Christopher Young - The Monkey King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2015)

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Christopher Young - The Monkey King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2015)

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Pushing the boundaries of cinematic extravaganza in the early 2010's in Hong Kong and China (we'll keep those two separate for the time being, just for the sake of posterity), the absurdly numerous production and distribution companies involved with the eventual 2014 film The Monkey King cranked up its budget successively in an attempt to bloat the spectacle to box office gold. The plot tackles the famed Chinese mythology hero of Sun Wukong, the magical Monkey King of Wu Cheng'en's classic 16th Century novel, "Journey to the West," and presents his origins story as he rebels against the Jade Emperor of heaven, suffers 500 years in captivity, journeys to India, and returns to China with Buddhism. All of this action, which features battles with strange gods all along the way, foreshadows the events actually read in "Journey to the West," and it was the intent of the production to use this film as a vehicle to introduce the subsequent stories in films spaced out every few years. Despite stylish effects by Hollywood veterans and the acting of Donnie Yen and Chow Yun-fat, The Monkey King fared poorly with yawning critics, many of whom denigrated the film for existing solely as a tool with which the titular character can rotate through godly enemies in one messy battle sequence after another. Although the film grossed roughly $100 million over its budget, its planned 2015 wide release in America never ultimately materialized. Never fear, however, for production moved forward on the first sequel in late 2014 anyway. For film music collectors in the West, none of this background really matters outside of the odd but thankful involvement of composer Christopher Young on the project. Never one to turn away from a truly bizarre opportunity (whether in blazing action, ridiculous comedy, or quirky dramas), Young toiled with projects outside of the mainstream for many years leading up to 2014, with an embarrassing assignment such as the late 2013 flick Tyler Perry's A Madea Christmas indicative of his viable but disappointing paycheck methodology. Soundtrack enthusiasts always welcome Young's ventures into the fantasy and adventure genres, for the results in scores such as Priest, Ghost Rider, and Spider-Man 3 are often glorious. Even his top horror titles, his calling card, have strayed towards the fantasy element, highlighted by Hellbound: Hellraiser II and Drag Me to Hell.

Versatile because of his experience recording overseas, Young seems to have placed himself in a position to whip up one of these grand film score epics every three or so years, and The Monkey King is to 2014 what Priest and Drag Me to Hell were for their respective years: a dazzling whirlwind of symphonic, choral, and electronic style uninhibited by any notions of modesty. The effort was truly an international one, with Young opting to use Slovak National Orchestra and Lucnica Chorus in Bratislava for the bulk of the performances while also employing Los Angeles vocal soloists (including a child performer selected out of hundreds of auditions) and an impressive variety of Chinese-centric instrumental soloists, including erhus, gongs, dizis, and dulcimers. Throw in some totally Western rock instrumentation (electric guitars and drum kits) and you have the ultimate in multi-ethnic flair, a score true enough to its location to serve its basic purpose but also exhibiting all the modern techniques of a Hollywood blockbuster to ensure that the godly battles on screen are accompanied by ass-kicking, no-nonsense rhythmic force in the score. The vocal elements feature most combinations of inflective tone you can imagine, leading up to even the Enya-like closing song. This wide palette of sounds is one of two key characteristics of the score for The Monkey King; the other is Young's undeniably bombastic application of rhythm to the work. There is more overt drum-pounding in this music than any other in recent memory, taking the Basil Poledouris philosophy of developing folk rhythms into full battle mode to a new level. Young has always done this in his bigger scores, often shifting gears (quite literally, sometimes, as in the train sequence in Priest) through tempo and instrumentation alterations when needed but always shamelessly emphasizing the propulsive aspect. Expect to be blasted out of your seat by the incessant slamming and banging of this score during each of its full ensemble portions. Even the lighter portions for comedy or respect ("Ruxue, the Silver Fox," "Erlangshen, the Three-Eyed Warrior," and "Subhuti, the Old Master") rely heavily on loftier, tingling percussion rhythms to carry the same movement. This is certainly a score of emphasized texture, though Young also supplies an endless stream of harmonically tonal bliss as well. There is some dissonance to be heard, especially in the striking broken chords of the ensemble hits in the opening "Yu Huang Da Di, the Jade Emperor," but the listening experience is largely accessible. It's interesting to appreciate how Young's action techniques have matured in broad listenability since The Core.

The single most intriguing aspect of Young's approach to The Monkey King is the general lack of interaction between his multitude of themes in the score. Since the film largely rotates between godly encounters in its plotline, Young simply provides a unique identity for each one and doesn't make a serious effort to mingle them together. Even the title character's theme doesn't directly engage often with the other themes, leaving the score as one of several massive but mostly singular suites that share the same instrumental vocabulary and some seemingly incidental progressions, but no overarching connecting narrative in the melodies. Such was reportedly the result of the filmmakers' instructions to Young. The main theme in "Sun Wukong, the Monkey King" only features fully and at length elsewhere in "Nuwa, the Goddess of Works." The secondary theme for the Monkey King, a softly romantic interlude in his suite, becomes the basis for the song, "Just Dreams," which, as previously suggested, is an Enya knock-off of completely shameless proportions. You will find that some of the other character themes in The Monkey King, notably the passage at 4:20 into "Yu Huang Da Di, the Jade Emperor," will supply inspiration to later sequences, including the latter half of "Ao Kuang, the Dragon King of the East Sea," but don't go looking for more obvious connections. While irksome for a few listeners, this absence of narrative flow in the score is countered by Young's strength in each individual idea. For the album releases, Young features them in ten combined suites, each representing a character (though, as mentioned above, the "Nuwa, the Goddess of Works" cue offers the theme from "Sun Wukong, the Monkey King" extensively in its first half) and thus explores many unique melodies. Some, as in those for the Tieshan Gongzhu, Nuwa, Subhuti, and Guanyin characters, are downright lovely in their choral and erhu beauty. Others, as in the tracks "Niu Mo Wang, the Buffalo Demon King" and "Yu Huang Da Di, the Jade Emperor," are outrageously bombastic. The Buffalo Demon King's suite requires special attention, the Jerry Goldsmith-like nobility countered by Ghost Rider coolness culminating in all-out rock attitude. The entire work is saturated with the best of Young's mannerisms, with several homages to his past greatness whipped up with zeal. The score was initially only provided promotionally to film music critics in 2014, presenting a tremendously unfortunate dilemma for enthusiasts worldwide. But by 2015, Intrada Records pressed the same contents to a limited CD for all to enjoy. There is no doubt that The Monkey King makes for a stellar listening experience, one of Young's most vibrant and entertaining career efforts, and his continuing involvement in the franchise is most welcomed.

FilmTracks.com Editorial Review

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Christopher Young - The Monkey King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2015)

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Christopher Young - The Monkey King: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2015)

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