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| Debney |
Zathura: (John Debney) The third large-scale
adaptation of a short Chris Van Allsburg book,
Zathura follows
Jumanji and
The Polar Express and makes it clear to
movie-goers what children's book readers already knew: this guy must
have had a deprived childhood. Both the two previous films made
significant grosses at the box office, despite poor reviews for
Jumanji and highly mixed reactions to the visual rendering of
The Polar Express. Ironically,
Zathura may very well end
up receiving a slightly better critical response on average, but the
film has yet to show (despite a strong first week) that it has any
chance of making the blockbuster designation like the other two.
Zathura isn't a fable like
The Polar Express and isn't a
scary jungle chase like
Jumanji; it is a more innocent, whimsical
science fiction story in which the youth of the tale travel the solar
system in their uprooted house, avoiding space lizards, meteors, and
other phenomena that never really seem too dangerous. Indeed, not even a
badguy gets killed in the story. Actor-turned-director Jon Favreau, who
made a splash with his second film,
Elf, a few years ago,
provides the same innocence in fantasy for this Van Allsburg story. And
as before, veteran composer John Debney dives head first into yet
another genre he is expanding upon in his resume. Debney is easily the
composer of the year for 2005, not because of any particularly gigantic
single effort, but for the mind-boggling volume of his output across
endless genres and instrumental styles. He even received a blessing from
the Pope in Rome, no less, for his concert adaptation of music from
The Passion of the Christ, and would raise money for survivors of
Hurricane Katrina through a benefit performance of that same concert.
With five scores already composed for or on his radar in the remainder
of 2005 and early 2006, you have to admire Debney's ability to produce
interesting and effective music at such a hurried pace. We know this man
battles Satan in the parking lot, but does he ever sleep?
Whenever Debney approaches a major adventure or fantasy
project, the first thing score collectors want to know is whether it
compares favorably to his well-established and respected calling card:
Cutthroat Island. So to say it right off the bat,
Zathura
is nowhere near
Cutthroat Island territory. But it exists at the
better-than-average level of
My Favorite Martian and
The
Scorpion King, with some of the lengthy choral contributions of the
latter score. What
Zathura has going in favor it is a ceaseless
level of orchestral activity from a large Los Angeles ensemble. In its
bulk application, Debney succeeds in providing satisfying rhythms and
stereotypical chord progressions from space adventures of yesteryear
with all the exuberance necessary to cause the music to take flight. On
the other hand, there's a significantly campy and borderline cheesy side
to
Zathura that smells distinctly like David Newman's
Galaxy
Quest, with the incessant snare and the lighter, underpowered choir
draining whatever seriousness there would have been in the music
otherwise. The main titles are an unashamed tribute to the sensibilities
of James Horner's
Star Trek scores, with a touch of David
Arnold's heroics left over from Debney's wholesale use of it in
Chicken Little, and even the repetition of the final orchestral
hits in John Williams fashion. A handful of these monumental cues lead
Zathura on its satisfying ride, highlighted by the expansive
"Shooting Star Card" cue. Some of the stutter-step action pieces,
however, remind of the campy B-grade sci-fi scores of the 1980's, with
Craig Safan's
The Last Starfighter mentioned as a similarly
faux-heroic entry in the same library of sounds. The score progressively
loses that innocence as it reaches its strong, final six cues. But
throughout its length of blaring brass, borderline choral overuse, and
that still ceaselessly ripping snare, the recording quality of the score
is remarkably flat. This phenomenon has plagued several of Debney's
fuller recordings in the action genre, and it constricts
Zathura
with a dry sound that doesn't do justice to the soaring spirit of space
travel. Overall, though, another commendable effort in Debney's
remarkable year.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For John Debney reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.27
(in 52 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3
(in 44,811 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a list of performers, but no extra information about the score or film.
