"King Kong"
Score Composed by James Newton Howard
MP3 Audio Clips: It's Deserted | The Empire State Building | Beauty Killed The Beast IV

James Newton Howard is clutch. Called upon late in the game, Howard delivers a mammoth, epic score for "King Kong", the latest film from Peter Jackson.

Jackson, as many of you might know, parted ways with his previous composer, Howard Shore, due to creative differences regarding the score for this movie. It seemed that both had a distinct idea of how the music should play out. This is sad, in many ways, since Shore really delivered first-rate music for the :Lord of the Rings" trilogy. With Howard called in as a last minute replacement, the music doesn't suffer, thankfully.

This particular situation can be easily compared to that of Jerry Goldsmith and "The 13th Warrior." He too was brought in very late in the production but delivered a simply outstanding score. Howard, with this effort, further cements my theory that when a top grade composer has very little time to come up with music for a film, the results are typically above average. I think that since the time frame is very short, creative solutions need to be derived in a hurry. This particular creative energy finds a way to translate into the score.

First and foremost, there is a lot of music to enjoy here. The varied themes makes for a grand scale, and Howard (known for writing epic themes) seems to bask in the opportunity here. The main theme for King Kong is a restrained bit of music that has a dark undercurrent to it. It's not quite bombastic, nor is it quite pleasingly melodic, but rather, the tonality is very fitting for the creature this movie is about.

Further on, Howard balances the bombast of action, the subtlety of mystery, the boldness of island percussions, and most of all, delivers emotional cues in the right moments. While these cues border on heartbreaking, I found myself enjoying what I was listening to, but not bowled over by it. In other words, during the sentimental moments of the soundtrack, I wasn't wiping any tears from my eyes.

And that is perhaps the best summary I can offer for this score. It's quite good, but never crosses the threshold into greatness. There are many individual moments to grab onto and really enjoy, but the final summary kept me from proclaiming brilliance.

All that said, Howard's work is still impressive. Given the sheer weight of the music and the amount of time in which to do it, this body of work deserves respect from the industry and from fans.

Final Score: James Newton Howard borders on brilliance with King Kong but is just a slight margin away from that distinction. That said, this is one heck of an above average score.

MP3 Audio Clips: It's Deserted | The Empire State Building | Beauty Killed The Beast IV