MP3: Momentum (2015)
Score: Good
Label: Varese Saranbande
Released: October 16, 2015
Tracks / Album Length: 22 tracks / 49 mins.
Composer: Laurent Eyquem
Special Notes: n/a
Review:
There’s a sense the makers of Momentum had a very specific Zimmerlisch sound in mind, and what emerges from Laurent Eyquem’s slick score is a discrete conflict between the sounds tied to big budget sci-fi thrillers verses the composer’s own additions that transcend a work from formulaic to something a bit more innovative.
The fast churning strings, heavy brass, and quick swerves as the orchestra swerves through familiar action set-pieces are almost de rigueur for the genre, making the bulk of Momentum’s final third fairly predictable, which is a shame given Eyquem starts off with a great cluster of percussion with rapping backbeats, and gradually moves towards a combination of orchestra (“Unmasked”) and fuzzy electronica (“Get Rid of the Evidence”) with heavy backbeats that are initially contrasted with the score’s central sweeping main theme (“Run Away”).
Amid the short and modest-length action tracks, more notable pieces include the pulsing “The Cleaners are Coming” with harp and flanging electronic tones that shift to a lament before a heavy bass pulse closes the track; the heavily percussive “I Don’t Want Him to See This,” drumming up the backbeats of the album’s opening track; and the final track which, while a bit overwrought with romance and decelerating electro-tones, wraps up the score with an up-tempo rock beat.
Eyquem’s score is modest and efficient, but its similarities to bigger (and more cliché-ridden) scores makes Momentum a bit too conventional.
© 2015 Mark R. Hasan
Additional Links:
Editor’s Blog — Composer on IMDB — Composer Filmography — Soundtrack Album
Select Merchants:
Amazon.ca
Category: Soundtrack Reviews
Connect