Composed by Harald Kloser and Thomas Wander- RCA Records 88697 61243 2 / 2009 / 57:48
Not long ago I wrote a review of the score for 10,000BC by Messrs Kloser and Wander; frankly I may as well just cut-and-paste it here. The scores aren’t identical (well, I don’t think so – but they could be, I guess – who can remember anything about 10,000BC once it finishes?) but they suffer from exactly the same flaws. The main flaw is that it’s so very, very bland. I really don’t get it – Roland Emmerich is so ludicrously over-the-top in every other aspect of his films, why is he happy to have such non-descript, pointless music in them? The only purpose of this music is that it fulfils the need for the film to have music – it doesn’t do anything that a dramatic film score should do. It’s just there. Frankly, when the best thing in your score are the insipid Hans Zimmer rip-offs making up the action music, it’s probably time to stop.
This isn’t bad music. There’s nothing offensive here, unless you’re offended by blandness. It’s just hard to see the point of it. I regularly criticise Zimmer and his harem (and regularly get criticised for doing so), but at least he usually offers up a good tune or two which helps to pull the mind away from the banality of it all – while 2012 is more slickly orchestrated than a Zimmer score, it has absolutely no soul. I find it truly frightening that Harald Kloser managed to come up with this even though he helped write the film and so had a particularly strong personal investment in it – but then, I said the same thing about 10,000BC. If David Arnold were still alive, he’d be turning in his grave. I’ve heard worse music and have probably given it higher ratings, but rarely have I heard anything so completely devoid of heart and feeling. *
If David Arnold were still alive he’d be turning in his grave? 🙂
Haha!