Written by UTG critic Grace Duffy, Scene & Heard takes a look at the music that makes our favorite films so memorable. Whether it’s the 400-piece orchestra Christopher Nolan used for The Dark Knight, or the dozen or so bands that contributed to the soundtrack of Top Gun, there is no denying the impact music has on movies and this column hopes to highlight the best of the best.

What kind of music do you think of when you picture Tony Stark? Leaving aside the various band tees the man has sported in his four cinematic outings to date, the very fact his alter-ego was immortalised in a Black Sabbath song ought to be evidence enough. Stark is pure rock ‘n’ roll swagger, all snide wit and droll charisma and impossible charm. He is the quintessential iconic frontman but one endowed with a healthy smattering of intellect to justify the crush. His films therefore necessitate a smouldering soundtrack – preened guitars and self-assured vocals and brash boldness to do the man justice. The first two Iron Man films and The Avengers managed to stay true to this – his initial appearance onscreen came with a blast of AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” après tout, which makes the rather fantastically awful artists’ soundtrack that accompanies his current screen venture all the more galling. Admittedly, this is a collection of songs “inspired by” the film as opposed to a soundtrack proper but it’s still baffling to see how ill-suited most of these tracks are to the film. On the basis of this album, you’d be forgiven for thinking Iron Man 3 was a pensive, philosophical character study about a gifted young man finding his way in the modern world, possibly nursing aspirations of an art career whilst a willowy manic pixie dream girl wafted about in the background. Obviously, it’s not. Good movie music ought to complement the source material and the drippy, generic, intensely boring songs evidenced here are so far removed from the delightfully deranged tone of Iron Man 3 that it’s bizarre. It may be a relatively minor complaint considering how brilliant the film is otherwise, but I can’t help feeling short-changed.

That said, the original score is beautifully arranged. The film opens with a gleeful remix of Eiffel 65’s “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” and this nostalgic, irreverent throwback informs much of the orchestral touches. Brian Tyler provides compositions that are as colourful and anarchic as the film, adding bombast and spectacle to the endless series of explosions and mayhem. The difference from the lukewarm artists’ soundtrack couldn’t be more striking. The latter is simpering where both film and score are heroic, bland where they’re electrifying, derivative where they’re innovative. There’s an intense introspection to many of the songs, fuelled by their indie leanings, that is completely at odds with the film’s firm and vibrant take on the superhero resurgence story. Their relationship to the plot is tenuous at best and even those few songs that make a discernible appearance in the film are somewhat blunt and rehearsed. Only one or two do anything to convey the emotional state or personality quirks of the characters. “Ready Aim Fire” by Imagine Dragons is one such song. Roughly-hewn and much more urbane than the band’s other work, it mixes a hesitant, humanistic theme into a stocky bass line for a fine depiction of Stark’s mindset at the film’s outset. It’s an eye-catching and rhythmic album opener but not the arresting surge of confidence one might expect. It pays as much attention to his misgivings as it does his prowess. “Keep Moving” by Andrew Stockdale is another worthy inclusion. It typifies the wild, zealous fearlessness of Stark’s demeanour with a bold guitar riff and ballsy vocals.

“Redemption” by Redlight King and “Big Bad Wolves” by Walk the Moon bring scale, something much-needed on the soundtrack to underline the extravagance of the production. They’re a touch generic, but both succeed as hearty and tempestuous anthems that capture the sheer inanity of the film’s climax. The Wondergirls deliver the end credits song, “Let’s Go All the Way.” It doesn’t bring much in terms of ambition or liveliness, but it does exude a sense of finality that’s in keeping with the conclusion of the film. Iron Man 3 doesn’t end on a particularly sombre note but there is a deep-rooted sense of satisfaction – at resolution and fulfilment and emotional security, and this song exemplifies that security.

The other songs on the soundtrack barely warrant a mention. Not all of them are particularly bad songs – Neon Trees and Mr Little Jeans make honourable efforts – but they’re all so divorced from the film that allegedly inspired them they make for painful listening. Iron Man 3 is immediate and gratifying, colourful and zany, wild with fervour for life. It doesn’t take itself seriously at all. Even its more intimate moments are treated with all the delicacy of a sledgehammer to the temple. So the floaty, insipid style evidenced on most of these tracks is a serious mood-killer. It could be that the studio wanted to pick the most inoffensive, flavourless, widely-accessible tracks possible for a tie-in album given the populist nature of the film. This is something I’ve reflected upon before in Marvel movies. But it seems to me that Tony Stark and Iron Man are two of the few characters who allow, if not compel, you to make brasher, bolder, larger-than-life choices as opposed to trendy scene splicing. It is disappointing to behold the watery drivel here when one could have had an album stuffed full of AC/DC, Metallica, Sabbath, Queen, and the Beastie Boys.

Then again, if Iron Man 3 had to have a failing, I’d rather it was this than anything in the film itself. The latter is a gleefully imparted bazooka of manic joy – so invest in multiple viewings, and leave the tritely-named Heroes Fall to one side.

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Grace Duffy

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