Justice League: The New Frontier
Kevin Manthei
" the first part can't compete at all with the wonderful second part "Written by Thomas Glorieux - Review of the regular release
The Justice League, sometimes called the Justice League of America or JLA for short, is a fictional DC Comics superhero team. First appearing in The Brave and the Bold #28 (1960), the League originally started with a line-up including Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, Aquaman and the Martian Manhunter. The League concept has also been adapted into various other entertainment media, including the classic Saturday morning Super Friends animated series (1973-1986), a lesser known live action television film, and most recently the successful animated series Justice League (2001-2004) and Justice League Unlimited (2004-2006). In 2008, the direct to video Justice League: The New Frontier was released and this is where the music spawns from.
Composer Kevin Manthei, mostly known for his countless video game adaptations was called upon the task to score the adventures of the superheroes in the film. That La-La Land Records released a CD of it is surprising and yet isn't. The franchise does have many fans and understandably it will attract their attention. But does it have something of value for the unknowing film music audience? Well that is a tough question to answer.
You see, Justice League is entirely sampled and has only a small number of additional solo instruments that give it a wider depth. The trumpet and woodwinds are then of course a welcome breath of fresh air during the many tracks. This doesn't take away that the samples can become too much to handle, simply due to the frenetic pace and scoring that is heard during the various action tracks. Especially in the first part does this concern me a lot.
The mysterious and dark "Main Titles" and "The Centre / Hal Shot Down" aren't the issue. Nor the noir theme for one of the characters namely "J'onn J'onzz Arrives". It has more to do with the moment when the action starts dictating the pace. In the beginning this soon transforms into a wild energetic ride. "The Flash Saves Las Vegas" handles it nicely with a more heroic note, while the frenetic pace actually works during the action. The heroic statement is actually cool during "Driving to Ferris / The Real Ferris". But along the line of the wacky and the insane are pieces like "Crazy Scientist", the menacing "Superman Ties it Up / J'onzz Bonds" with additional sampled choir and the 5 minute "Island Revealed / Superman Down", which does have nice moments but packed in chaotic droning nonetheless.
In between the nice heroic main theme fuels the racing suspense during "To Space", while that same strategy is expanded in "Mars Mission Mess". Here once again the madness is all over the place, and yet Manthei keeps things in the second part rather structured. Which can't be said of the first part and the total noisy mayhem.
At this point, you wanted the nice people at La-La Land to have stopped at 35 minutes. In truth it still would have made a much smoother album. Yet from track 17 it suddenly becomes more thrilling.
Manthei explained that the last action pieces were so intense, he had to give cohesion amidst the chaos. So he chose to create various action motifs and these really start to pay off in "Plan to Action". Give this an orchestral send off and you have a winning track. Because it is great to hear the heroic theme as a guide to a structured track towards its conclusion.
The frenetic point remains to a degree in "Thick of Battle" and yet it goes back to good developments in the second part. The climatic "The Flash vs. Centre / Last Bit of Business" becomes a totally out of control finale, where choir gives it that nice extra touch. It gives me fond memories of the great sampled Deadly Tide video game score. By then, "Victory", with its heartfelt trumpet, and End Credits, which is a real winner and a worthy send off, are pieces of well structured development and enjoyable cohesion. It actually makes you believe that there is more under the sampled tone then meets the eye.
Of course, due to budget restraints, Kevin Manthei couldn't flesh out his orchestral muscles like for instance a Michael Giacchino could have done. And that obviously makes me wonder,"what if"...
Yet the final product is still the sampled one and that doesn't change the various conclusions; Kevin Manthei gave all the characters their own theme, the samples and action mayhem can become a bit too much from time to time, ... The first part can't compete at all with the wonderful second half. And it's that part that makes me believe that despite the shortcomings, Justice League: The Final Frontier does have something that will interest various film music fans.
Tracklisting
1. Main Titles (2.01)
2. The Centre / Hal Shot Down (2.51)
3. J'onn J'onzz Arrives (0.52)
4. Wonder Woman Recounts / J'onzz Watches TV (2.12)
5. The Flash Saves Las Vegas (3.33)
6. J'onn Becomes John / Church Brawl (3.13)
7. Carol & Hal Banter (0.23)
8. Driving to Ferris / The Real Ferris (1.35)
9. Hal's Mission Revealed / Batman Surprises J'onzz / The Flash Fights Gorilla (2.53)
10. Crazy Scientist (1.38)
11. J'onzz Contemplates / J'onzz is Leaving (1.19)
12. To Space (1.28)
13. Mars Mission Mess (4.14)
14. New Green Lantern (3.57)
15. Superman Ties it Up / J'onzz Bonds (2.42)
16. Island Revealed / Superman Down (5.23)
17. Plan to Action (2.36)
18. Thick of Battle (4.33)
19. The Flash vs. Centre / Last Bit of Business (3.38)
20. Victory (3.10)
21. End Credits (3.01)
Total Length: 57.24
Composer Kevin Manthei, mostly known for his countless video game adaptations was called upon the task to score the adventures of the superheroes in the film. That La-La Land Records released a CD of it is surprising and yet isn't. The franchise does have many fans and understandably it will attract their attention. But does it have something of value for the unknowing film music audience? Well that is a tough question to answer.
You see, Justice League is entirely sampled and has only a small number of additional solo instruments that give it a wider depth. The trumpet and woodwinds are then of course a welcome breath of fresh air during the many tracks. This doesn't take away that the samples can become too much to handle, simply due to the frenetic pace and scoring that is heard during the various action tracks. Especially in the first part does this concern me a lot.
The mysterious and dark "Main Titles" and "The Centre / Hal Shot Down" aren't the issue. Nor the noir theme for one of the characters namely "J'onn J'onzz Arrives". It has more to do with the moment when the action starts dictating the pace. In the beginning this soon transforms into a wild energetic ride. "The Flash Saves Las Vegas" handles it nicely with a more heroic note, while the frenetic pace actually works during the action. The heroic statement is actually cool during "Driving to Ferris / The Real Ferris". But along the line of the wacky and the insane are pieces like "Crazy Scientist", the menacing "Superman Ties it Up / J'onzz Bonds" with additional sampled choir and the 5 minute "Island Revealed / Superman Down", which does have nice moments but packed in chaotic droning nonetheless.
In between the nice heroic main theme fuels the racing suspense during "To Space", while that same strategy is expanded in "Mars Mission Mess". Here once again the madness is all over the place, and yet Manthei keeps things in the second part rather structured. Which can't be said of the first part and the total noisy mayhem.
At this point, you wanted the nice people at La-La Land to have stopped at 35 minutes. In truth it still would have made a much smoother album. Yet from track 17 it suddenly becomes more thrilling.
Manthei explained that the last action pieces were so intense, he had to give cohesion amidst the chaos. So he chose to create various action motifs and these really start to pay off in "Plan to Action". Give this an orchestral send off and you have a winning track. Because it is great to hear the heroic theme as a guide to a structured track towards its conclusion.
The frenetic point remains to a degree in "Thick of Battle" and yet it goes back to good developments in the second part. The climatic "The Flash vs. Centre / Last Bit of Business" becomes a totally out of control finale, where choir gives it that nice extra touch. It gives me fond memories of the great sampled Deadly Tide video game score. By then, "Victory", with its heartfelt trumpet, and End Credits, which is a real winner and a worthy send off, are pieces of well structured development and enjoyable cohesion. It actually makes you believe that there is more under the sampled tone then meets the eye.
Of course, due to budget restraints, Kevin Manthei couldn't flesh out his orchestral muscles like for instance a Michael Giacchino could have done. And that obviously makes me wonder,"what if"...
Yet the final product is still the sampled one and that doesn't change the various conclusions; Kevin Manthei gave all the characters their own theme, the samples and action mayhem can become a bit too much from time to time, ... The first part can't compete at all with the wonderful second half. And it's that part that makes me believe that despite the shortcomings, Justice League: The Final Frontier does have something that will interest various film music fans.
Tracklisting
1. Main Titles (2.01)
2. The Centre / Hal Shot Down (2.51)
3. J'onn J'onzz Arrives (0.52)
4. Wonder Woman Recounts / J'onzz Watches TV (2.12)
5. The Flash Saves Las Vegas (3.33)
6. J'onn Becomes John / Church Brawl (3.13)
7. Carol & Hal Banter (0.23)
8. Driving to Ferris / The Real Ferris (1.35)
9. Hal's Mission Revealed / Batman Surprises J'onzz / The Flash Fights Gorilla (2.53)
10. Crazy Scientist (1.38)
11. J'onzz Contemplates / J'onzz is Leaving (1.19)
12. To Space (1.28)
13. Mars Mission Mess (4.14)
14. New Green Lantern (3.57)
15. Superman Ties it Up / J'onzz Bonds (2.42)
16. Island Revealed / Superman Down (5.23)
17. Plan to Action (2.36)
18. Thick of Battle (4.33)
19. The Flash vs. Centre / Last Bit of Business (3.38)
20. Victory (3.10)
21. End Credits (3.01)
Total Length: 57.24