THE MATRIX

DON DAVIS

Rating:

Original Review: It's the end of the world as we know it. Michael Stipe's ironically apt lyrics for the classic song by REM ring true throughout The Matrix, the latest in a long line of reality-shifting science fiction stories to hit the silver screen. Directed by brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski, The Matrix stars Keanu Reeves as an ordinary Joe whose world is turned upside down - literally - when he discovers that the Universe as he knows it is nothing more than a vast illusion created by an unknown entity, who controls an ecosystem known as The Matrix - but what exactly is the Matrix? Reeves, along with his rubber-clad sidekick Carrie-Ann Moss and a mysterious vigilante played by Laurence Fishburne, spend the rest of the movie finding out.

The movie's mega-successful song compilation album attracted star names such as Marilyn Manson, The Prodigy and Rob Zombie, but for the score the Wachowskis again have turned to top Hollywood orchestrator Don Davis, whose solo composing career to date has included the noir-thriller Bound, the children's fantasy Warriors of Virtue, and a whole slew of TV and straight-to-video movies. Davis has repaid their continued support with an ear-shattering sci-fi score which is always appropriate, undoubtedly enjoyable, but which sounds strangely familiar to this seasoned listener.

Davis is certainly an excellent composer, and his skills as an orchestrator have been honed to such an extent that the music in The Matrix is consistently and genuinely interesting to listen to - Davis has allowed his music to contain a fair share of surprises during its 30-minute running time. Davis's score is not derivative as such, but you can certainly make an educated guess as to his inspiration. There's a heavy hint of the Alien trilogy in many of the cues, from the low, blatting brasses in "The Power Plant" and the incessantly hammering anvils and slow-burn crescendos in "The Hotel Ambush" (read: James Horner), to the elegiac boy soprano vocals in "Welcome to the Real World" and darkly romantic climax in "Anything Is Possible" (read: Elliot Goldenthal). There are moments, though, when Davis simply goes for orchestral and choral broke, letting his own pulsating action music rise to accompany a couple of the film's killer martial-arts inspired fight sequences. The end of "Trinity Infinity", the opening moments of "The Power Plant", and the cues "Bullet-time" and "Ontological Shock" are especially of note.

Because of The Matrix's enormous box-office success in the United States, the profile of Don Davis looks certain to ascend along with that of Reeves, Moss and the Wachowski brothers. As a piece of music, The Matrix is thoroughly entertaining, but is in no way Davis' best work to date, mainly because of the obviously heavy influence of the Alien scores. However, with the high profile of this score, and the critical acclaim he received for Bound and the excellent but grossly overlooked Warriors of Virtue, I am confident of better things to come.

Track Listing: Running Time: 30 minutes 13 seconds

Varèse Sarabande VSD-6026 (1999)

Music composed, conducted and orchestrated by Don Davis. Soprano solos performed by Thed Lebow. Recorded and mixed by Armin Steiner. Edited by Lori Eschler-Frystak, Jordan Corngold and Brenda Heins. Mastered by Erick Larson. Album produced by Don Davis.


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