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Review of Divergent (Tom Holkenborg)

FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:

Buy it... if you appreciate competent execution of both modern and traditional approaches in a hybrid score, Tom Holkenborg's work a generally pleasant surprise despite some underwhelming passages.

Avoid it... if you cannot tolerate any elements derivative of the standard Hans Zimmer templates, because the fight material here does devolve into typical simplistic pounding in the score's latter half.

FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Divergent: (Tom Holkenborg) Yet another dystopian post-apocalyptic topic for teenage angst is thrown at the screen by studios eager to milk the purses of young women seeking role models in challenging contexts. How many of these kinds of franchises can the market support? In the case of 2014's Divergent, there is clearly inspiration to be seen from The Hunger Games, the young student author of the "Divergent" novel concocting this clan and fight-based class culture commentary for young people in 2011. Don't bother intellectualizing the derivative nature of the source material, however, when considering the hundreds of millions of dollars this film grossed and the immediate plans for three sequels. In this futuristic world, people are divided into a handful of "factions" depending on their personality and capabilities, forcing them into societal roles that are blurred when a few youth excel in multiple areas and war between factions becomes imminent. Logical fallacies abound once again, but if you're a teenage girl, who cares? Given the possibilities for targeting this demographic with pop culture appeal, the filmmakers approached the Hans Zimmer realm of Remote Control Productions and ultimately hired Dutch electronica artist Tom Holkenborg for the task. Known by his artist name of "Junkie XL," Holkenborg has transitioned into a healthy career of film scoring after several years serving as a collaborator with Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams. In early 2014, Holkenborg parlayed his relationship with Zimmer into two blockbuster "solo" scoring assignments, Divergent and 300: Rise of an Empire. It's important to note that when you say "solo," that entails that you still have the assistance of several Remote Control ghostwriters and the full ensemble of crew that comes with any Zimmer-associated project. In this case, Zimmer is even identified as a music producer in the film's primary credits. Not to miss the chance to maximize marketability, the filmmakers also infused the soundtrack with a large array of songs. Several of these songs were written and performed by English vocalist Ellie Goulding, who also contributed wordless vocals to Holkenborg's score. Anyone expecting Holkenborg to emulate James Newton Howard's approach to The Hunger Games in Divergent will be surprised by Holkenborg's ability to take the tone and style of that music in a different direction while building off of some of the same foundations.

Some expectations will peg Holkenborg's Divergent as a work as derivative of Remote Control conventions as 300: Rise of an Empire so disappointingly was. In reality, that fear is only partially realized. You really have to compartmentalize this Holkenborg music, because he seems to have made an honest attempt to separate himself from both the Zimmer and Howard moulds. That is, in some of his own music's factions. In Divergent, the score can be divided into the modern soft rock for the lead character, the largely electronic ambience for the futuristic world, the brutally percussive element for the fight sequences, and the orchestral lamentation for the main characters' plight to save society from itself. Two of these factions in the score are surprisingly engaging while one is unremarkable and the final one reminiscent of the derivative nature of 300: Rise of an Empire. The highlights are the modern rock and orchestral lamentation factions, for the former an effective emulation of Danny Elfman's similar blend in Anywhere But Here and Real Steel (with Goulding's vocals reminiscent of those Elfman scores as well). The best of this material for the lead character is summarized in the lengthy "Tris" and developed subsequently during Goulding's other performances. The symphonic portions of sadness for familial sacrifice consist of mostly tonal string ambience, "Faction Before Blood" and "Sacrifice" quite lovely. Conversely, the fight sequences resort back to the looped pounding for synthesizers and oppressive orchestral shades that made 300: Rise of an Empire so tiring. In these three factions, however, Holkenborg can be commended for maintaining and even developing three or four motifs for specific concepts in the story, some of them overlapping appropriately during conflict. Unfortunately, the final faction, the electronic groaning and nondescript background effects, do stunt the growth of those themes. Some of these atmospheric cues are truly a waste. If you combine the modern rock and orchestral family material, you have twenty minutes of very easily digestible music. Some may criticize Holkenborg negatively for the "abuse" of the stereotypical female vocals in this score, but given that vocalist's contribution to the songs and the gender and age of the lead character, this is a more appropriate place for such vocals than in many other scores. On album, Divergent can drag at times, the 75-minute score-only product in need of some significant trimming to produce a consistent listening experience. Be careful about your expectations regarding this score. Holkenborg exhibits signs of intelligence beyond what you hear in concurrent Zimmer scores, and that's a welcome change for any Remote Control-related effort.  ***

TRACK LISTINGS:

Total Time: 75:30

• 1. Tris* (7:48) • 2. The Test (3:17) • 3. Choosing Dauntless* (3:44) • 4. Capture the Flag* (3:07) • 5. This Isn't Real (1:38) • 6. Ferris Wheel (3:32) • 7. Erudite Plan (3:21) • 8. Fear (3:36) • 9. I am Divergent (1:39) • 10. A Friend (2:48) • 11. Conspiracy (5:27)

• 12. Watertank (1:50) • 13. Faction Before Blood (6:49) • 14. Human Nature (3:12) • 15. Final Test (1:38) • 16. The March (5:17) • 17. Dauntless Attack (5:56) • 18. Sacrifice* (4:21) • 19. You're Not Gonna Like This (14:00) • 20. Fight the Dauntless (4:14) • 21. Everywhere and Nowhere (2:28)

NOTES & QUOTES:

The insert includes no extra information about the score or film.

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