A collection of some words I've had for the older Maestro over the last few years: I still hold that much of his 2000s film works outside of Harry Potter and Geisha were significantly weaker than he's ever been. But Tintin and War Horse (War Horse especially) have made me eat my own words. The Maestro, by luck, or by sheer skill and talent has still got it. I genuinely believe that if my assessment that the maestro had run out of steam was true, he would not have been able to give us the two scores he has this year. I hear excitement and energy from him. With Tintin, yes I still hear the flurry of notes, but on the whole most notes seem to be there with purpose, something I think has been lacking in the past. War Horse on the other hand just outright proves my "all he does...spray paint notes" comment utterly wrong. It's a score where I cannot find a note out of place...where I cannot find a moment with too little or too much. It's just right, from beginning to end. From the emotional to the comedy to the action, it is supreme. It's perhaps too soon for me to label it (War Horse) as one of the top scores from the maestro just yet, we still haven't seen the movie. But suffice it to say.... I am pleased to have been proven wrong!