About the Soundtrack: Composer John Ottman continues his ongoing collaboration with Bryan Singer in their latest film, "Valkyrie." In addition to producing and editing the picture, Ottman's best known contribution is with the music for this highly anticipated film; a movie that seemingly couldn't find its green light. After suffering through several delays, "Valkyrie" finally secured a Christmas release date, which I am sure all of you are now aware of given the numerous television spots that have been running for it, and is primed for a Holiday push. While I am sure the studios would publicly differ on this, I believe the release date was pushed further out to give the Tom Cruise hoopla a chance to leave the public forefront. It's a strategy that I feel is wise. As far as the soundtrack, the album offers 18 tracks, one of which is a choral piece, and is a departure from some of Ottman's recent work.
What You Need to Know: I had high hopes coming into this one. "Valkyrie" seemed to offer the kind of opportunity that could produce a tense, tragic and valiant score. While the film might still meet my expectations, John Ottman's score did not.
When critiquing a soundtrack that is powered primarily by suspenseful underscore, one must take into account that a middle ground is rare to find. In my experience, music like that typically will serve the movie alone and will not grant a memorable listen on its own. That's the case with "Valkyrie," a score that has its moments but eventually succumbs to the movie's requirements. That approach is great news for filmgoers but not so enthralling for those of us who have dual interests that include the appreciation of soundtracks.
The album lays out the tracks out of sequence from the movie, most notably with the first cue, which is a rather elegant choral piece intended for the end credits. That it was moved to the beginning of the album was a smart choice since it's the best track from the score. From there, Ottman's work does start off well enough, using a strong representation of percussion to emphasis the aggressiveness in the film. Alas from there, from about track 5 on, the score sinks into the world of the underscore, not to re-emerge until the second to last track on the album.
Truly, I'm not sure if a score album was needed for this, that's how prominent the underscore is. Sure, there are tense moments and cues of danger, but there's little else in the way of themes or motifs. The superlative instances of the score occur when Ottman emphasizes the tragic components of the story, providing a bit of emotion and drama to relate to but it's sparse. Again, I am confident much of my dismay about the work will be balanced out once I've heard the score in the context of the movie, but as far as the soundtrack experience goes, it's one of Ottman's weaker efforts.
Final Score: A disappointing effort from a talented composer. The canvas of "Valkyrie" might have not provided an adequate opportunity to create a powerhouse score, but I do feel something a bit more dramatic could have resulted from it; Ottman's too talented for this end result. This is one soundtrack you can take a pass on, at least until you hear it in the movie itself and decide otherwise.
