Customer Reviews

Firewall (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)

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4 star:		(1)
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I must disagree with the previous reviewer. This score is yet another fine one from Desplat, who's one of the most exciting up-and-comers in the movie score business. But you need to keep in mind that it is a suspense score, and suspense scores are not exactly known as the most accessible genre. You don't go into a suspense film expecting memorable themes; mostly what's there is quieter underscore -- and it's notoriously difficult to make that underscore engaging on its own terms as well as appropriate to the movie. Here, Desplat succeeds, crafting a score that can, for the most part, hold its own with those by great suspense composers like Jerry Goldsmith and Bernard Herrmann (though sometimes his musical sensibilities, while more his own than almost anyone else in Hollywood, have more in common with Danny Elfman or Elliot Goldenthal than those others). This is a well-crafted, above average suspense score, the highlight of which is the 10-minute "Escape From the Bank", but where it really shines is in the action cues -- the opening "Firewall" and "The Fight" mark the first balls-to-the-wall action that I've yet heard from Desplat, and prove that he's more than capable of writing loud action music in addition to the more subtle dramatic stuff he's known for.

This is not an instantly memorable John Williams fairy tale score, and it's not trying to be. As a suspense score, it's a well-crafted, well-constructed piece of music that further shows Desplat for the remarkable young composer he is.

I must say I'm really bemused at the top reviews this score has received from some of the top soundtrack critics. I'm new to Desplat's music and was really expecting something quite special and enjoyable with this score after reading some of those reviews, however, I really don't see how this score can be regarded as anything other than often monotonous, passable underscore. I haven't seen the movie, and I can sense that the music would certainly be apt but I'm afraid that as a seperate listening experience, there is very little music here that could be described as memorable or impressive.