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Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you've had enough of Danny Elfman's children's music over the past few years and anticipate a rowdy ass-kicking of new synthetic samples and wild drum loops meant to prod you out of your seat. Avoid it... if relentlessly harsh and frantic electronic rhythms with gritty sound effects were bad enough for you in their late 90's prime and Elfman's take on the simplistic, brutish approach to action scoring is only marginally more intriguing. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
Elfman's orchestra, consisting of strings and a collection of horns, is barely audible in The Kingdom, made almost completely unnecessary by Elfman's clear intent on electronic domination. There are two distinct sides of his score for The Kingdom, both electronic. The first is the absolutely relentless and cold-hearted rhythms, with drum loops so procedurally mechanical that they make many of the standard Media Ventures/Remote Control library sounds seem like baby pacifiers. As the film opens with a history of Saudi Arabia from the time that oil is discovered until September, 2001, Elfman pours on the slapping, harsh tones, deeply resonating in the bass regions due to electric bass and drums. Sound effects imitating electronic currents zapping through an open circuit are accompanied by the clanging of garbage can lids and some of the more wildly in-your-face synthetic specialties that John Debney uses in dumb films like The Tuxedo. The difference here is that the sounds are deadly serious, accompanied in this opening track by the most prevalent role for the strings and horns in the score. Scenes of attacks and chasing take these sounds and mix them backwards, chop them into frantic rhythms, and provide continued accents from the strings and horns in distinctly disturbing, dissonant fashion. Some retro bass keyboarded meanderings in "The Chase" sound like vintage Brad Fiedel work. Other parts recall some of the ultimate in macho retro synth sounds from the days of Vince DiCola and the original The Transformers film. These wild and seemingly completely unorganized sequences of raw energy are good at propelling action, but they accomplish absolutely nothing in terms of intelligent progression from point 'A' to point 'B.' They are detached sound effects mixed as much in the forefront as obnoxiously possible. Perhaps some humor can be had in samples like the electronic elephant wails at about 2:20 into "Starting to Click." It gets increasingly ridiculous the more closely you analyze it. Tempering these several lengthy cues is a primary theme for the team of investigators. Performed on electric guitar over pleasant electric bass and keyboarded accompaniment, this theme is introduced in "Waiting" and is beautifully presented in the long "Finale" track. While this theme won't earn any awards, its slow, harmonic waves move effortlessly in such a relaxing manner as to seem like a godsend compared to the rest of the score. The most interesting aspect of The Kingdom is the complete disregard for any sort of ethnic representation in the music for the location. A cue like "To the Prince's" is a raw display of brute American power, as is almost every part of this score. Not even a token Arabian chord progression exists in The Kingdom. Scenes of explosives being prepared for another attack are handled with the same electronically frenetic blasts of America's most mechanized musical technology. As such, The Kingdom comes across as a distinctly simplistic and unenlightened score. Elfman handles this film with red, white, and blue gloves, translating the electronics of Hollywood's most futuristic technological thrillers of the late 1990's into a seemingly incongruous situation. This music just as easily could have been used in a drug-smuggling movie located in America's desert Southwest. Additionally, outside of the awkwardly subdued moments of thematic contemplation by electric guitar, the music has no higher developmental purpose. In other words, even if the rhythmic blasting gets your pulse racing in the theatre, those drum loops and sampled sound effects don't mature or evolve during the film as the plot unfolds. They are simply a blunt tool, and one not even as interesting as some of the similar shades exhibited in this score's closest Elfman relative, Proof of Life. The harmonic performances of theme will save the album for many listeners, especially in the long "Finale," but a lack of intelligence in the rest of the proceedings dooms The Kingdom to levels of mediocrity. **
The insert includes a list of performers, but no extra information about the score or film. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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