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| 24 listener votes for this album. |
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| A score that suits its heroine |
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| By: | LadyInque |
| Date: | 14 Jun 2010 |
| Rating: |
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This is the score for <i>Wonder Woman</i>, an animated, direct-to-video film from 2009. For some reason, it took more than a year for this score to be released, but I’m glad to say it was worth the wait. The score was written by Christopher Drake, a veteran of these DC Comics projects. Though he was originally asked for a campier sound, according to the liner notes, Drake decided to score Wonder Woman as if it were “a 200 million dollar summer blockbuster!” As such, the music is suitably epic, with the sound of a full orchestra and voices, and it finally gives the character of Wonder Woman her own musical identity. In a world where Batman and Superman have gathered multiple themes to themselves, it’s about time.
The opening track, “The Battle/Origins” represents the first nine minutes of the movie and is best the album has to offer. As the Amazons battle the evil forces of the god Ares, the score tells the story. There’s excitement, and sadness, and the introduction of the theme for Hippolyta, which truly befits a warrior queen. The end of the track is about hope and new beginnings, and it closes with the first statement of Diana’s (Wonder Woman’s) theme as the heroine is magically born. The rest of the album has some great action music as well. “Dog Fight” is an example, as is the “DC Battle” near the end. There are some clichés familiar to fans of summer action music: the ethnic female vocal wail, the use of drums for a sparring scene. But I think Drake uses these tropes well, given the context of the story.
What I find amazing is that this score was written, arranged, and produced by Drake completely on a computer, due to budget and time restrictions. Sure, there are some places where the samples are showing, like the horns on “Let the Games Begin,” but in the action music, the illusion is incredible.
It’s also fitting that Wonder Woman finally gets a musical theme. This is a first if you don’t count the theme song to the 1980s Linda Carter series. The theme is first heard at the end of the first track and develops throughout the album, receiving its full heroic treatment in “A New Nemesis” (a short but really exciting track) and “End Titles.” The theme is four notes long, done this way on purpose by Drake, so you can sing Wonder Woman’s name to her theme.
This is some really good score from a somewhat neglected corner of the soundtrack world, and I encourage you to give it a spin.
<b>Request:</b> “The Battle/Origins,” “DC Battle,” “Ares’ End,” “A New Nemesis,” “Wonder Woman End Titles.”
<b>Avoid:</b> “The Computer Room.” The disadvantage of a complete score is that even the score for scenes where nothing happens are on the album. “She Misses Him” is unremarkable.
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