National Treasure

Trevor Rabin

Rating: 3.6


National Treasure, a 2004 Indiana Jones-esque flick, has been both hailed as highly entertaining, and criticized as completely unbelievable. No doubt, a treasure map on the back of the declaration of independence seems unlikely. Yet it cannot be denied that the movie has a certain charm. It really is a breath of fresh air to have such a family-friendly action adventure that is this entertaining.

National Treasure might be Indiana Jones-esque; its score is most certainly not. Trevor Rabin was brought on board to score the movie, and the guitarist wrote basically what everyone expected. Some have mistakenly put Rabin in the list of hollywood composers to come out of Media Ventures (now called Remote Control Productions), and, while this is not true, there is a definite Media Ventures sound to this album. I will not deny that every once in a while I am in the right mood for it. But usually it is the same sort of mood that I would listen to pop or rock music in.

Interestingly, there are moments when Rabin throws off completely the modern Media Ventures sound that he employs for most of the score, opting for a pure orchestral texture. He even manages to build to a climax without relying on the usual percussion and guitars. But in these moments Rabin's lack of classical training is on display, and, while some moments are nice, overall there is not much of interest. The writing is usually overly homophonic, which is curious, considering he has no problem in this area with his modern, guitar driven pieces. Probably the reason is that he decided to make the purely orchestral moments very noble, but failed to realize how this could be done interestingly.

The modern Rabin sound, mentioned above, is actually pulled off quite well. He manages to create some interesting textures with his combinations of synthesizers, electric guitar and drum loops. However, he rarely moves past the rhythmic and textural side of music, to put any sort of meaning into his music. What he writes serves as a fine background to add adrenaline to chase scenes, and a touch of nobility to 'big' moments. But fine background music does not make fine album music in this case, and by the end the listener has been completely worn out by the constant percussion and insistent use of the same themes over and over again.

One of the more original tracks is "Library Of Congress", which showcases some quite interesting piano writing. Beginning promisingly, it introduces it's little piano theme over somewhat laid-back percussion. But, unfortunately, the track quickly becomes predictable, and is as repetitious as the rest of the score.

Some compare National Treasure with Indiana Jones, and while the comparison may be valid for the movies, there is no point in doing so with the score. Nor should Rabin have created a Williams adventure score for this, as the movie-making techniques are all deferent. Whereas Indiana Jones was more staged, National Treasure is close-up in its production. Rabin could have been the right choice as composer, if he had chosen to move out of the mindlessly repetitious and create something original and interesting. Unfortunately, the good ideas he had are completely worn out from over-usage by the end of the album.

-Colin Thomson


Track List:

National Treasure Suite
Ben
Finding Charlotte
Library Of Congress
Preparation Montage
Arrival At National Archives
The Chase
Declaration Of Independence
Foot Chase
Spectacle Discovery
Interrogation
Treasure