Henry Jackman, while not fairly new to the scene of animated films, hasn't penned one since
Puss in Boots. What
Puss in Boots proved was that Jackman was more than capable of writing a thematic narrative to a driven score with momemts of great action and drama. So does that mean the same thing can be said for Wreck it Ralph? Not entirely. Jackman makes use of both a real life orchestra and a bunch of 8 bit synth for the score which actually helps give the score that video game feel. The score opens with Wreck it Ralph, which has this calm and grooving feel to that jumps straight to Life In The Arcade, which is where most of the nostalgic sounds are located. But Jackman never fogets the orchestra and the cue Rocket Fiasco alone is the stand out cue not only proves Jackman's orchestral writing, it is also the stand out cue on album. The cue features moving strings, a bounding base line, but also some outstanding chorus work that recalls the video game Halo. One of the problems though with this score is that while Jackman maintains a very nice blend, there is no real common theme to the movie. With no common theme, the score feels through-composed. Which given how much Ralph bounces from world to world it makes sense in the narrative sense. But still to string along a basic theme would have been nice to the ears. Because of it the score is nothing more than beautiful moments that do not feel connected. Another problem facing this score is some times the synth feels overbearing against the orchestra. Though this really only occurs briefly in Sugar Rush Showdown, it really makes for a not so pleasant experience. In the end though the things that blessed
Puss in Boots also bless Wreck it Ralph as well. Both seem to let loose with a kind of personality in the music that you can't help but like. It also helps make up for the fact that there is no common theme what so ever in this score. I personally think though that this score proves that Jackman can write very good music and hopefully soon he will find a consistency for which he writes it.
Read other recent reviews by Chris R.:
The Croods,
Cloud Atlas,
Sinister 
