A review by JAMES SOUTHALL

Having hit new heights recently with his excellent score for Terminator 3 and then the even better, career-best Hellboy, Marco Beltrami was brought in as a last-minute replacement for Trevor Jones on Alex Proyas's big-budget adaptation of Isaac Asimov's I, Robot starring Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan and James Cromwell (who presumably must have somehow cloned himself, given how many movies and tv shows he seems to appear in these days).  Unfortunately (somewhat mirroring the situation for James Horner on Troy) Beltrami had just 17 days to write over 90 minutes of music for the movie.  This did enable him to provide gainful employment for every orchestrator in Hollywood (as the list on the left amply demonstrates) but also meant that he didn't quite have the time to craft a score as impressive as his previous two.

That said, there are still plenty of impressive moments.  The main theme (heard most expressively in the third track, actually the end title) is strident and powerful, if not the most memorable; and, as may be expected, the action music is impressive as well.  Beltrami is certainly turning out music not too far removed from what Jerry Goldsmith wrote on this type of film over countless years, especially with the odd meters and propulsive rhythmic base; cues like "Tunnel Chase", "Need Some Nanites" and "Spiderbots" are highly impressive.  Perhaps even better are the kind of "sunrise" moments of orchestral and choral majesty like "Chicago 2035" and the finale, "Round Up", which again aren't a million miles from Goldsmith, Total Recall in particular.

The most impressive thing of all, though, is the total absence of synth percussion loops.  Effective once in a while (especially when used by Danny Elfman), they have become so ubiquitous that their consistent use in virtually every "modern" film has become entirely tiresome.  Beltrami reminds us (who didn't need reminding) and, just perhaps, producers and directors (who did) that it's entirely possible to come up with thrilling action music without resorting to wheeling out the latest synth gadgetry.  Electronics are present here, but they seem like an organic extension of the orchestra, rather than something tacked on to mask the composer's deficiencies, which is usually the case.  

Now, I've done nothing but praise the score so far, but it is worth pointing out that it isn't plain sailing all the way.  I'm sure it's all down to the pressures of time, but even at a shade under three quarters of an hour, this score seems to contain some padding.  There are one or two tracks in which nothing much happens, and these certainly detract from the quality of some of the others, and perhaps Beltrami wasn't able to experiment as much with his orchestrations as he would have done had he been able.  The good more than outweighs the bad, however, and Beltrami is suddenly emerging as one of the more interesting composers out there.  With projects coming around with remarkable regularity, there should be much more to come.  This one's certainly recommended.

Tracks

1. Main Titles (1:31)
2. Gangs of Chicago (3:13)
3. I, Robot Theme (3:15)
4. New Arrivals (1:06)
5. Tunnel Chase (3:10)
6. Sonny's Interrogation (1:27)
7. Spooner Spills (4:21)
8. Chicago 2035 (1:37)
9. Purse Snatcher (1:00)
10. Need Some Nanites (2:53)
11. 1001 Robots (4:16)
12. Dead Robot Walking (5:09)
13. Man on the Inside (2:25)
14. Spiderbots (4:19)
15. Round Up (4:24)