Harry Gregson-Williams doing the score for this movie was the only glimmer of light it ever had. From the looks of it it’s also a safe bet to say that it’s the film’s only saving grace, and indeed it is. Harry Gregson-Williams delivers a lush sweeping adventure score filled to the brim with ethnic flavors and romanticism.
On its surface this is a summer blockbuster adventure score. So we get a nice big adventurous theme to start us off. While it may sound very familiar to Alan Silvestri’s The Mummy Returns theme it definitely holds its own weight. Then we have a second romantic theme, which is I believe the only uncharacteristic part of this score. By that I mean it’s the one thing that doesn’t sound like Harry. It has a Zimmer quality to it and reminds me of Pirates Of The Caribbean. With Jerry Bruckhiemer producing I wouldn’t be surprised if Pirates was used as a temp track at all. Is that theme great? Absolutely! I love it.
The rest of the score is lots of fun and a great ride. I didn’t expect Harry to toss in his signature electronics into the mix, but it works so well. It’s almost as if his score to Kingdom Of Heaven got combined with one of his Tony Scott scores. I’m pretty sure I heard that fantastic Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare menu music percussion in there. There’s also his signature motif. I guess I’ll call it his “Middle Eastern Motif” since he uses it in any score that deals somewhat with a Middle Eastern setting or character. I remember it in Domino most notably and a few others.
In the end this was a fantastic score. It brings us these lush themes and places us right in the atmosphere and setting of the story. His electronic percussion and pulsing strings give it a shot of adrenaline and keeps the energy level high. It’s what summer blockbuster scores are all about. Great fun done in such an amazing and memorable way that can still give you an emotional ride in full Gregson-Williams style.
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