Around the World in 80 Days

For some reason now unfathomable to me, I had high hopes for this retelling of Jules Verne's adventure novel. The 1956 big screen version had an all star cast headed by David Niven and won five Oscars (including one for Victor Young's score), although to take best picture, I rather fancy the pickings were slim that year. However, by starring Jackie Chan and the less famous (at least internationally) Steve Coogan as Fogg, the emphasis here is all wrong and the result is a tedious, slap stick travelogue that takes even more liberties with the original novel (to no benefit) than the Niven version. For circumnavigation, I'll stick with Michael Palin. However, the prospect of Trevor Jones applying his maturing and engrossing style to a family adventure is still a good one, even if the results don't quite match the hope, we're still left with an appealing and engaging album.

Few films are lucky enough to have an Overture, but Jones indulges us, introducing his rousing, if not desperately memorable theme (but it does grow on you, as is often the case with Jones' melodies of late) which bristles its way through five minutes of aural delight that would be an ideal compilation cue. Given the heavy use of Chan, the action is fairly frequent and the results are enjoyable, if mixed in originality. Jetpack Journey is an early highlight with Jones breaking out the brass riffs that have become a trademark, packing more interest in a couple of minutes than most Media Ventures scores manage in an hour of synthetic bang and grind. Having said that, a few of the later action tracks are less original; The Balloon Chase leans heavily on John Williams' Hook, while his score to Far & Away crops up while Lost in America, together with Randy Newman's Maverick. Jones just about keeps his own musical head above water, but it wouldn't be unreasonable to suspect strong director/studio influence on his choices.

It was unlikely that the locally flavoured music would be much less than mildly cliché and so Paris gets accordions, Prince Hapi Escape includes the almost ubiquitous ethnic wail (plus a little more of the fine action material), Agra to China has a pleasing tip of the hat to Tan Dun and the bookend scenes in London have an enjoyably Elgarian lilt to them. Having come to the album a little later than most of my fellow reviewers, I was expecting a disjointed patchwork of an album, albeit one with plenty of energy. However, for all the temp track riffs (and there are a disappointing number) and shifts in ethnic tone, every portion does at least sound as though Jones has attempted to graft the disparate ideas onto his own sensibility and it's certainly far from incoherent. Around the World in 80 Days is one of those dual personality scores; too much fun and too energetic to entirely dismiss, but not really memorable or original enough to unreservedly recommend. However, on balance, for sheer entertainment value, worth the investment.