X-Men Origins : Wovlerine.

The X-Men franchise is largely responsible for the onslaught of comic book movies that have been released during this decade. With each comic book film comes the great potential for some unique music to be created for the complexity of the characters and the worlds in which they live in. For whatever reason the X-Men franchise caused a large growth in the comic book genre; the genre had been tapped into before (most notably with Batman, and Superman) but rarely did they have the success that the X-Men franchise had and in all likelihood will continue to have. As with anything popular the saturation of the product will occur and that’s certainly what has happened to the X-Men Franchise and comic book genre; both the films, and music have had their high points and low points. A great (average, bad) movie doesn’t always carry a great score (the music involved with the film, typically the orchestral portion) or vice versa, John Williams’ score to Superman, and Danny Elfman’s work on Tim Burton’s Batman are considered to be high points in film music for the comic book genre; both scores are also widely regarded as having the definitive themes of the characters in any medium they may inhabit. The X-Men franchise has never quite reached the level of popularity that Superman once had or that Batman is currently having, but the films, and music have been able to maintain a certain level of quality throughout the course of nine years, and four films.

For each new X-Men movie a new composer has come along, and created a fresh new score which does at times echo the music for the previous film, but only in a faint passing. Generally the new composer disregards most of what the previous composer had done and creates something mostly new, and in turn adding a great lack of continuity in the music. Michael Kamen (Die Hard, Brazil, Band of Brothers), was brought on board to score the first X-Men film, and the only reason for this being, John Ottman (The Usual Suspects, X2-X-Men United, Superman Returns) was busy with his directorial debut with Urban Legend : Final Cut's; he’s normally Bryan Singer's (The Usual Suspects, X-Men, Superman Returns, Valkyrie) composer of choice, but Singer went with Kamen instead, as a last minute replacement. John Ottman, would finally come on board to score the second film, and he created a more distinctive theme for the franchise which did stray off from what Kamen had done (a wonderful opening suite was created although it does sound as if Ottman is pining to be John Williams). John Powell (X-Men: The Last Stand, Happy Feet, The Bourne Identity) would be the next composer for the third film in the franchise, and he once again like his predecessor abandoned most of what had been done before and created a score with his own themes, albeit his score does echo what had been previously done, but once again only in a faint passing. Now, Harry Gregson-Williams (Kingdom of Heaven, The Chronicles of Narnia) (a good friend of John Powell, and both pupils from the same composer churning factory Media Ventures/Remote Control) comes on board to score the spin off movie X-Men Origins : Wolverine.

Despite the lack of continuity with each score the music for the X-Men franchise has been able to avoid mediocrity and has been able to maintain a solid level of quality (however I'm not to fond of Ottman's score ; it works well in the movie, but not much to praise about on album). If there has been a composer who has recently taken the mantel away from Klaus Badelt (Pirates of the Caribbean, Rescue Dawn, The Time Machine) for the most inconsistent composer from the Media Ventures/Remote Control (the title is due to a name change in the company) group it would have to be Harry Gregson-Williams, there are times where he can create a masterful piece of work (Kingdom of Heaven), and then create something so lackluster (Number 23) it can be extremely frustrating. John Powell is generally regarded as the most consistent composer from Media Ventures/Remote Control, Harry Gregson-Williams is the total opposite-creating a great piece of work for one film, and then creating something incredibly mundane for the next film-and what we‘re given with his score to X-Men Origins: Wolverine, is like Gregson-Williams’ career-inconsistent. Due the nature of the film, an origin story, a prequel, there’s not much room at all for continuity with the scores that have been created already. The characters in the X-Men franchise have never had very distinctive individual themes (possibly due to the sheer amount of characters) but they were generally given an overall theme. This film gave Harry Gregson-Williams a chance to develop one sole primary theme for the title character (since this time Wolverine was obviously the main character); there's not to much here to really rave about, but there is enough here to enjoy, and it does once again display some classic Media Ventures/Remote Control traits (Good and Bad). The main theme heard at the very beginning of the score in "Logan Through Time" is very tragic, and appropriately fits Wolverine's character in my opinion, but it also has electronics, and a brooding choir (which comes into play at around the 35 second mark) which is later accompanied by a horn theme (enters in at the 54 second mark), at this point it is rather tiresome to hear over, and over again in nearly every score from a Media Ventures/Remote Control composer, but it is effective despite its clichéd sound. The score is very industrial at times and evokes scratches, and sounds of a motorcycle (which Wolverine does use in the movie hence the reference probably) engines revving up, and it adds a unique flavor, even though it does seem as if Williams is trying to hard to make Logan's (one of Wolverine’s other names in the movie) theme sound masculine.

The album is littered with the composers traits from other scores, at times I could have sworn I was hearing Déjà Vu (A film directed by Tony Scott, and scored by Harry Gregson-Williams) because of the electronics used, and the sudden stops in the orchestra, and not to mention the annoying backward edits of notes placed throughout the score. I also don't understand why nearly every single Media Venture/Remote Control score (Harry Gregson-Williams is not part of that company anymore I believe although it‘s easy to tell where his roots comes from) must include the chopping sounds when an action scene is going on, it has been employed since Crimson Tide (1995) (Hans Zimmer’s score, and the co-creator of Media Ventures) and I wish it would stop by now. A large highlight of the score is the love theme developed in the track "Kayla"; it's a piano melody and it adds a lovely touch of warmth and gentleness to the score that is a wonderful welcome, and shows the true talent of Williams. "Kayla" (Wolverine‘s Love interest), is one of the few moments where there is actual beauty in the score, and it re-emerges in the tracks (towards the end of the three tracks) “Victor Visits” (when Victor apparently murders Kayla) "Two Towers Collapse" and "Memories Lost" (when Logan faintly recognizes Kayla). Hearing the theme at the end of "Memories Lost" is a wonderful addition, and implies the note of a fading rendition, and it does generate a sense of sadness when Logan cannot identify his one time lover laying on the ground as the piano melody gently enters the scene, and then slowly dissipates.

The score is not without its problems, but there is enough good material in the score to consider it a weak, but still, a solid piece of work. There are moments of harshness, and true beauty in my opinion, but most of the music does sound generic, and something that Williams can write in his sleep. I do wish he would have expanded a bit more on the themes for Wolverine, and Kayla, since the material for them are the highlights of the score. The movie and the score certainly aren’t on the same pedestal as Superman (1978) or Batman (1989) but it‘s clearly above some of the drek that has been released in recent years, not only in the comic book genre (Iron Man, it contains such a god awful score), but in the film medium in general (Transformers, 300, two highly unoriginal scores). If they make another X-Men movie, I have my reservations about Williams returning, but I wouldn't balked at the possibility of him scoring another X-Men movie. Much like the film itself the score met with plenty of people who were sorely disappointed, but I maintain that this score isn't a loss, there is some solid material here to be found.