Hellboy

I can't say that having Marco Beltrami's name on an album cover is something that excites me greatly, but the buzz surrounding Hellboy has been good and it proves to be true. Hellboy is yet another comic strip adaptation, but, I would suggest, one of the second tier characters like Daredevil (which itself sported a pretty decent Graeme Revell score). It also marks Beltrami's third major collaboration with director Guillermo del Toro, the other two receiving two of his finest scores; Mimic and Blade II. Beltrami seems ideal for the murkier world of Hellboy given his long horror score credit list, but the alternation between skittish mumbles and orchestral crashes is displaced with a mixture of broader heroics, a little churning building and some surprisingly moving interludes.
The opening rumble of Oct 7th, 1944 builds to a dissonant climax, which after the brief Meet Hellboy we have the Main Title, introducing Beltrami's darkly heroic main theme. It doesn't quite have the litheness of a darkened Elfman hero anthem, but is memorable enough and worked in successfully throughout the rest of the score, but without overkill. The best aspects of Hellboy are those that are the least expected, notably a number of quite moving interludes which provides a wider emotional scope than a flashier comic book score might allow. One of the finest occurs early on with Liz Sherman, a lovely string and horn led cue which makes a nice change of direction after the durm and strang of the opening. Having said that, the action of the following track, Fireproof, proves that Beltrami really can write great action music. Its bracing impact is heightened by the superb performance of the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and well defined recording. The quality is reinforced later in Alley Fight and Nazis.

There are plenty of other highlights; the aforementioned delicate tracks continue in fine form with the tragically epic Father's Funeral and the particularly lovely Investigating Liz. Kroenen's Lied (as in the German for song, not that he told a falsehood) is perhaps the most surprising track, a winning vocal duet performed by Desiree Goyette and Thomas Truhitte composed and performed in grand operatic style. B.P.R.D. ends the score in a more carnivalesque light, with a devilish hint of early Elfman and a rather more playful cap to an otherwise rather serious score. Hellboy easily stands alongside the many recent entries in the comic book to film genre and eclipses many of them. It makes me wonder how much more texture Beltrami might have added to X2 than John Ottman's exciting, but rather bland concoction. It certainly shows Beltrami to have more going for him with the right material, here's hoping he's onboard for more comic strip adventures. Danny Elfman could probably do with a week off.