James Christopher Monger of AllMusic praised the score as an "ethereal mix of stoic melodies and bold action cues" that conveyed the film's darker theme, but maintained a "soulful undercurrent" to reflect the protagonist's emotional journey.[6]Filmtracks.com wrote: "Howard improves upon his work in the franchise with this sequel, finally having the time to adequately develop his many themes into better representations of concepts in the film. The issue with this music continues to be muddy attributions of those themes and the composer's seeming inability to really shine with any of them. None of Howard's themes enunciates itself with enough consistency and clarity to truly serve as the franchise's musical identity [...] Some of Howard's own themes, especially the love theme, could still evolve into that dominant identity, but he may never get the opportunity if the productions insist upon having outside influences define the songs or source cues."[7]
Music critic Jonathan Broxton opined that the album is not competent with the predecessor's music, where the action music is "generally excellent" and rises to "exceptional emotional highs" in some occasion, but felt that the score is less than what demanded.[8] James Southall of Movie Wave criticised it as a "huge step down from the first score" with the majority of the album is a "tiresome drone" and hardly left anything from the predecessor's score. He disappointed on Howard failing to "grasp on a fine, distinctive score and extend it into something to give the series' a musical backdrop" and instead sounded it like a "Brand X score from that year".[9] Thomas Glorieux of Maintitles criticised the score as "long, boring, unrenewable" and lacked the highlights of the predecessor.[10]
Music composed and produced by – James Newton Howard
Co-producer – Jim Weidman, Sunna Wehrmeijer, Sven Faulconer
Synth programming – Christopher Wray, Dave Porter, Sunna Wehrmeijer, Sven Faulconer
Additional arrangements – Sunna Wehrmeijer, Sven Faulconer
Engineer – Matt Ward
Recording – Erik Swanson, Shawn Murphy
Mixing – Shawn Murphy
Mastering – Dave Collins
Music editor – David Olson
Supervising music editor – Jim Weidman
Score editor – David Channing
Technician – Chris Cozens, Richard Grant
Score coordinator – Pamela Sollie
Music preparation – Dakota Music Service
Packaging and design – Olivia Smith
Liner notes – Francis Lawrence
Instruments
Bass – Allen Walley, Leon Bosch, Mary Scully, Paddy Lannigan, Richard Pryce, Roger Linley, Steve Mair, Steve McManus
Cello – Anthony Lewis, Caroline Dearnley, Chris Worsey, Dave Daniels, Frank Schaefer, Ian Burdge, Joely Koos, John Heley, Jonathan Williams, Josephine Knight, Martin Loveday, Melissa Phelps, Nick Cooper, Paul Kegg, Josephine Knight (soloist)
Clarinet – Nicholas Bucknall
Dulcimer – Jon Banks
Ethnic flute – Jan Hendrickse
Fiddle – Sonia Slany (soloist)
Flute – Eliza Marshall, Karen Jones, Nina Robertson
Guitar – John Parricelli
Harp – Skaila Kanga
Horn – Carsten Williams, David Pyatt, John Thurgood, Martin Owen, Nigel Black, Phil Woods, Richard Berry, Richard Watkins, Simon Rayner
Oboe, cor Anglais – Chris Cowie, Daniel Bates
Percussion – Chris Baron, Frank Ricotti, Gary Kettel, Paul Clarvis, Sam Walton, Stephen Henderson, Bill Lockhart
Piano, celesta – Simon Chamberlain
Trombone – Andy Wood, Dave Stewart, Edward Tarrant, Mark Nightingale, Mike Hext, Richard Edwards, Roger Argente
Trumpet – Andy Crowley, Kate Moore, Paul Mayes, Simon Munday
Tuba – Oren Marshall, Owen Slade
Viola – Andy Parker, Bill Hawkes, Bob Smissen, Bruce White, Claire Finnimore, Don McVay, Edward Vander Spar, Fiona Bonds, Garfield Jackson, Helen Kamminga, Julia Knight, Kate Musker, Martin Humbey, Peter Lale, Phil D'arcy, Rachel Bolt, Reiad Chibah, Richard Cookson, Rusen Gunes, Steve Wright, Sue Dench, Vicci Wardman
Violin – Boguslaw Kostecki, Cathy Thompson, Chris Tombling, Clare Thompson, Debbie Preece, Debbie Widdup, Liz Edwards, Emlyn Singleton, Everton Nelson, Gaby Lester, Ian Humphries, Jonathan Rees, Jonathan Strange, Julian Leaper, Julian Tear, Kathy Gowers, Lorraine McAslan, Mark Berrow, Natalia Bonner, Patrick Kiernan, Perry Montague Mason, Philippa Ibbotson, Philippe Honoré, Ralph De Souza, Rita Manning, Robin Brightman, Roger Garland, Sonia Slany, Sophie Langdon, Steve Morris, Thomas Bowes, Tom Pigott-Smith, Warren Zelinski
Vocals
Alto – Alex Gibson, Amanda Dean, Claire Henry, Clara Sanabras, Deryn Edwards, Helen Brookes, Jo Marshall, Judith Rees, Nicola Beckley, Polly May
Bass – Cheyney Kent, James Holliday, John Evanson, Lawrence Wallington, Michael Dore, Neil Bellingham, Nigel Short, Russell Matthews, Simon Preece, Stefan Berkieta
Soprano – Ali Hill, Carys L. Robert, Cheryl Enever, Eleanor Meynell, Eli Rolfe Johnson, Elizabeth Drury, Grace Davidson, Jacqueline Barron, Natalie C. Griffiths, Rachel Major, Wendy Nieper
Tenor – Benedict Hymas, Benedict Quirke, Dan L. Thomas, Gareth Morris, Jon Bungard, Julian A. Smith, Peter Wilman, Richard E. Wilson, Richard Eteson, Simon Haynes, Tom Herford
Additional vocals – Sunna Wehrmeijer
Orchestra and choir
Orchestration – Jeff Atmajian, John Ashton Thomas, Jon Kull, Pete Anthony, Peter Bateman
Orchestra leader – Thomas Bowes
Orchestra and choir conductor – Pete Anthony
Orchestra contractor – Isobel Griffiths
Assistant orchestra contractor – Jo Buckley
Choir – London Voices
Choirmaster – Ben Parry, Terry Edwards
Management
Executive in charge of film music (Lionsgate) – Tracy McKnight, Rona Rapadas
Music business affairs (Lionsgate) – Lenny Wohl
Contact Administration – Karen Sidlow
Senior director of film music (Lionsgate)– Trevon Kezios
Music budget supervisor (Lionsgate) – Chris Brown
Film music coordinator (Lionsgate) – Nikki Triplett, Ryan Svendsen