Soundtrack Review: Knowing (2009)
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This is a review of the motion picture score Knowing by Marco Beltrami.
“Like Max Payne I didn’t like it the first time I heard it, but I wonder if Marco Beltrami has a sneaky way of inserting good music so that I have to look, or rather listen to find it”
Knowing is one of those movies with lots of promise, loads of special effects, but ultimately fails to deliver the experience we deserve. It isn’t a bad movie, but could have been better. It’s all about doomsday and the choice of Marco Beltrami as a composer is an exciting one. I have been waiting for this since Max Payne last year. Naturally this has a different style, but I expected a dark score like Max Payne was and in that respect I got exactly what I expected. This time Marco Beltrami acts alone, at least for the official release and knowing Marco Beltrami, this could go either way for me.
Track List
- Knowing – Main Titles (*****)
- Door Jam (****)
- Emt (***)
- John And Caleb (***)
- New York (****)
- Aftermath (***)
- Not A Kid Anymore (***)
- Moose On The Loose (***)
- Stalking The Waylands (***)
- Numerology (***)
- It’s The Sun (***)
- John Spills (****)
- Trailer Music (***)
- 33 (***)
- Loudmouth (***)
- Revelations (****)
- Thataway! (*****)
- Shock And Aww (****)
- Caleb Leaves (*****)
- Roll Over Beethoven (*****)
- New World Round (*****)
- Who Wants An Apple? (*****)
Unremarkable Theme
It’s quite a lengthy score with 22 cues and a total play time of 1 hour and 5 minutes. Max Payne last year got a complete version released through unofficial channels and I wonder if this won’t get the same treatment. The question is: Is it worth it? The main theme is very nice, but it’s also a theme I won’t remember 10 years from now. It’s dark and very doomsday-like with a 5 beat heavy percussion to drive it on. It’s a slow theme, but so is most of the score. The beginning is quite interesting, kind of sci-fi-esque drops of sounds. You hear it again in ‘Moose on the Loose’.
‘Door Jam’ is probably the most interesting cue on the score. I love it but I also hate it. It’s a bit whimsical, but not very light. It’s almost Elfman-like at times of his Burton days, but not quite. The way the bass plays the cue is addicting and I quite like it. ‘New York’ can be argued has similarities because its use of bass is similar except that it keeps a straight and narrow path and only used for rhythm. There’s a lighter instrument which disturbs the rhythm. This is as good as action will get on Knowing and it’s not bad at all. Then there’s ‘Numerology’ with similar insanity. I believe the crazy rhythm has something do with the unpredictability in life, but that’s just a theory of mine.
Action
Getting back to action, there are a couple of action cues later on. They are ‘Loudmouth‘ and more notably ‘Thataway!‘ and I have to say that the action is of the classic kind. Loud and large orchestration unless for example The Dark Knight kind of action or Paul Haslinger’s rock action scores. I like the action cues here and wish there were more of it. Most of the score is rather quiet and thoughtful but I hope for an expanded release down the line.
Conclusion
Like Max Payne I didn’t like it the first time I heard it, but I wonder if Marco Beltrami has a sneaky way of inserting good music so that I have to look, or rather listen to find it. Good music I found and it was overall a very enjoyable experience. Especially the last 4 cues were great and I loved the darkness of it all. The score says the end is near, but I don’t want it to end. His recent scores have gotten the best of my curiosity. I never paid much attention to his scores, but perhaps I was too hasty. There are bucket loads of quality in this score, Max Payne and Terminator 3 which I listened to recently. This effort is not quite up there with Max Payne, but I truly had a great time.
Listen to Knowing by Marco Beltrami below:
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Comments
Knowing was a tough movie to get through. I remember thinking the music was as dull and oppressive as the storytelling. I know I’ll never get around to viewing it a second time, but it is interesting how certain scores take on a whole new light when you can focus on them. I’m a visual person, so music, unless completely awkward or phenomenal, will usually escape me in a first viewing.
Reel Whore´s last blog ..MMM: Returning to the Grind 
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
July 7th, 2009 at 5:02 am
When I watched the movie, the score didn’t really stands out like it does when listening to it outside of the movie. That’s fine too, not every score needs to do that. It’s a nice movie though, which I liked immediately. The premise is great, but I agree that the storytelling could be better.
The storytelling just killed it for me. There were too many moments where I was trying to figure out why Cage hadn’t figured it out or, conversely, how Cage knew so much. The only explanation for that, was fuzzy story progression.
Reel Whore´s last blog ..The Jizt: Knowing
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
July 10th, 2009 at 5:27 pm
Hehe yeah I agree. They took major shortcuts in the storyline, but I’m glad I just discovered it so at least I could enjoy the movie while it happened.
Soundtrack Seek
I believe it’s track 2 that sounds like the JAWS infested waters of John Williams, mashed up with A Saul Bass designed, Hermanan scored titled sequence! Really frantic and the standout cue to my mind!
Reply
Jorn Tillnes Reply:
June 26th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
It certainly is an interesting cue. Have to listen to Jaws one of these days. Not so familiar with it except the main theme.
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