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| Giacchino |
Jurassic World: Dominion: (Michael Giacchino) The
appeal of Michael Crichton's original 1990's concept behind the stories
of
Jurassic Park was rooted not just in the intrigue of the
resurrection of dinosaurs but the thrill of imagining a visit to an
amusement park or zoo full of them. As the franchise of movies based on
that concept deviated from its core attraction, so too did the
uniqueness of its premise. By 2022's
Jurassic World: Dominion,
the conclusive entry in the second trilogy of movies, writer and
director Colin Trevorrow had completely lost those roots, steering the
franchise towards a hybrid between
Planet of the Apes and
Godzilla sequels that rehash with pointless repetition the clash
between contemporary human culture and something fantastical. The
selling point of
Jurassic World: Dominion is the reunion of the
primary cast of 1993's
Jurassic Park and the leads of the
Jurassic World follow-ups, and they unite to expose an evil
Mediterranean corporation, Biosyn, that is using dinosaur DNA to
engineer locusts that threaten to destabilize worldwide crops better
than a dictator like Vladimir Putin could ever accomplish. The tale is a
rather pedestrian rescue and chase entry that, despite more callbacks to
the original 1993 film, failed to convince critics and audiences of its
worthiness. No matter how many of these films are cloned for the
purposes of profit, the magic of Crichton's initial idea cannot be
recaptured. The film's plot afforded franchise veteran Michael Giacchino
a chance to balance character themes and rambunctious action in his
music with a little more worldly flair, leaving behind much of the
fantasy element that dominated
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and
the origins of the concept. Suspense is also no longer of much use by
this point, either, leaving the music of
Jurassic World: Dominion
as a somewhat detached entry dedicated to conversational underscore and
sustained action sequences all trying to balance a wealth of accumulated
concept themes.
Giacchino is no stranger to these sequel situations,
having adapted existing identities into major franchise continuations
more than anyone else in Hollywood history. He's not always the best at
this task, unfortunately, and if
Jurassic World: Dominion is
indeed the send-off for this franchise, then don't expect the music to
reflect any satisfying sense of closure. He remains mindful of the
necessary balance between his own existing musical character and that of
John Williams in this case, but his handling of the ever-expanding
complexities of their combination is only basically adequate in
Jurassic World: Dominion. This score is at a disadvantage because
of the outstanding narrative of
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,
which not only introduced monumentally memorable new themes for its own
plot but made smart use of Williams' identities as well. By comparison,
Jurassic World: Dominion is a defocused work with inadequate new
thematic constructs and poor narrative flow despite its generally high
quality of writing and, surprisingly for Giacchino, a well-rounded
recording. On the other hand, there are some truly intelligent and
commendable manipulations of existing franchise identities in the work
that may compensate for the lack of appeal from the new themes. Some
listeners may also find significant positives and negatives in
Giacchino's decision to alter the instrumental equation in this score,
bringing an enhanced role for electronics and some Mediterranean flair
to the mid-film Malta sequences. Neither of these elements is a
strategic detriment, as even Williams brought some significant
electronic presence to
Jurassic Park, but by the time electric
guitars make their mark on the action sequences in
Jurassic World:
Dominion, some listeners may be tempted to tune it out. Striking a
modern edge to the techno-thriller element of the story makes sense,
though such interjections don't really add much to the concept as a
whole and may feel a bit off. The composer's handling of the orchestra
is fairly mundane compared to his comparable fantasy/adventure works,
solos for this franchise typical to harp, piano, and French horn.
Thematically, whereas Giacchino's ideas for
Jurassic
World: Fallen Kingdom were a combination of biblical fantasy,
dramatic tragedy, and military romps, the new themes in
Jurassic
World: Dominion are disappointingly pedestrian to match the less
apocalyptic subject matter. (The lack of prominent choral presence here
does not help the transition.) He devises a pair of new themes for
protagonists but fails to really enunciate them clearly enough to
provide lasting identities to their presence. The villainous Biosyn
receives the score's main new theme, but even this is diminished after a
strong influence early in the score. A fresh theme for yet another nasty
predator dinosaur is unfortunately inevitable, and the locusts
themselves are offered a dissonant motif for their menace. Other
distinct melodic structures meander through the score, mostly in its
final third, and muddy the waters even further. Meanwhile, the three
main themes from
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom return as a method
of providing a narrative arc to the Henry Wu character responsible for
engineering much of this mess going back to the beginning, and here
Giacchino does succeed a bit better. Several ideas return from the
initial
Jurassic World score as well, with even Giacchino's music
for the video game, "The Lost World: Jurassic Park," enjoying another
cameo. All four of Williams' main identities from
Jurassic Park
also return, but they do so in perfunctory fashion outside of some keen
adaptations of Williams' fantasy theme. As customary for Giacchino, the
conclusive "Suite, Suite Dino Revenge" contains a summary of these four
new themes, but this collection doesn't flow well from one idea to
another. The composer has a tendency to simply conclude a thematic
representation, fading it down to near silence before entering into the
next theme; more fluid transitions akin to those by Williams and Jerry
Goldsmith are simply absent in much of Giacchino's career. One can hope
that writing bridge sequences will improve for him with time. The first
theme heard in that suite is actually a secondary motif for the
Giganotosaurus dinosaur, which opens that track with a long crescendo to
a chime-banging conclusion. In the score proper, the motif also forces
itself into the end of "Ladder and Subtract/..." and the outset of
"Battle Royale With Reprise."
The second idea heard in the "Suite, Suite Dino Revenge"
end credits arrangement is actually the main theme of
Jurassic World:
Dominion. This theme for Biosyn flourishes in the first half of the
score but fails to retain any power thereafter. It's a nice adaptation
of the personality of Williams' original park-related exuberance with a
greater dose of mystery thrown into the equation, and expect it provide
the best moments of the score's new themes. The theme is previewed at
1:30 into "Jurassi-logos/Dinow This" but really emerges at 2:36 into
"The Wages of Biosyn," where it truly usurps Williams' fantasy by its
end. It offers uncertainty in the middle of "Free-Range Kidnapping" but
explodes again with ensemble adventure at 1:39 into "A-Biosyn' We Will
Go," where it explores an underutilized interlude sequence on woodwinds.
The Biosyn theme once again diminishes to subtle applications in the
middle of "You're So Cute When You Smuggle" and early in the suspense of
"Ladder and Subtract" before combining with the tragedy theme at 0:06
into "Girls Can Alpha Too." In "Suite, Suite Dino Revenge," this theme
starts softly at 1:20 but enjoys a reprise of its early exuberance not
long after. The two new character themes in
Jurassic World:
Dominion are badly underplayed and are typically handled with such
soft instrumentation that they don't have an impact. The theme for the
girl at the heart of the story, Maisie, is intelligently mingled with
Williams' fantasy identity for the original park, denoting their shared
origins in engineering. But Giacchino really diffuses the idea in its
applications, making it difficult to track. Pieces of the idea influence
at 0:19 into "Upsy-Maisie," the middle of "The Campfire in Her Soul,"
the opening of "The Wages of Biosyn," more cohesively on piano in the
middle of "You're Making Me Feel Wu-zy," and in soft, piano-led shades
at 6:13 into "Suite, Suite Dino Revenge." Meanwhile, the composer felt
compelled to provide the Ellie Sattler and Alan Grant tandem from the
first film with a new identity here, but he barely develops it in the
score. After opening "A Sattler State of Affairs" with it in somber
tones, this theme is marginalized in the rest of the score until a truly
pretty and delightful rendition at 4:38 into "Suite, Suite Dino
Revenge," where the idea oddly receives Goldsmith-like treatment that
defies anything heard before in the work.
Aside from these four new, recurring themes in
Jurassic
World: Dominion, Giacchino does throw a few other ideas at his
canvas, including the aforementioned rhythmic dissonance for the locusts
in "Hay of the Locusts" and "Cicadian Rhythms." A somewhat unique
fantasy idea occupies the middle of "A-O-Kayla," and strong closure is
afforded to "All the Jurassic World's a Rage," but neither of these
attractive moments really extends a clear musical idea from the rest of
the work. The composer clearly views his main theme from
Jurassic
World as the anchor of the franchise at this time, and he applies it
throughout
Jurassic World: Dominion with mostly brief and/or
muted success. It's re-established without its secondary phrasing at
1:40 into "It's Like Herding Parasaurolophus," a solo horn rendition
leading to a restrained, fuller statement. The theme returns at 0:39
into "Upsy-Maisie" on solo piano with those secondary phrases adding
strings. Its pinpointed applications include a brief reference at the
end of "Da Plane and Da Cycle," some light optimism at 4:30 into "Battle
Royale With Reprise," and solo cello at 0:30 into "All the Jurassic
World's a Rage." Giacchino arranges the theme like a lighter, more
sensitive version of the
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom end
credits performance at 1:10 into "Larry Curly and MOE," and he uses it
to help wrap "Suite, Suite Dino Revenge" at 7:42 on solo cello with the
secondary phrases intact. Other themes reprised from
Jurassic
World include the friendship/family motif at 0:19 into "Clonely You"
on piano and whimsically opening "Gigantosaurus on Your Life," the
Indominus motif in the first half of "The Wages of Biosyn" in mystery
and hinted at the end of "Gigantosaurus on Your Life," and the identity
for Owen Grady and his raptor, Blue. That last idea makes the biggest
splash of any previous identity in this score, evolving from "Owen You
Nothing" and "Chasing the Dragons" in
Jurassic World to enjoy
rambunctious performances with electric guitar in "It's Like Herding
Parasaurolophus" and playful throughout "Gotta Shut Down the Blah Blah
Blah." The composer also can't resist another reprise of his own raptor
theme from the video game in "The Hunters Become the Hunted." The
redundancy between the existing friendship/family theme and Maisie's new
theme in this score causes both to be diminished, and Giacchino would
have been better served simply expanding the use of the former.
The most interesting thematic development in
Jurassic World: Dominion comes with Giacchino's reassignment of
his main identities from
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom for the
Henry Wu character's vital role in this plot. Both the primary and
secondary halves of the main theme from that film are applied with a
sense of solace here. Both are teased in chord progressions only to open
"You're Making Me Feel Wu-zy," but Giacchino returns explicitly to the
prior score's celeste for the main theme at 2:24 and the secondary theme
on woodwinds after that. A hint of the predecessor's choral mystery also
follows. A later reference is saved for the theme in "The Geneticist's
Gambit/Cicadian Rhythms" for clarinet and choir, and it appropriately
develops into a new heroic identity in the middle of "Wu-ing For
Redemption." The tragedy theme from
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
also makes its mark, its underlying rhythm playfully opening "The
Geneticist's Gambit" but the full religious agony for the ensemble
applied to the idea at 3:18 into "Therizinosaurus Will Be Blood/Land of
the Frost." Humorously, Giacchino's nod to Goldsmith's friendship motif
from the later
Star Trek films is another reprise from the prior
score, this time at 0:09 into "All the Jurassic World's a Rage" on
trumpet. (This motif must have some recurring importance for Giacchino,
but the usage is strangely distracting.) Less awkward are the composer's
courtesy nods to the Williams themes that started this franchise. While
all four leading ideas from
Jurassic Park return, only the
fantasy theme really has an impact in
Jurassic World: Dominion.
This famous hymn-like idea stutters without resolving at 1:26 into "A
Sattler State of Affairs," still abbreviated after shifting to a tender
piano rendition at 2:14. Fragments appear at 3:05 into "The Wages of
Biosyn" in fragments and more attractively at the end of "A Dimetrodon a
Dozen." It enjoys a nice, condensed moment of pause at 0:41 into
"Gigantosaurus on Your Life" before another fragment on piano at 2:54
into "Battle Royale With Reprise." Williams' introductory sequence for
the theme is explored at the start of "Larry Curly and MOE" before
morphing into a new idea, and it closes out "Suite, Suite Dino Revenge"
with a quiet flourish and solo harp. As the overarching identity of the
whole concept, one can't help but wonder why Giacchino seems set on
limiting his use of this idea to mostly its piano applications. There
was significant potential for the theme to be adapted even more
obviously in his scores.
The other dominant theme from
Jurassic Park,
that of adventure, is nearly absent after opening the prior score's end
credits suite brilliantly. It is heard here for the Ian Malcolm
character at 0:41 into "A Dimetrodon a Dozen" in a suspenseful, partial
phrase and again in a heroic fragment on brass at 2:25 into "Ladder and
Subtract/..." Williams' ascending four-note mystery motif is heard at
1:43 into "A Sattler State of Affairs" on solo horn, followed by an
extended Williams reprise directly thereafter. The original
carnivore/raptor motif from that score also enjoys a moment at 1:06 into
"Gigantosaurus on Your Life," at which point Giacchino even tosses in
Williams' related woodwind blurts to coincide. These references to the
classic score that anchors this franchise's music ultimately aren't
prominent enough to define
Jurassic World: Dominion as a
conclusive summary. This failure comes as a surprise given the
combination of characters thrown into this story; once again, an
opportunity for a fantastic mash-up of thematic favorites is lost in a
sea of otherwise mundane cues. So much of
Jurassic World:
Dominion is generically rhythmic, even its heightened action
material, that it really doesn't fit comfortably with its sibling
scores. Suspense passages are often mundane and do too little to smartly
exercise melodic constructs in conflict. The shift to electronic
snazziness for chasing scenes is not a deal-breaker, but it seems
beneath this franchise. The album situation for this score does not do
it many favors, as the digital download option of 107 minutes contains
far too much filler, some of which at high volume, for any semblance of
a narrative structure. But a shorter CD option doesn't include some of
the more vibrant action and Wu material or the finale. Fortunately, a
high-resolution option is available for download, and it sounds fabulous
compared to typical Giacchino recordings. It's unfortunate such an
option was not made available for
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,
which maintains the most massive of scope of any of these scores. The
closing suite alone from that preceding score is vastly superior to
anything in
Jurassic World: Dominion, and this later entry in
some ways serves mostly to expose just how impressively the memorable
themes and resounding narrative of
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
stand in retrospect. Giacchino earns his pay with
Jurassic World:
Dominion, and the score basically works and offers a few highlights,
but it's a challenge not to get the feeling that it's a disappointing
step backwards in quality. A better send-off was required for
this franchise's music.
*** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For Michael Giacchino reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.45
(in 42 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.23
(in 21,300 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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There exists no official packaging for the digital album.
