DE *SPLAT*

HELLBOY was one of those borderline B-movies in which the score helped it get its footing and cement it among novices and fans alike as a contender - it was the score which endeared us to the characters and their struggles. A score from a small-time composer who was not well known at the time.

AFTER the success of the first movie, big bucks flowed down from on high, production value greatly increased, and a big name composer was brought in: Danny Elfman. The Danny Elfman. No one doesn't like Danny Elfman. The Danny Elfman. For christssakes man, he's Danny Elfman! Unfortunately, as fantastic as he his, there's not a single memorable thread of melody I could hum from that big-budget movie with its big-budget score. Something was lost in translation. Marco Beltrami's score to Hellboy is an absolute joy to listen to, but I never listen to Elfman's Hellboy 2. It kinda sucks.

FAST FORWARD to Twilight. Carter Burwell is chosen to score the film, and while its not a B-movie, it was directed by an independent filmmaker, and let's face it, Carter Burwell is no Danny Elfman. But the director of Twilight is unable to shoot the sequel, so they bring in Chris Weitz, who's last film was The Golden Compass and Chris brings his own composer to the project, Alexander Desplat! As a rule, I don't care for Alexander Desplat but my ire is this: In just about every sequel film in recent history in which the composer reprized his role, the score has been fantastic.

UNFORTUNATELY in sequels which have changed composers, the scores have been...well, not good. Chris Weitz was quoted as saying,

The extraordinary world that Stephenie has created has millions of fans, and it will be my duty to protect on their behalf the characters, themes and story they love. This is not a task to be taken lightly, and I will put every effort into realizing a beautiful film to stand alongside a beautiful book.

But as far as I can tell, he failed to get a similar mission statement from Mr. Desplat. Which to me means that none of the original themes - themes which we associate with the charachters - will be used.

AND JUST like one of Burwell's tracks showed up on the soundtrack album of Twilight, so did one of Alexander Desplat's on the New Moon soundtrack which has already been released. It was no "Bella's Lullaby."