300: Rise of an Empire: (Tom Holkenborg) More
glorified gore? Yes! More questionable history? Yes! More poor character
development? Yes! More desaturation of colors? Yes! More insufferable
pacing? Yes! More stolen music? Yes! More false abdominal muscles?
Absolutely yes! When director Zack Snyder decided to extend his Frank
Miller graphic novel adaptations of the ancient world to the screen
after the sensational success of 2007's
300, he was careful not
to mess with the winning equation. And why should he? The stylish show
of flesh and blood was immensely popular, not just because of all the
splattering fluids but also the fortuitous nudity and hilarious bronzing
agents used to paint fake abs on all the actors. For the purpose of
300: Rise of an Empire in 2014, almost everything stays the same
outside of some main actors who refused to return, perhaps out of shame.
The details of the plotline are irrelevant; the battles between the
Persians, Greeks, and Spartans roll along in such a way as to horrify
historians once again. Anyone familiar with these cultures will
recognize that most of the storyline of
300: Rise of an Empire is
utter crap (ignore for a moment that the main villainess, Artemisia, was
much wiser than depicted and thus survived the war), history placing the
principle characters of this tale in different places at the time and
place of its supposed setting. With a weaker hero in this sequel,
300: Rise of an Empire wasn't the stunning success of its
predecessor, but that didn't stop the production from at least
attempting to emulate what little positive buzz remains from the
previous film's score by Tyler Bates. That music for
300 by
Bates, of course, is the most famous studio-acknowledged incident of
plagiarism in modern film music history, Bates lifting portions very
clearly from Elliot Goldenthal's
Titus without altering it enough
to avoid censure. For
300: Rise of an Empire, Bates is
understandably gone, but the plagiarism astonishingly remains. Snyder,
now serving primarily as writer and producer for this second film,
originally had rising Argentinian composer Federico Jusid signed to
write the music. Later in the production process, however, Snyder did
what any filmmaker with more marketing prowess than artistic sensibility
would do: run to Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions for salvation.
What replacement did he exit with? Tom Holkenborg, otherwise known as
electronica artist Junkie XL.
Holkenborg had been under the roof of Remote Control
for several years, originally collaborating with Harry Gregson-Williams
before becoming one of Zimmer's primary collaborators on
The Dark
Knight Rises,
Man of Steel, and a number of other projects.
It should come as no surprise that the score for
300: Rise of an
Empire is a purely Remote Control effort, the entire crew of the
score saturated with its employees. What's more laughable is the fact
that the filmmakers of this franchise decided not to avoid much pretext
about plagiarism for the sequel despite the public punishment lingering
from the predecessor. Instead, they simply hired a composer for whom
plagiarism of the desired sound was not only acceptable but expected.
The music resulting from Holkenborg is nothing more than rehashed ideas
from numerous Zimmer-led scores, mainly those in the Batman and Superman
franchises, and some of the similarities are laughable. Who knew, for
instance, that the backstory of Artemisia would be identified musically
with that of Bruce Wayne? Hearing the swooshing cape effect here does
make you wonder. And what about the drum barrages from
Man of
Steel for the naval escapades in this film? Does Superman need a
bronzing agent for his abs, too? And what of the low brass and string
action anthems? The lamenting female vocals? The pounding on key
incessantly? Everything else? Holkenborg reportedly did so well
emulating the Remote Control sound that Zimmer didn't "need" to step in
to assist him or assign a number of hapless ghostwriters to the cause.
The irony of Holkenborg's involvement here is that he claims to have
done a significant amount of research in preparing for this score,
involving a sitar, duduk, and a variety of other ethnically viable
instruments for the occasion, the types of items he doesn't normally
work with. He even went so far as to authorize a recreation of an
ancient Greek flute. Unfortunately, these elements only sound like sad
cliches as utilized; in fact, he may as well have just employed a kazoo
from the John Powell playbook as far as most listeners are concerned.
It's doubtful that "A Beach of Bodies" would have been received
differently. Likewise, the effect of the mournful vocals has reached a
new low in
300: Rise of an Empire, the duo of "Xerxes' Thoughts"
and "Queen Gorgo" languishing in vague middle-Eastern lamentation that
would reside nicely on a world new age album but sounds cheap in this
context. If you want to extend the plagiarism debate, compare "Queen
Gorgo" to Trevor Jones'
Cleopatra television score from the late
1990's.
All facetious derision of this franchise and its music
aside, the frustrating aspect of
300: Rise of an Empire is that
Holkenborg had all the right ingredients to write a score that satisfied
the filmmakers but also transcending stereotypes. All you have to do is
look to Dario Marianelli's stunning music for
Agora from 2009 to
see these same instruments expressed with genuine historical thought.
Instead, Holkenborg decided to resort to blatantly stupid pounding
rhythms for the battle sequences, passages ripped from
Man of
Steel (note the exact same team of orchestrators on the two scores)
without any need when even a more tastefully applied lesson from
Goldenthal could have proven helpful here. The loop issue in
300:
Rise of an Empire is crippling, so much of the score moving at a
fixed pace, whether in action or character development. The rhythm of
"From Man to God King" is worthy of a B-rate "Godzilla Vs.
Pterodactyloid Man" fantasy. Try discerning any important changes in
momentum in "Fire Battle" or "Greeks on Attack" and you'll be left at a
loss. The Taiko drums in these sequences are another issue to contend
with; compare this ancient naval application of them to what Clint
Mansell did sparingly in
Noah and you'll notice leagues of
difference in style. For Remote Control enthusiasts, there will be some
entertainment in the more melodic portions to develop out of these
parts, especially late in the score. The long "History of the Greeks"
returns to the
King Arthur mold of anthemic bombast, expanded
upon in "Greeks are Winning." Zimmer collectors will especially
appreciate these two cues of lower brass muscularity. It's unfortunate
that the "End Credits" recycles the
Man of Steel material again,
however. On the whole, there will be people who take no issue with the
derivative nature of this entire score. The action bombast will stir the
loins and the mournful vocals and solos for exotic instruments will
soothe the nerves. But you can't help but wonder what fantastic parody
that a composer such as Christopher Lennertz could continue to conjure
out of this kind of music. His music for 2008's
Meet the Spartans
lampooned scores like
300 and
300: Rise of an Empire so
well that you have to wish that he gets another crack at it, preferably
for a movie showing Terry Crews standing atop a sea cliff doing "pec
pops" at approaching ships. Until then, at least Holkenborg and Warner
Brothers won't suffer the humiliation of being forced to place the
statement "*Derived in Part from Preexisting Compositions Not Authored
by Junkie XL" on the DVD covers of
300: Rise of an Empire. After
all, who cares anymore if everyone is plagiarizing Hans Zimmer? Isn't
that the goal of the entire industry?
** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
The insert includes a list of performers but no extra information
about the score or film.
