Soundtrack Review: Legion (2010)

Posted by Jorn Tillnes

January 28, 2010

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Movie Soundtrack Review: This is a review of the motion picture score Legion by John Frizzell.

“The most exciting moment was when I got the score, not while listening to it.”

It’s time for another Supernatural movie, in fact it sounds a bit like the series Supernatural. God loses faith in all humans and sends a legion of angels to bring forth the end of the world. The only hope us humans have is the Archangel Michael apparently. Sounds a bit lame if you ask me, but hey, I do enjoy Supernatural so I can’t be a hypocrite now can I? This falls more into the horror genre than in the fantasy genre from what I have seen and John Frizzell is the composer.

Track List
01. When I Was a Little Girl (***)
02. Michael Descends (***)
03. It’s Started (***)
04. Old and Pissed Off (****)
05. This is Not a Test (***)
06. Clouds Don’t Buzz (***)
07. The Aftermath (***)
08. Now What? (***)
09. They’re Here (****)
10. The Ice Cream Man (**)
11. Attack and the Possessed (***)
12. We Got ‘Em Running (***)
13. God’s Plan (****)
14. Percy’s Story (****)
15. Dark World (****)
16. Bob Blames Himself (****)
17. I Didn’t Even Want This Baby (****)
18. Open The Door (***)
19. Are We Safe Now? (***)
20. A Rebellious Son (***)
21. The Battle (***)
22. Die Like One of Them (****)
23. That is Why You Failed Him (****)
24. You Are the True Protector (****)
25. You Are the True Protector (Alternate Version) (****)

Is it just me, or am I reluctant when it comes to listening to horror scores? Well more reluctant than for example a fantasy score. It’s this predetermined notion that I already know what to expect. Sometimes I get surprised, but most of the time I do not. As for John Frizzell, his horror scores have never exactly thrilled me. Last one I heard was The Reaping which wasn’t great. Legion does have some fantasy appeal to it which is why I hope this has some adventurous and bold cues.

Adventurous?

As for adventurous, scratch that. What you’ll hear when you listen to the score is, yes you guessed it, uninspiring horror music. The kind no one really can enjoy outside of a movie. But wait, it does get better. ‘Old and Pissed off’ is the score’s first good cue. It’s good because it has a nice theme, very dark and glooming, which is very welcome at this point. Don’t give up listening to it after track 3, because there are more like this in the wings. God has a plan you see and in ‘God’s Plan’ and the following cues ‘Percy’s Story’ and ‘Dark World’, we suddenly get invited to another realm of Legion. This realm is more inviting, it has more depth and warmth than the usual horror stuff. Just skip the mediocre parts because this is where you want to be.

It’s incredibly dark this score, in fact very depressive. It doesn’t move me emotionally, but perhaps it is because I’m a happy guy. Sadly there are no cues that put me in a different emotional state, no cues powerful enough to stir something inside me. Legion might be a fine movie, but its music is emotionally dull to me. This is the way it goes sometimes with horror scores. You want to write for the film and director first because ultimately it’s what works on film that matters. There’s not much consideration for us who just enjoy listening to scores for pure entertainment.

Conclusion

I will say this, it never gets exciting for me. The most exciting moment was when I got the score, not while listening to it. I do like angels and demons so I’ll probably watch this movie and I’m 100% sure it will be better in the film than as a standalone musical experience. I hope that Frizzell does some more drama/comedy scores like Henry Poole Was Here which I thought was a wonderful score. This score is not so much to shout hurrah for, and unfortunately my expectations were met.