What You Need to Know: What a novelty, a movie where the composer is the biggest star of the production. That's how I sized it up, at least, when it came to seeing
The Final Destination. Remarkably, the film itself actually sunk below my downbeat expectations but thankfully, Brian's music survived the carnage.
How Brian ended up working on this production, I'll never know. I suspect the respectable showings of the previous films played a part in his decision to sign on. Plus, let's face it -- who would have ever thought a movie could be this poorly made? In any event, Brian stayed focused on what he does best and that is writing exciting, effective film scores. The end result is a soundtrack that is far superior to the film itself and one that deserved a better movie to service.
The allure of this score is two-fold: The opening title track and the overall implementation of Shirley Walker's material from the previous films. Brian has always been skillfully adept in bringing in references from existing scores when needed, and he executes Walker's themes with precision. When fused with his own material, it makes The Final Destination a likeable, adrenaline fueled score. Of course, there were some things that just couldn't be avoided like the routine suspense building cues or the bone chilling tracks that any horror movie needs, but there is enough of a draw in other areas to give this one an original identity.
The finale of the soundtrack boasts a 13+ minute suite, which is an excellent addition. I've always been a supporter of suite arrangements in soundtracks (surprise, surprise) and I was pleased to see one included here. To me, it's another example of the type of care that Brian puts into the listening experience with fans in mind. If only some filmmakers could adopt a similar concern, we'd be in business.
