King Kong

Following in the footsteps of Max Steiner and John Barry is no mean feat, but Howard Shore was the man originally down for the job. His abrupt departure from the project will likely go down as one of the biggest film music surprises of 2005, but there was no time to guess his replacement as James Newton Howard's appointment was announced simultaneously. As with Shore before Lord of the Rings, Howard's early work never really suggested his suitability for such a project, but he has solidified his reputation and style with some terrific work for M Night Shyamalan, Disney and others, easily one of the top ten composers working in Hollywood today. It's therefore little surprise that he was deemed a solid bet as a replacement. While solid work doesn't necessarily equal great work, it's a testament to his skills that, despite the rushed schedule King Kong is a an often impressive score.

The titular opening cue is suitably brooding and portentous, introducing the two four note themes that define the simian leading ape; one mysterious and one feral. The latter is pleasingly reminiscent of Max Steiner's original and Howard doesn't shy away from making it just a little melodramatic. As Jackson's version spends far more time getting to Kong's island retreat so too is there much more than the Boat in the Fog of Steiner's classic. As the film is set in the time of the original, the 30s, there are a handful of cues with a period feel, featuring some downbeat, but laid back jazzy clarinet solos, notably Defeat is Always Momentary and the opening of The Venture Departs. The former also features some surprisingly light hearted material reprised much later in That's All There Is. Fortunately, the comedy aspect is reigned in enough to avoid spoiling the mood. The gentle passage are rather more contemporary; the piano and strings of A Fateful Meeting have an almost Thomas Newman feel.

Unlike either of the previous incarnations where little was made of the epic beauty of the island, Howard brings us a little deserved awe and wonder. After the percussive Last Blank Space on the Map, It's Deserted contains some appropriately inspiring choral work that brings back memories of Atlantis' finest moments. However, the triumvirate of It's Deserted, Neither Beast Nor Man and Head Towards the Animals turns up the heat, Howard mixing some of his trademark action licks, a little ethnic percussion for the island natives and a wonderfully over the top rendition of Kong's angry four note as the star makes his entrance. Tooth and Claw is another manic slice of whirlwind action, every bit as exciting as anything penned by Jerry Goldsmith or John Williams. Conversely, Beautiful is, as the name suggests, rather more serene and one of several gorgeous cues that litter the second half, most notably Central Park and Empire State Building as woman and beast bond.

Evidently track name inspiration was running dry for the final quintet of tracks, but musical inspiration certainly wasn't. The first three cover the dramatic show down with some suitably high flying writing, while the final pair are often achingly poignant. Ironically, the choral and solo vocal work for IV and V isn't too far removed from some of Shore's music for Middle Earth, but equally a fitting send off to one of cinema's most memorable creations and easily the most moving of any incarnation of the story. Howard has commented that he didn't think he'd have written anything better given more time and there's little in the writing that suggests a rush job (unless you look at the army of orchestrators, copyists, scoring stages and other crew that helped the composer realise the music in such a small space of time). Maybe not quite the classic everyone was hoping for, but a fine score and better than anyone could have hoped for given the crushing schedule.