Watchmen (Original Motion Picture Score)

iTunes Review

Some fans of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ original Watchmen graphic novel have groused that 300 director Zack Snyder's much anticipated film adaptation largely eschewed the source material's rich, genre-spanning musical references. But such concerns shouldn't distract from the film's eclectically moody soundtrack by composer Tyler Bates, music that's charged with an entirely different dramatic task anyway. "Rescue Mission" effectively anchors the score, a deft fusing of Danny Elfman's Batman-music-past histrionics, choral flourishes and contemporary electronica that prefaces an even broader musical palette. "Silk Spectre" recalls some of Don Davis' post-modern The Matrix verve, while "American Dream" evokes a seamless wedding of the pastoral and synthetic, before "Edward Blake - The Comedian" successfully reinvents the Tangerine Dream/Vangelis ouevre for a new era. Expansive centerpieces like "Just Look Around You" and "All That Is Good" revolve around a similar musical axis (punctuated by a snippet of Mozart's "Requiem" and capped by the Pink Floydish "I Love You"), yielding a hypnotic soundscape of subtle distinction.