By Michael Giacchino

Backlot music, out now

Michael Giacchino’s score for the saga-ending Dominion

From the opening notes of the Logos and intros track, Giacchino here eschews the expected build-up of the deep dark notes of a mysterious island, and even the franchise’s main theme, instead plunging headlong into flowing sweeping threads evoking the theme of wonder, pounding action drums, and electric guitars. It’s a musical cold-open action couple of tracks, and it works, and sets the tone for the rest of this score.

There some lovely passages of light and reflective echoing piano tracks, almost unrecognisable as the themes of the franchise or the returning characters at first, but actually with a good set of headphones there are the ingredients of those themes and tones in there, like buried treasure among the pleasant and summery character motifs for this movie, deep in its DNA. There are also some surprise moments and airs, like the very 80s Doctor Who ish “Clonely You” track.

For the most part, though this is less a franchise album than a straight-up comic book action score. Which, to be fair, is really what the movie is: a roundup of comic book dino action scenes turned up to eleven, and that is exactly what this sounds like.

That said, the Jurassic Park theme is present, hidden and buried to start with, catching at the ears in “The Campfire In Her Soul,” before swelling gloriously in the suite containing “Alan For Granted, with the themes for his and Laura Dern’s characters from the original movie. More of John Williams’s motifs then return through “The Wages Of Biosyn,” mixed with an almost John Barry-ish stealth and mood take, just to really spread the musical action-movie style into further corners, building up tension with new elements that could be spliced into a hi-tech modern spy movie, before coming back to the park… It’s a beautiful roundabout tour in sections like these.

From “A Free Range Kindapping” through to “Da Plane And Da Cycle” we’re treated to dynamic pulse-pounding hi-tech action scoring, with hints of Trek-like sci fi in the Biosyn elements and tracks. It doesn’t sound like the score for any of Giacchino’s Mission: Impossible projects, but certainly proves the value of his experience with those, catching a great tone to listen to for some thrills and excitement.

“You’re Making Me Feel Wu-zy” brings up back to a quieter selection of character-thematic tracks and tension building, and then we’re into the last third of the album- a flowing set of delicious actious action cues of all kinds, thrilling the ears with sweep and pound and lift and fall until finally in the last three or four tracks things calm down with more melodic character pieces.

Verdict: The lack of a triumphant blare of the theme from a glorious T-Rex moment is a little disappointing, but otherwise this is a perfectly fine everything-and-the-kitchen-sink action adventure score. It relies less – or at least less obviously – on familiarity, using those parts more precisely and effectively, yet brings us all the musical styles that fit, from every corner of the orchestra, be it airy woodwinds, flowing string, percussion and plucking, synth, you name it. Few memorable themes or leitmotifs, though there are a couple, but a good background listen to read or potter around to. 8/10.

David A McIntee

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