Wonder Woman - Rupert Gregson-Williams |
6/5/17 |
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What You Will Hear: A Remote Control production with a little more orchestral thoughtfulness than usual.
Standout Tracks: Amazons of Themiscyra, Lundendorff Enough!, No Man’s Land, Wonder Woman’s Wrath, We Are All To Blame, Hell Hath No Fury, Lightning Strikes Will You Be Humming Along? The BvS theme for Wonder Woman shows up sparingly. A new theme is introduced in the opening tracks. It isn't very original and doesn’t stick around for long. The baddie has a sinister repeating motif. The album this makes me want to dust off: Thor – Patrick Doyle mixed with Thor: The Dark World – Brian Tyler
Will I come back to it? I don’t know if I’ll every make up my mind about this one. At its most basic level, Wonder Woman is an entertaining listening experience. Zimmer’s electric cello theme works because it isn’t over quoted and contrasts nicely with the rest of the score (see: No Man’s Land). Compared to its use in Batman vs. Superman, where it was just part of the general orchestral shouting, it’s a fun diversion this time around. But, it doesn’t do enough for a character and movie that is this dynamic. As discussed by people smarter than I, it would work as a secondary action theme, but there should me a more complete primary theme. There is some new melodic content early in the score (for the Amazons?), and it feels like it could be a new focal point. But, nothing ever develops (see: Amazons of Themiscyra) and it could easily belong to any action movie from the last fifteen years. The villain's theme is simple, but effective. Again, however, most of the new material could easily be substituted into any action movie from the last fifteen years. |
Wonder Woman is a little bit of Tron: Legacy, Transformers, Chronicles of Narnia, and both Thor flicks all rolled into one. Rupert Gregson-Williams’ work is a more prideful and hopeful than most modern Remote Control scores. That’s a heartfelt compliment. I hope it's the beginning of a new trend from Zimmer's team. But, that sentiment can only carry this album for so long. In a film that is breaking Hollywood standards, a standard score should be considered a crime. There is nothing groundbreaking here and that’s a big disappointment. If this were the music from any other movie, I’d probably be more kind. But, this music accompanies an extraordinary movie… and it is just too ordinary to forgive. That being said, I'll come back for the hopefulness, but each stay probably won't be for very long.