What Elfman certainly wanted when starting to work on this, was inspiration. And God knows there’s a huge amount of inspiration for him within the movie as he evidently had so much fun working on it. Wanted; a 2008 summer flick whose poster most people will throw a look at thinking how deadly HOT Angelina Jolie looks once again, and then walk away carelessly; like I did as well. Walking down the street thinking how this earthbound Goddess manages to carry such ethereal charm combined with gorgeous looks each and every time, very few would have actually bothered to pay this film the viewing it so deserves.
Coming from a relatively unknown 47 year-old Russian-Kazakh director, Timur Bekmambetov, Wanted stars Atonement's freshman James McAvoy as Wesley along with the not so freshman Morgan Freeman and the hotness impersonated that is Angelina Jolie, as Fox. The whole premise - dealing with a frustrated office worker who learns that he is the son of a professional assassin and shares his father's superhuman killing abilities combined with the cast and poster, spread the air of your average 2-hour fast-food summer flick which you wouldn't even remember the slightest of, once it's over. Well, how terribly wrong this is.
Fast-paced and ridiculously good-looking, this heart-stopping, adrenaline-pumped show brings a wholly new dimension to the term "action movie" and "entertainment" as well as turning the much-known "Bullet Time" from the Matrix movies into a brilliantly revised and enhanced spectacle that is going to riterally leave you in awe. The story reaches up and touches familiar Batman / super hero areas with the whole "finding who you really are in life, discovering new ethics, living by honoring your parents" theme as well as blending into the whole "family" (real or mafia-induced) territory we've seen done so many times within the cinematic frame. But this is done so perfectly in all aspects, from the jaw-dropping visuals and massive sfx to the tight performances and fast plot, springing a wholly different new air from within each frame.
And then comes Danny Elfman, in indissoluble connection to the film's own core with one of the freshest scores he has ever written to date. Following a - thankfully pleasant, large departure from his renowned earlier style of whimsical female choirs, bells and chimes, organ, theremin and such celebrated soundscapes, Elfman features a more matured and up-to-date sound although always faithful to his past. For Wanted, Elfman based his musical approach on recent experiments of his into the modern and electronic. Some of it found grounds of existence in recent works like the wholly electronic and percussive obscure sound of The Kingdom, combined with the organic orchestral nature of his also recent Standard Operating Procedure. Admittedly, what he came up with for this is impressive to say the least.
And then comes Danny Elfman, in indissoluble connection to the film's own core with one of the freshest scores he has ever written to date. Following a - thankfully pleasant, large departure from his renowned earlier style of whimsical female choirs, bells and chimes, organ, theremin and such celebrated soundscapes, Elfman features a more matured and up-to-date sound although always faithful to his past. For Wanted, Elfman based his musical approach on recent experiments of his into the modern and electronic. Some of it found grounds of existence in recent works like the wholly electronic and percussive obscure sound of The Kingdom, combined with the organic orchestral nature of his also recent Standard Operating Procedure. Admittedly, what he came up with for this is impressive to say the least.
Following the film's incredibly fast-moving pace and tight rhythm, Elfman's score is an energetic and imaginative trip down the musical lanes of Orchestral vs. Rock and modern; a score that makes limited use of the choir in contrast to several of his works of the past, a score of subtle electronics and genuine sound design used ably and discreetly, with the same applying for the middle eastern / western orchestral percussion sections. However, all this is constantly led by a very prominent strings section and most importantly - melody. Efman's score is firmly bound on melody and musical coherency; this is the greatest advantage of his in 2008, something that both sets him apart the hordes of talented musicians but impersonal composers which dominate the field today and also serves as a "Who's your daddy" reminder. And here's where we are at, the actual themes, the meaningful motifs, the memorable musical ingredients as opposed to noisy pseudo-orchestral / electronic or rock-guitar pounding and headache-imposing film scores coming out during the couple of years.
Elfman's very "Success Montage" makes you quickly realize what you're into here. Setting the tone for the mysterious fraternity of textile weavers-turned-assassins, enclosed in their dark tower in command of the whole story here, an introductory basic string ostinato (and thank God there's lots of them in Wanted) set beneath a very clever fugue (Wesley’s theme), the melodic and elegant head-start has already occurred. Slowly building up with added electronics, the composer never goes over the top and uses them in perfect balance with the musical whole. Louder brass and percussion combined with his trademarked complex writing for the string section, pump up and make this cue is a real winner. Both managing to set the tone in perfection and also drawing the listener's ears, the piece's ending gets rough and dirtier with the ground already ready for the imposing main theme to appear.
Serving as the fraternity theme, this main theme - musical child of the composer, is essentially a bold 4 chord-driven thematic statement which bears something of a modern James Bond / Mission Impossible quality to it. And this is done pretty cleverly as well; whereas the very syncopated orchestral nature of the main theme wouldn't dictate as such, sound-wise and via use of specific orchestral chords and instrumentation (el.guitars, electronics) Elfman brings the afore-mentioned air within its score. Carried in various forms in almost all of the pieces as the basic ingredient, the main theme - along with its escorting raw electronics and percussion, sends directly to what a John Powell or a far better Harry Gregson Williams or even a far more inspired Hans Zimmer would whistle out, but always journeying through the typically complex and dirty Elfman arrangements.
The score's tone is already set; make no mistake, this is a clear winner. Darefully and attention-grabbing, modern Bourne / Spy game like sounds carry us throughout the score. Like in the brilliant segment of the film where the viewer follows Wesley's painfully miserable life in the office, Elfman - complete with Middle Eastern percussion and dense timpani lines, always manages to typically stamp the whole with his own, distinct musical voice on-top, despite the references. Apart the cool modernity however, there's darkness and gloomy atmosphere behind the fraternity, echoed by some certain shifts of the afore-mentioned main theme. Whenever the camera pans over dark depths of temples and mystical organization hideouts, Elman injects his music with prolonged string hints of the main theme on-top of Gregorian “Libera Me” male choir chants ("fraternity suite", "welcome to the fraternity"). A mystique and very imposing quality is being brought within the musical color, usually to give way to bold marching timpani serving as the rhythmic basis for the main theme to appear. But, everything done with a meaning: as Wesley's rise of blood pressure and heart-beat are sonically dominating the whole film and are always beginning slowly and then gradually ascending into frantic rhythms, Elfman's score is following in core. Grand string statements of the main theme escorted by male choir via medium tempi and marching, captivating atmospheres are always the musical goal as well. Firstly though and by following the cinematic premise, the composer slowly builds up via hinted thematic references and then gradually become more prominent and bold, until they reach full-range brass and percussive, dissonant climaxes; Elfman is blending in and becoming one with the film’s auditory universe.
In Wanted also lies tragedy in the form of human character clashes, most prominently through Angelina Jolie's character, Fox. Being forced to watch her father's enslavement and agonizing death as a little child, Fox's every step spells revenge. The dark ages of her past are portrayed musically in "Fox's story" and "Fox's decision" via a new lullaby-like melody, carried by elegiac female choir, smooth bells and chimes along with a mesmerizing armenian duduk on a fragile melody. This, although not standing up to the rest of the score's quality, is still a very pleasant break and change of sonic scenery.
This movie found Elfman in a very inspired mode and when he does that, the results are outstanding. The complex musical combinations he performs for this score are admittedly impressive; take "Rats", "The Train" and "Revenge" (and the similarly oriented "Fox in control" for instance) i.e. the score's three large action sets; String ostinati, fox’s theme interweaved with dense statements and renditions of the main theme, orchestral, very clever mixings of the rock sounds with wistful fanfare-like woodwind renditions of the fugue theme (Wesley's theme). Agonizing, intense, dissonant and bold (like "the train" which sends directly to his for work Spiderman), Elfman takes us through a violent and at the same time impressively elegant musical trip, all the way up to the big climax. "Revenge". A very direct, rhythmic and raw rock rendition of the fugue (Wesley's theme) by full orchestra standing on-top of marching percussion, full drums set and bass complete with leading heavy metal guitars on distortion; the score's top adrenaline-pumped moment.
Wanted is loud but never loses control. Always via very impressive orchestral writing, Elfman puts to shame all the noise some younger and inexperienced composers are endowing us these days. As I come to the end of this stunning modern work, I am also at the final conclusion: Young blood is always welcome and exciting to discover and listen to within any genre, especially if we are talking about such a vastly variformed one as film music. But whenever something's lacking, the film music greats will always come in to save the day. Whereas Elfman's is loud, he never goes overboard. His orchestral writing is balanced and metered and his sound is not illogically fat or loud. His music is both refined and complex. Balance is the key word, Elfman always has control; an absolute mastery of musical coherency and melody that - sadly, so few are carrying these days; it appears that a lot of younger ones have the guts, knowledge and musicianship to master a full-blown orchestral assault as we speak but whenever one feels that something vital is missing, the great ones are always the place where one should seek for it. 4
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