Godzilla vs. Kong: (Tom Holkenborg) In Japan, there
have been countless films depicting the famed Godzilla versus
something, with that "something" including every conceivable
bizarre creature except for Donald J. Trump. (Give it time.) The 2021
movie
Godzilla vs. Kong represents the first of these massive,
dedicated kaiju face-offs from Hollywood, serving as a direct sequel to
2017's
Kong: Skull Island and 2019's
Godzilla: King of the
Monsters. The hopelessly ridiculous plot of the 2021 follow-up
proposes that there is a hollow area within the planet, literally called
"Hollow Earth" and not yet claimed by the rich as a tax haven, from
which the monstrous beasts in these franchises come from. Meanwhile,
evil corporate and military interests are using mysterious technologies
unsanctioned by Elon Musk to build and control giant fake monsters. Not
only do audiences get to see the oddly proportioned battles between the
two titular beasts, but an appearance by the uber-silly Mechagodzilla
against both of them is another attraction. Forget for a moment these
creatures have almost zero personality, even Kong, and that void of
depth extends to the human characters that carry over into this flick.
Ultimately, the film is another excuse to show the cause of extensive
but likely unsuccessful property insurance claims, as usual. Despite the
general stupidity of the concept and its execution, audiences propelled
Godzilla vs. Kong to mammoth earnings both in cinemas and via
streaming. Director Adam Wingard, who had composed the music for a few
of his prior films, had clear misgivings about the connection between
his film and those prior in the concept, deciding that the famous
musical themes by Akira Ifukube and others for these characters would
not be appropriate. "I knew it would be controversial on one hand
because the original themes have been kind of revived but, on the other
hand, I wanted this to stand on its own legs," Wingard said. "I wanted
to embrace the MonsterVerse version of the character." This MonsterVerse
started with 2014's
Godzilla, and it has to be lamented that each
entry since then has featured a different composer's work.
As Wingard admitted, the original Japanese/Toho musical
influence on the franchise had already been resurrected brilliantly in
the current MonsterVerse by Bear McCreary for
Godzilla: King of the
Monsters, a classic score that best combines the heritage of the
concept with edgy new appeal. Apparently, that didn't impress him. Not
helping his decision-making process was an electronica junkie turned
Hans Zimmer clone, Tom Holkenborg, who has so thoroughly digested
Zimmer's Kool-Aid by this point that he parrots all of the senseless
Remote Control mantra about ignoring established musical themes. The
real reason men like Zimmer and Holkenborg don't want to take the time
to adapt classic themes into their scores (and, yes, it can be done) is
because they want to creatively and artistically reinvent the wheel for
a new generation, taking credit for succeeding better for a modern
audience when, in fact, they're not providing anything more effective
than the original. Likewise, one has to wonder if these Remote Control
composers, going all the way up to Zimmer himself, are even capable of
pulling off a display of masterful adaptation like McCreary accomplished
for the 2019 film. Do they not try because they don't think they can do
it? It wouldn't have been difficult to adapt material from Henry
Jackman's
Kong: Skull Island for this entry, but Holkenborg
doesn't go there, either. It's lazy and disrespectful to make no attempt
at an adaptation of at least Ifukube's main Godzilla theme (the 2014
production of
Godzilla was not exempt from this criticism, too),
especially with McCreary proving this ridiculous Zimmer mentality
invalid. Between Wingard and Holkenborg, much effort was thus put into
needlessly creating a new musical universe for the franchise at this
juncture, and, not surprisingly, the composer ends up using many of the
same stereotypes of monster music without actually repeating the beloved
themes or even generating memorable monster music. The whole exercise
comes across as rather pointless. Making matters worse is the issue that
Holkenborg's recording sounds atrociously woeful, a product that proves
that all the money and training of Remote Control, including the best
samples in the world, cannot alone save a relative amateur from
producing substandard music.
Holkenborg, shedding his Junkie XL moniker, has shown
promising progression as a composer over the years prior to
Godzilla
vs. Kong, which is why this score, along with the likewise
underperforming
Zack Snyder's Justice League concurrently, is a
greater disappointment than just one inferior entry in the Godzilla
franchise. Even if you accept Holkenborg's abandonment of the
franchise's prior themes as a director prerequisite, the execution of
his replacement is so wretchedly conveyed that one has to question his
capability to make effective conceptual decisions for this level of solo
blockbuster assignment. Rarely do the talents and competence of a
composer come under this kind of scrutiny in a review, but
Godzilla
vs. Kong is a prime example of not just Holkenborg's failure, but
Zimmer's for sculpting and releasing him into the industry with
methodology that yields a work like this. In the end, Holkenborg's score
for
Godzilla vs. Kong did not receive a proper recording. In
fact, it was never finished. What listeners encounter is one massive
demo recording from start to end, the tone of the instrumentation
cheaply rendered and the juvenile over-emphasis of notes suggesting no
natural performance inflection and incomplete constructs. It's the
ultimate auto-tuned score, with no competent orchestrations, no nuance
in the movement between notes, and extremely poor separation between the
layers of orchestral samples, soloists, and electronics. The words
"orchestral samples" are no accident, as this entire score sounds
sampled as in the typical demo recording one would expect for a common
first draft. Without any natural performance variance, each instrument
sounds like it's being keyboarded. There's no indication that an actual
orchestra recorded the score for
Godzilla vs. Kong, so perhaps we
are indeed hearing a glorified synthetic demo. Holkenborg does, in true
Zimmer fashion, strive for something meaty to throw into the press
release, and for this score that means the "biggest bass amp in the
world" and the "biggest drum in the world." Neither actually has any
functionally positive impact on the finished product. In fact, while
Holkenborg was trying to figure how to get this massive, custom-built
drum rolled into his garage and sample the thing, he somehow forgot to
devise a way to incorporate any actually convincing jungle
instrumentation.
Holkenborg may argue that
Godzilla vs. Kong
required an electronic edge appropriate to his techno sensibilities
because of the Mechagodzilla aspect of the story, but that doesn't
explain why the whole score is so inauthentic. The synthetic layers are
abrasive in the work, and without any natural life from an orchestra,
the whole affair is harshly mechanical, even when attempting to be
softly romantic in the material for Kong and the little girl in the
plot. There are no wailing electric guitars in the score, but the
composer's attempts at instrumental creativity vary widely in efficacy,
some of them simply lost in the process. Holkenborg supplies two themes
for the Godzilla side of the story and two for the Kong side, each of
the pairs of themes sharing some constructs at times. The highlights of
the score definitely exist in the Kong material, though listeners not
bothered by the cold shoulder to Ifukube may appreciate the similarly
brutal brass-like theme for the beloved nuclear reptile. In searching
for Godzilla's theme, Holkenborg seems to have taken inspiration from
David Buttolph's main theme from
The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.
The enunciation on low brass seems the same in all these applications,
and that brings familiarity as well. The new Godzilla theme experiences
no evolution or substantial variance for most of the score, nearly
always stomping away even when its volume is a little lower. The
official concept suite for this theme (again, a Zimmer technique
bleeding through) presents the idea immediately in "Pensacola, Florida
(Godzilla Theme)," though be aware that the album version of this suite
is far shorter than the one that Holkenborg actually constructed
initially. The idea builds throughout "Apex Cybernetics" before its big
brass-like explosions at 0:42 into "Tasman Sea," 0:26 into "Hollow
Earth," and 0:14 into "Nuclear Blast," each entry getting progressively
more distorted electronically until the last cue sounds like terrible
keyboarding. This distortion culminates at 0:20 into "Mega," yielding to
accelerated phrases later in the cue, continued stomping at 5:57 finally
reduced at 6:51 to melancholy string-like lament and replaced by major
key Kong material. At 1:09 into "Hong Kong," the theme's pace is slower
and overblown, with choral chanting effects distorted as well. Its
anthemic choral applications at 5:18 and 7:33 and elsewhere in that cue
alternate frequently with the main Kong theme.
The secondary thematic material for Godzilla in
Godzilla vs. Kong is revealed to be an identity for the Apex
Cybernetics and Mechagodzilla lines of the plot. It starts well with
fake woodwinds ascending in figures that imitate the suspense portions
of John Williams'
Jurassic Park. The idea extends the Godzilla
theme's structures into a rhythmic, even more electronic formation. The
more subdued woodwind-like figures are more interesting, though, as
heard at the outsets of "Apex Cybernetics," "Just Now," and "Lunch," and
late in "The Royal Axe." Meanwhile, Kong's two themes in
Godzilla vs.
Kong are more appealing in their progressions. The main one for the
giant ape is heard at the outset of "Skull Island (Kong Theme)," and the
idea's simplistic movements through the octaves make it a decent
representation of the character. By the time it shifts to the major key
late in the film, one has to wonder if this theme would have made a
better all-new identity for Batman in
Zack Snyder's Justice
League (assuming one was needed, which it wasn't) than for Kong,
though both are descending when their characters really deserve
ascending structures. The main fanfare for Kong is restrained in the
middle portions of the score but is revealed again in majestically large
but distorted tones at 0:59 into "The Throne." The battle cues of "Mega"
and "Hong Kong" are where this theme flourishes, intermingled with the
Godzilla theme in the action after moments of bravado at 0:59 and 3:17
into "Mega." Dramatic string-like layers at 3:19 into "Hong Kong" lead
to accelerated treatment on keyboards and string-like sounds at 5:36
before a heroic variation, which continues alternating with Godzilla's
theme, prevails at 7:51. The secondary theme for Kong is the highlight
of
Godzilla vs. Kong, addressing the character's connection to
Skull Island, his heritage, and with the little girl of the plot. Its
debut at 2:33 into "Skull Island (Kong Theme)" includes a gorgeous
flute-like performance, and this accessible tone is extended at 0:54
into "A New Language." A massively busy but brief moment for the theme
at 0:50 into "Through There" is followed by development throughout
"Antarctica." It becomes bizarrely synthetic with
Aquaman-like
choir at 2:40 into "Hollow Earth" and is fragmented in the action at
0:17 into "The Royal Axe" and thereafter. Its short but dramatic moment
at 3:08 into "Hong Kong" allows the idea to overlap with the primary
Kong theme; at 6:22, its softness on string-like tones shift well to the
main Kong theme's phrasing.
Any sensitivity that briefly emerges from the secondary
Kong theme in
Godzilla vs. Kong is short-lived, however, because
like everything else in the score, an abrasive rendering awaits at every
turn. There are positives in the score that need acknowledged, and the
beauty of this secondary theme is one of them. Also to be noted is
Holkenborg's handling of the main Kong theme as it develops into a major
key hero's identity later in the picture. Likewise, the rapid
alternation between the Kong and Godzilla themes in the final battle
sequence is commendable, though the composer seems incapable of
intelligently layering the two themes on top of each other when they
team together. These highlights are more than countered by a slew of
fatal flaws with the score, however, and the unattractive passages
provided by Holkenborg for an intended brutality element are sometimes
totally unlistenable, almost laughably so. The sequence starting at 5:13
into "Mega" is among the most ridiculous moments in film music to have
emerged in the prior ten years. Between the pounding stupidity on
percussion and a rising pitch effect that accelerates like some doomed
industrial mechanical failure, the effect is so awful that it's
hilarious, almost a poor-man's stuttering imitation of a Blaster Beam.
The tribute to Paul Haslinger industrial thrashing at times is
eye-rolling, the latter half of "Nuclear Blast" combining with
Holkenborg's own rambling techno rhythms to an extremely obnoxious end.
The 68 minutes of music presented on the album for
Godzilla vs.
Kong is more than enough to satisfy the listener, especially if he
or she has just come off of the mind-numbing four hours of
Zack
Snyder's Justice League. Note that the opening credits music is
missing from the album for whatever reason. The whole experience with
Godzilla vs. Kong's soundtrack is miserably disappointing despite
a few fleeting, decent ideas from Holkenborg. There are highlights in
Kong's material, helping the score avoid the lowest ratings. But this
demo-like music exposes a composer trying too hard to achieve a unique
result and not yet making the right decisions to succeed. The McCrearys
and Andrew Lockingtons of the world have proven themselves with this
type of music. Hopefully, Holkenborg will advance through these ranks as
well. It's not the intent of these reviews to simply bust the ass of a
composer or his mentor, but when you fail to this degree at this level,
questions about competency and methodology must be asked. Holkenborg has
tremendous potential and room to grow as a film composer, and
Godzilla vs. Kong was a monster-sized missed opportunity for him
to do so.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.
