Fair Game
John Powell
" The Bourne Identity revisited "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
The movie Fair Game (not to be mistaken for the movie Fair Game of 1995 starring William Baldwin and Cindy Crawford) is a biographical film based on Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House. Directed by Doug Liman of The Bourne Identity, it delivers us a John Powell sound that is quite frankly The Bourne Identity revisited. The score is not a bad listen at all, but to call it music that one will listen to frequently and enjoy it is something else. The few moments where Powell unleashes a devastating drum rhythm over interesting guitar twangs become by far the most interesting cues on the album. Considering that these are found near the end of the score makes Fair Game effective but nothing more.
As said, if you favor some of those familiar Powell percussion hits, then by all means check out "Ready to Fight" and "Testify". If you actually favor The Bourne Identity sound in general, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy most of the portions on this CD. There are countless moments holding drum loops, metallic clangs and bangs, guitar twangs, brief moments for solo vocal, eerie underscore, experimental sounds, a rare ethnic moment and even an occasional Thomas Newman moment ("Smaky"). Meaning it's pretty effective and sometimes even catchy and interesting, considering we've heard that style before and actually have gotten used to it. But to call Fair Game nessecary purchasing is something else. The fans of Powell and mostly The Bourne fans will find something to enjoy in this, but I can't imagine myself anyone wanting to pay more than 5 dollars for it, if you tasted the same formula in a more explosive design.
Track Listing
1. Kuala Lumpur (1.40)
2. The White House (2.22)
3. Gathering Intel (3.04)
4. Joe's Report (3.57)
5. Bruises (1.37)
6. Smaky (1.00)
7. Sixteen Words (2.59)
8. Run Up to War (2.55)
9. Change the Story (3.08)
10. Uncomfortable Love (6.04)
11. Breaking Point (3.58)
12. Ready to Fight (2.55)
13. Testify (4.32)
Total Length: 40.11
As said, if you favor some of those familiar Powell percussion hits, then by all means check out "Ready to Fight" and "Testify". If you actually favor The Bourne Identity sound in general, I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy most of the portions on this CD. There are countless moments holding drum loops, metallic clangs and bangs, guitar twangs, brief moments for solo vocal, eerie underscore, experimental sounds, a rare ethnic moment and even an occasional Thomas Newman moment ("Smaky"). Meaning it's pretty effective and sometimes even catchy and interesting, considering we've heard that style before and actually have gotten used to it. But to call Fair Game nessecary purchasing is something else. The fans of Powell and mostly The Bourne fans will find something to enjoy in this, but I can't imagine myself anyone wanting to pay more than 5 dollars for it, if you tasted the same formula in a more explosive design.
Track Listing
1. Kuala Lumpur (1.40)
2. The White House (2.22)
3. Gathering Intel (3.04)
4. Joe's Report (3.57)
5. Bruises (1.37)
6. Smaky (1.00)
7. Sixteen Words (2.59)
8. Run Up to War (2.55)
9. Change the Story (3.08)
10. Uncomfortable Love (6.04)
11. Breaking Point (3.58)
12. Ready to Fight (2.55)
13. Testify (4.32)
Total Length: 40.11