It's rare these days that I see a film without having heard the score beforehand, mainly because I don't actually go to the cinema much. As regular readers will know, Guernsey's only cinema is a crappy little merde fest with tiny screens and poor selection. Frankly, I'd rather watch a film in the comfort of my own home on DVD. Or go somewhere with a decent cinema. Anyway, I did see Kung Fu Panda and I can say that I enjoyed it much. Silly as hell, but the lack of pop culture references ensure it's rewatchable (yes, I've seen it twice... foreshame Thomas, foreshame).
Hans Zimmer seems to be getting more generous with his collaborations these days. James Newton Howard and now John Powell actually get credit on the cover. Unsurprisingly Henry Jackman and James McKee Smith get a footnote on the inside page for their additional music. As befits its subject, there is nothing hugely subtle about Kung Fu Panda. Mulan this ain't. However, the mixture of banging orchestra, regional instrumentation and lots of percussion largely works a treat. It's tuneful; the main chop socky theme is decent and memorable, while the secondary melodies are equally effective. Faux Chinese music seems well suited to the various demands of the drama, notably the quieter moments such as Peach Tree of Wisdom where it fakes spirituality with considerable conviction. Equally true of the finale track (even if it's from the middle of the film) Oogway Ascends.
The action is a mixture of silly - Dragon Warrior is Among Us and Po vs Tai Lung (where the main theme is bounced all over the place) - and dark - Tai Lung escapes - both functioning equally well. John Powell's more sophisticated abilities are much in evidence throughout, as are hints of his bulging back catalogue of animation titles where he can flit between ideas with great confidence and avoid the bittiness that besets scores by less skilled composers. In truth, it's a rather more interesting than some of his recent animation scores which have started to get a teensy bit stale. It's also a nice change of pace from Zimmer in an otherwise rather heavy duty roster. Not taxing, but fun, tuneful and mostly memorable.
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