Soundtrack Review: Babylon A.D. (2008)

Posted by Jorn Tillnes

October 15, 2008

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101508-1610-soundtrackr11 Soundtrack Review: Babylon A.D. (2008) This is a review of the motion picture score for Babylon A.D. by Atli Orvarsson.

“I can’t single out one bad cue on this score, but it feels like a medley sometimes and it will no doubt be one of the darker scores you’ll ever hear with very few optimistic highlights”

I’ve been excited for this one for a while. It is Atli Orvarsson’s second score of the year after the very exciting Vantage Point. With a score like that he has a lot to live up to. Although we are familiar with his style, Babylon A.D. is a very different movie than Vantage Point. It is set in the near future, a very negative one at that in a post-apocalyptic setting (at least in Russia). A mercenary by the name of Toorop is hired to escort a woman named Aurora from Central Asia to New York. A lot of people want to get their hand on her as she is carrying twins with the potential to be the next messiah. It’s a dark science fiction movie with religious undertones. It is touted as an action movie and I got a chance to see it last weekend. The movie was ok, nothing spectacular, but will the score to Babylon A.D. impress?

Track List

Aurora’s Theme (Agnus Dei) (****)
Babylon Requiem (***)
Aurora Borealis (***)
Leaving The Monastery (***)
The Cold Walk (***)
Too Many Refugees (****)
Aurora And Toorop (****)
Snow Travel (***)
Rover Chase (***)
Entering New York City (****)
Mystery Package (***)
Skyscraper (***)
The Marketplace (****)
Toorop Is Home (***)
The Monastery Is Destroyed (***)
Train Travel (****)
Are You Afraid To Die? (***)
Are You A Killer, Mr. Toorop? (***)
Sister Rebecca (***)
Future Vision (***)
Save The Planet
Leaving The Monastery (Fox Version) (***)
One Child At A Time (***)

Not Chronological

One thing that I noticed after watching the movie is that the tracks are not necessarily in chronological order. Does it matter? Yes it does, read on. There’s nothing uplifting about the movie and the score successfully reflects that. Be warned of imminent depression. Not because the score is particularly bad, but it is a real mood killer to listen to as it goes on and on about how bad it is and it will all end soon. “Save The Planet” is Vin Diesel’s slight ironic opening statement to this movie, but he knows it will all end in darkness and the message got through to Atli Orvarsson who has crafted a dark and moody score.

Scary And Dark

It starts with Agnus Dei, and it is very creepy, so much in fact that you might think you are listening to a horror score. There is not much creepier than a child singing Agnus Dei, and here Atli Orvarsson has made it even creepier by using effect on the voice so it doesn’t sound clear, but throaty, like the last hope of humanity. It goes on in similar fashion and a lot of choirs are used throughout the score, be it men or women and even throat singers like in the scary cue “The Marketplace” which is the darkest cue on the soundtrack. As I kept listening to it I knew this was going to be a really tough score to review because of a few reasons which I will explain shortly. I don’t mind dark scores, in fact I love it, not that I am a dark person or anything. There is just something about dark scores that makes you reflect over your life and the way of the world.

Consistent

Consistency is the strong point point of Atli’s score, but also its biggest weakness. Let me explain. The Babylon A.D. soundtrack has 23 tracks, and lasts for about an hour, but that hour could easily have been shortened, and should have been, to at least half that. What is very apparent is that although it is pretty, well made and easy to listen to, is that it is constant and at some point you stop caring. I like to care about my movie scores, really get into them and enjoy them, but for me it ends on track 16 “Train Travel” which happens to be the best cue on the score with a hypnotic rhythm and hissing, almost angry voices in the background. Tracks 17 to 22 are just one long draught, one long track which has been played and re-played before on this very score. Track 23 ends like it begins, with Agnus Dei.

It isn’t all bad as I can’t single out one bad cue on this score, but it feels like a medley sometimes and it will no doubt be one of the darker scores you’ll ever hear with very few optimistic highlights. Even when Atli tries to bring a little optimism into it in the cue “Aurora and Toorop”, it ends on a negative note. I don’t mean to sound negative here, but it is what I feel after listening to Babylon A.D. It is just too consistent and even if it’s supposed to be an action movie, there are only a couple of cues that might resemble Atli’s excellent action cues for Vantage Point. The tracks “Too Many Refugees”, “Snow Travel” and “Rover Chase” are weak attempt at scoring action. Perhaps I got it all wrong, but I could swear I heard some more action cues in the movie that isn’t on the soundtrack. I mentioned earlier about the jumbling of the tracks, and perhaps it would have been better if they mixed in the tedious cues from track 17 and onwards into earlier stages or just went all chronological.

Conclusion

Babylon A.D. leaves me with an impression that Atli Orvarsson could and should do better, but I still like him as a composer, and between Babylon A.D. and Vantage Point shows heaps of unleashed potential. His next score will be for “Thick As Thieves” which has yet to be confirmed if there will be a score release or not. If you are looking for constant doom and gloom without variation, then this is a score right you will no doubt enjoy. It lacks a strong theme to make it stand out, and Agnus Dei just don’t cut it I’m afraid. Should you buy it? To support Atli Orvarsson, absolutely, but take a good listen below to Babylon A.D. by Atli Orvarsson first and then make your decision.

101508-1610-soundtrackr22 Soundtrack Review: Babylon A.D. (2008)