for Williams and "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"
Rating: 5 Stars
Many fans of the film music of John Williams all alike probably looked forward to his latest partnership with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas with hungry anticipation, and not a little worry about possible disappointment. After all, the maestro is getting on in age, and we might just see, or hear, simple retreads of themes from the earlier Indiana Jones films. Fear not, Indiana Jones is back and doing fine, and so is Maestro Williams. First of all it must be noted that "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is at least in part a tribute to the other films and to the 1950s and it works incredibly well on these levels. Williams' music follows suit. He resurrects earlier themes to be sure. The "Raider's March" is a must (with a nice final twist), and because of plot developments so is "Marion's Theme." The "Lost Ark Theme" actually becomes more of a mystery of discovery theme and works well here. New themes for Irina and the Commies also work, along with a creepy motif for the "ants." The action cues are typical Williams and as usual are great fun (note the integration of Brahms on campus), as are his Latin American motifs which proved a very pleasant surprise. But the unexpected is his music for the "Crystal Skull" which proves mesmerizing and practically perfect. By intention or not, there is a reminder of Miklos Rozsa's music for "Spellbound" but Williams takes it to another level. Overall, this was all well worth the wait. The score is perfect on the screen and as usual a tremendous soundtrack album. Outstanding production, and great packaging (no jewel-case which is a sensible touch) by Concord Records (this is another surprise given this labels usual focus).