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King Kong Composed by James Newton Howard |
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Track Listing | |||
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01 - King Kong
(1:09)
Neither Beast Nor Man (2:38) |
11 - Beautiful
(4:08) |
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Orchestrated by Pete Anthony, Pat Russ, Brad Dechter, Jon Kull, Bruce Babcock, Frank Bennett, and Conrad Pope Conducted by Pete Anthony, Mike Nowak, and Bruce Babcock Produced by James Newton Howard and Jim Weidman Released by Decca Records on December 13th, 2005 |
Total Running Time: 47:01 |
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I generally try to refrain from reviewing a film within the context of a score review. Readers of this site have probably noticed that it happens, but for the most part I try to limit my thoughts on the film to generalizations. I like to set the stage and nothing else. However, it would be impossible to give any sort of score review for King Kong without first putting down my thoughts on the film itself. I simply could not go through a review of the music without first allowing my critique of the film to finally have some form of written expression. As with most of us, I grew up with the 1933 original. I either managed to catch it when it was on (usually on AMC, back when it was a far better channel than it is now), or I’d see the listing for some late night hour and throw a tape in. And even though it has been many years since I last saw it (I’m planning on checking out the nice DVD version that came out a short while ago), I still know the basics of the story well enough. And staying true to the source material is something I can definitely appreciate Jackson for doing, even down to setting the remake in the same time period. And a nice little bone that he throws to the fans happens with a throwaway line that references the original film in a “real-world” context. The cast is generally well-rounded, with Jack Black giving a far better performance than what most critics gave him credit for and Naomi Watts absolutely nailing that “beautiful innocence” that her character requires. Adrian Brody probably fares the worst, more so for the fact that his character is the weakest out of them all (I have to admit that my favorite character in the whole film is the captain of the Venture. He was just cool) and isn’t given much to do except brood in the beginning and then turn into an action hero of sorts. The special effects from WETA (as can be expected) are generally well done, especially in regards to the recreation of 1930s New York City (in fact, the billboards that are seen in the city are straight from the original film itself). However, other than King Kong (who looks amazing in practically every shot), the rest of the creatures on Skull Island are less than convincing. It’s sad when a twelve-year-old film (Jurassic Park) has more realistic looking CG dinosaurs. A lot of them were modeled from the dinosaurs that appeared in the original film, but it seems that the artists went too far in trying to distance themselves from Jurassic Park to the point where the dinosaurs started to look cartoony. And if trying to separate this film from Spielberg’s was in anyway attempted by the filmmakers, the whole effort was lost as soon as the velociraptors appeared on the scene. This leads us to the action. Heart-stopping and heart-pounding, Jackson’s envisioning of the horrors of Skull Island are well done, but he dwells on them for far too long. I love good action sequences just as much as the next guy, and I can’t think of any time I’ve ever been like “ok, isn’t that enough already?” until I saw this film. The whole second act almost feels like one long chase scene, in which you marvel that every person on the island isn’t dead after the first five minutes. Seriously, what these people live through is beyond belief, even for a film like this. And this brings about to the most common criticism of the remake, which you’ve probably heard at least a dozen times already. Having already been of the opinion that a lot of the films released in Hollywood in the last decade have been bloated, it was only a confirmation of that feeling watching this movie. The original was 100 minutes long. This film should have been about the same. And it’s entirely in the realm of possibility. Many of the action sequences should have been cut down, or cut out entirely (the Spider Pit scene, despite the appropriately disturbing demise of Andy Serkis’ Cook character, and the “T-Rex’s-in-vines” scene). The opening prologue is completely extraneous to the story, and the film would be better off without it. In addition to that, some of the scenes between Ann and Kong are incredibly cheesy to the point where you find yourself feeling embarrassed for the actors (the ice skating scene anyone? That could have cut a good ten minutes or so right there!). You know, this film review is already longer than most of the full reviews I put together here and I’m not even finished with everything I have to say. So, in order to move on and not be as bloated as this film, I’ll sum it up. It’s worth watching in the theater for the big screen and surround sound experience, but please have a life and don’t go to see this multiple times. And now we move on (finally!) to the score. Originally a Howard Shore collaboration, he left the project under “creative differences” and was replaced virtually last minute by James Newton Howard (though Shore is seen near the end of the film conducting an orchestra that is performing a cue from the original Max Steiner score). The style is very much James Newton Howard in the quieter cues (with those flowing string passages that I so love about his work), though when the going gets tough, he lets it all hang out in a way that I haven’t really heard since Vertical Limit. Even then, nothing in that score comes close to the intensity found in this one. Still, much like the film, some of these cues (as good as they can get at times) go on for far too long. Stylistically, Howard fits the period and the feeling of the film quite well. It’s more simplified in construction, and it imbues the heart of a Silver Age score even if it’s not paying an outright homage. The only direct homage to Steiner is with the aforementioned Shore scene in the film, and that music is not found on the album. Even so, Howard’s capture of the spirit and feeling works well enough that I didn’t find it a problem. Could this score have been better? Of course. Will you really even mind? Not really. Howard’s King Kong is appropriate epic and poignant at the same time (in fact, more successful than the film at certain moments) and another testament to the creative impulses that are derived from working under pressure. Howard fans looking to hear him cut loose a little bit will appreciate it, as well as people who, like myself, couldn’t help but notice the score within the film. |
See Also
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