Bond music disappears in 25th film.

With three months to go before a wrap in the production of No Time To Die, Bond producers fired composer Dan Romer, who departed due to creative differences with the film’s production company Eon Productions. After seeing the film, one wonders exactly what those creative differences were.

When Bond veteran David Arnold scored the first Eon Productions Bond, Casino Royal, I had hopes the powerful Bond music would continue to evolve, drawing from its rich legacy first crafted by Monty Norman and John Barry. But No Time To Die squashed the iconic themes. They peeked through in the harmony and deep echoes in the track, but essentially Bond’s unseen partner in dozens of scene was muzzled. Why?

There’s not a composer alive who doesn’t love Barry’s lush orchestrations and Norman’s guitar theme, so I hesitate to lay these choices at the feet of composer Hans Zimmer. But watching a classic Bond fight his way up a staircase to a generic soundtrack is like a punch in the gut.

The only reason I can find for firing Romer is he was being ‘too experimental.’ I see. So the choice is to go so generic you suck all the soul out of the Bond music?

There’s nothing wrong with some of Zimmer’s cues. The man scored ‘Gladiator,’ one of my fav scores ever, so Zimmer knows how to deliver emotion and drama in a film score. But here…