bobhow-1

I have watched a few of the movies with this particular film composer. I find that his sound tracks are insipid, filled with too many triad arpeggiations, root position chords, and that the music detracts from the movie. The background feels like listening to the Heart and Soul accompaniment or an omnichord strumming, and there is little attention paid to creating melodies and giving the music some direction. There does not seem to be a proper relationship between the music and the action in the movie and the music is distracting. I know that this composer can do better and I would like to see him compose more inspired music for films. I am not just talking about this film but other films I have seen where he has composed the music. I have a doctorate in music so I do have background in this area.

I was drawn to the storyline and the idea behind this film. It misses on not fully embracing the African people and the wildlife as the main focus. That part of the film needed to be prominent and that part of the film works but it needs to drive the film rather than being an accessory. As a musician reviewing it, I have to say that the film score was mostly dreadful with computer generated synthesized sound and music that detracted from the movie rather than enhancing it. The singing at the end of the film on the film score, however, was excellent and so was the music performed by members of the cast during the film. If these musical elements could have been incorporated more into the film, this would have made a big difference and it would have been nice to hear more real musicians performing on real instruments rather than this dreadful synth instrumental sound. The musical conception for the sound track needed to be more authentic and incorporate African style musical motives.