The Bourne Identity

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

John Powell has made one hell of a name for himself. Being called in several years time the new maestro of the fun soundtrack has easily done him well. He is now scoring more features then ever and receiving air time on soundtrack. Yet lately I see him returning more to the genre I really didn't want to see and that is action. The unreleased D-Tox is perhaps an example gone too far and now he is scoring The Bourne Identity. He is more at home at comedy / action and so I hope to find something of worth in Pluto Nash. Still, the name of the case here is The Bourne Identity and it has become without doubts a winning album, at least on sales. Simply the name of Powell have made people go so far as to simply buy it without thinking that it might be bad. "Bad, a score written by the hoot of all composers Powell?" you might respond. But unfortunately the score is bad. Not that I am discriminating the use of sound effects, clangs, bangs and action beat in The Bourne Identity because it will one way or another work to its advantage. But if you see it in musical advantage, in melodic pleasurability then I even can't stretch the limits. The Bourne Identity is as I would describe it a clang and bang score, but it clangs the wrong way from begin to end.

Actually, that is not correct. The first minutes I can actually appreciate. Simply because even if they are basically the same as the others, they are a sort of moody satisfaction. In a way they are not bad musically but it has to serve as a pleasing experience on disc and that is something else. The Bourne Identity starts with what can be entitled the most pleasing track on the disc. 'Main Titles' starts calmly, has an almost Arabic feel on occasions and builds low to a form of suspense / action. Even the first tracks are decent, even as they say do basically the same as all the others. Yet, the constant fact that it keeps returning is the death of this score. The first real sign of beats is in track 3 but 'At the Bank' is the first so called action beatty, and no I didn't forget a 'u' in the middle. It shows a glimpse of the main theme but even that is nothing special and makes it already then forgettable. And so it continues. The occasional better touch is welcome, 'Bourne on Land' with its piano and string moment, 'At the Hairdressers' which contains a soft romantic guitar version and 'Taxi Ride' which holds a bit more theme and mood evolution in it, but still all that is so unrewarding in its musical effect, I feel even bored with them in the first place. Its like forces of nature are at work here. And then you receive the beat / synthetic / clang bang jobs and worth remembering of it is, there are many of them. Perhaps the best of them all, spoken lightly is 'The Apartment', with its clanging rhythm that reminds me of someone hitting drum sticks on a garbage can.

The Bourne Identity is easily an endurance listen from begin to end. Powell inserts a vocal at times and still, they do not make the score better. The vocal's mysterious effect during 'The Bourne Identity' would have made the end better in any way, but you simply don't care anymore. This is its biggest flaw. It is so non inspiring I simply listen almost completely through it. I would take my face off if a lot of persons can enjoy a score like this. I know there will be some, even I am one of them because it is a different use of action moodsetter that makes it slightly interesting. But then it is also boring in every musical respect that I completely forget that. For the film it will do in a way miracles, but if the director didn't see what John Powell possessed, then he was wrong. Its like he was just visiting Powell and said: "you are a respected composer, so make something gritty and beat like". It doesn't work that way, is it now Powell's decision, the director's one or both, it could have been so much more. I didn't expect just Chicken Run but something in the vein of Face Off. Easily, I would have given this score two stars for its whole array of mood and effect. But then you want to remember how the listening experience was you had during the listen and you comment: "Huh, listening experience????"

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Tracks

Single Disc

1. Main Titles (4.19)

2. Bourne Gets Well (1.21)

3. Treadstone Assassins (2.12)

4. At The Bank (4.07)

5. Bourne On Land (1.42)

6. Escape From Embassy (3.13)

7. The Drive To Paris (1.30)

8. The Apartment (3.27)

9. At The Hairdressers (1.31)

10. Hotel Regina (2.12)

11. The Investigation (1.40)

12. Taxi Ride (3.43)

13. At The Farmhouse (2.54)

14. Jason Phones It In (3.04)

15. On Bridge Number 9 (3.45)

16. Jason's Theme (2.20)

17. Mood Build (3.36)

18. The Bourne Identity (5.58)

19. Drum And Bass Remix (2.16)

Total Length: 55.01

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=== Link to Composer Site: John Powell ===