by Jason Ankeny
Composer Don Davis vaulted from obscurity with his landmark score to 1999's sci-fi classic The Matrix, but if Universal Soldier: The Return is any indication, he should return to obscurity as quickly as possible. A shockingly trite and soulless action score as dated as The Matrix was fresh and forward-thinking, its gelatinous synthesizers and overwrought guitar licks are far cheesier than that yellow goo atop the concession stand nachos. Davis' bland melodies vary little from theme to theme -- each is written in the key of bombast, and while their he-man swagger is no doubt well-suited to a film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, compatibility and creativity are two very different things.