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Review of The Kingdom (Danny Elfman)

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:

The Kingdom: (Danny Elfman) As more audacious films set in the post-9/11 Middle East are breaking into the action and drama genres of Hollywood, The Kingdom examines the tricky relationship between Saudi Arabia, radical Islam, and America. Throwing some explosive action into the mix, the Peter Berg film lacks the intellectual depth of some films already addressing some of the same locales and issues (Syriana foremost), but compensates with enough intelligence to float the believability of the heart-pounding action sequences in its latter half. After terrorists successfully attack a residential compound of foreign oil workers in Riyadh, a small team of American investigators led by a forensics expert played by Jamie Foxx is given a deadline by the Saudi Arabian government (and their own agents overseeing the Americans) in which to satisfy the FBI. During the culture clash that ensues, terrorists plan another attack, and The Kingdom culminates in a wild chase in its last half hour. The film has received a decent critical and audience response, with many pointing to successful chemistry between the film's four leads. Composer Danny Elfman had directed his career towards such films in the late 1990's and early 2000's before returning to the children's and fantasy genres that had defined his initial years as a major Hollywood composer. Compared to his light-hearted, though ambitious output of the past five years, The Kingdom is a stark swing back to Elfman's days of interludes into the realm of tense thrillers. Not surprisingly, the film allows Elfman to explore new boundaries in the more mature genre, presenting ideas in The Kingdom perhaps stockpiled over the past five years. Stylistically, this score could not be any more different from Meet the Robinsons, Charlotte's Web, Corpse Bride, or Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, combining a new library of sampled electronics with electric guitars and a very small, partially stocked orchestra.

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.  **

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 39:36

• 1. The Kingdom - Titles (4:29) • 2. Waiting (2:19) • 3. Attack on the Compound (2:43) • 4. The Detonator (1:57) • 5. The Killing Room/Trouble Coming (2:01) • 6. To the Prince's (1:09) • 7. Digging Deep (1:17)

• 8. Starting to Click/Saving Leavitt (4:55) • 9. Friendship (3:49) • 10. The Chase (4:49) • 11. The Sales Pitch (2:12) • 12. The Marble (1:08) • 13. Finale (6:50)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes a list of performers, but no extra information about the score or film.

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