Soundtrack Review: 2012 (2009)

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Movie soundtrack review: This is a review of the motion picture score 2012 by Harald Kloser & Thomas Wander.

“A movie like this has great action scenes and a lot of emotional moments, and the emotional moments are sadly missing from the score (for the most part)”

So I watched 2012 yesterday, you know the one, the world is getting destroyed. The Mayas made this prediction long ago. It turns out to be true and the whole world goes to hell. Sounds pretty cool and the movie was as expected. The CGI and production value was through the roof and you even cared for the characters. I carefully listened to the score by Harald Kloser and Thomas Wander and thought it wasn’t too bad. Sure there’s some generic action stuff in there, but it plays along well with the scenes. What’s interesting about Roland Emmerich movies when it comes to the music is that, as of his last few films, he always chooses Harald Kloser and Thomas Wander to do it and even better, Harald Kloser also co-wrote the script with Emmerich. Should make for the perfect marriage of movie and music right? They did  that in 10,000 B.C. and it was really good. Here’s the review of 10,000 B.C. if you have forgotten. So what about 2012?

Track List

02. Constellation (***)
03. Wisconsin (***)
04. U.S. Army (****)
05. Ready To Rumble (****)
06. Spirit Of Santa Monica (****)
08. Great Kid (***)
09. Finding Charlie (****)
10. Run Daddy Run (****)
11. Stepping Into The Darkness (****)
12. Leaving Las Vegas (****)
13. Ashes In D.C. (****)
14. We Are Taking The Bentley (***)
15. Nampan Plateau (****)
16. Saving Caesar (****)
17. Adrian’s Speech (***)
18. Open The Gates! (****)
19. The Impact (***)
20. Suicide Mission (***)
21. 2012 The End Of The World (***)
22. Collision With Mount Everest (****)
23. The End Is Only The Beginning (****)

Ominous Start

2012 starts ominous enough, with a couple of cues that go nowhere, but serve as teasers for what is to come. This is predominantly an action score as it should be, but it never goes over the top. What I noticed when watching the movie, was the inclusion of a lot of comedy scenes with accompanying comedy music. By  comedy music, I mean the type that John Debney is doing these days. This hasn’t spilled over onto the score release and I wasn’t upset by that to be honest. I’m not a fan of goofy comedy music in general and as this is an action score, that would have seemed out of place for the general public.

I didn’t want to do this, but I have to compare it to 10,000 B.C. because that’s the last reference point for the Kloser and Wander duo. For 10,000 B.C. they blatantly stole music from Hans Zimmer and Steve Jablonsky and got away with it. It actually worked to their favor and made the score to 10,000 B.C. energetic and fun. It lent it some great thematic stuff. Of course that didn’t go down well with the purists out there — no stealing!

Less Energy

Well you who thought that was bad, will be pleased to know that 2012 doesn’t blatantly steal from anything except every possible action movie out there. What I mean by that is that 2012 sounds like any other generic action fest, some of it is good, actually most of it is good, and some of it is decent. The energy and thematic presence from 10,000 B.C. is gone, in fact you will be hard pressed to find any themes of significance here.

Maybe it was for the best, in that, at least it doesn’t resemble themes you’ve heard before, right? Well, personally I’m sad to see it go. If it works, why break it? I don’t mind seeing a little stealing in scores (as long as it is stolen from scores that I actually enjoy).

Most of the cues are generally good, they just lack the extra punch to get me excited. The action cues are what drives this score and it does so in a non-surprising manner with thumping percussion and quick violin jolts. There is a lot of music missing from the movie that didn’t make it to the score, but I won’t be crying for an expanded release here. What we got here is fine and probably the best that they could do. There are some scenes I believe should have been re-scored before the film’s release, such as Adrian’s heartbreaking speech which got me teary eyed, but not because of the music. ‘Adrian’s Speech’ doesn’t match the scene at all which had all the hallmarks for a great emotional theme. This is what at the end of the day is wrong with this score. It misses a lot of opportunities for great scoring and settles for mediocrity.
Conclusion

I was expecting the music to be frantic and overblown like the effects budget of 2012, but it didn’t quite deliver what I needed. It is clearly a decent/good score, but I know it could be a lot better. A movie like this has great action scenes and a lot of emotional moments, and the emotional moments are sadly missing from the score (for the most part). It’s the end of the world for crying out loud! Play it like you mean it!

Listen to 2012 by Harald Kloser & Thomas Wander below:

Find more videos like this on Soundtrack Fans

So what do you think of the score? Let me know in the comment section below:

Other articles of interest:

• Soundtrack Review: Spirited Away (2001)
• Soundtrack Review: The Road (2010)
• Soundtrack Review: Armored (2010)
• Soundtrack Review: Legion (2010)
• Soundtrack Review: The Hurt Locker (2008)

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