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John Powell kicks ass


Morlock

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  • 2 weeks later...

You can hear Powell's Rio in a complete form here...

http://www.musicme.com/

Search for "John Powell Rio" and there you go! I must say that I have fallen in love with the upbeat part of "Morning Routine". The scene that is written for is the best of the movie in my opinion, specially thanks to the lack of talking from Blu's part. And I think they should have kept it that way, it could have given the character a unique aspect and express everything through actions or simple emotions.

Also, "Rio Airport" and "Flying" are great too.

Its a sort of battle between Ice Age Powell and Dragon Powell. Kinda like KOTCS for Johnny.

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Been listening to Rio recently. It's good, but nothing outstading. Compared to the Ice Age scores, it's a little more consistent and more developed, but it can be too bumpy for some people. Considering the bouncy nature of the film, this shouldn't be rare at all.

Highlights for me:

- The second half of "Morning Routine"

- "Bird Fight"

- "Rio Airport"

- "Flying"

Also the theme for the villains is actually quite cool. And subtle too. It plays mostly on strings and in pizzicatto too.

For us lovers of mickey-mousing, there's a lot of it to be found. For example, you'll love a little part of "Idiot Glider" (at 01:10) of which Carl Stalling would be proud.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Are the Kung Fu Panda movies like the Batman Begins movies where HZ and JNH each write different cues, or do HZ and JP co-compose all cues together?

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Nope. I saw the movie, but never listened to the OST.

Oh BTW, did you ever figure out what the "*"s and other symbols next to certain Rio tracks were all about?

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Oh BTW, did you ever figure out what the "*"s and other symbols next to certain Rio tracks were all about?

It means Dominic Lewis did additional music for those cues, if I'm not mistaken.

Highly looking forward to Panda 2!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Been listening to Kung Fu Panda 2 recently. And I'm amazed. It takes all the elements from the first score and upgrades them to the maximum. Hans in an interview recently said that he lets Powell takes the lead on these kind of scores, and here it really shows.

Powell is on a roll recently with these serious animated scores! I'm glad for him :)

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I find it incredible that Powell has the time to do all these... Mars...Rio and now KFP 2, all in the space of a few months.

Or is it just a case of some of them being done last year while they wait for the animation to be completed?

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  • 4 weeks later...

I think it's about time John Powell started doing something else than animation. If not, he's going to end up like Desplat writing waltzes. They are both good at what they do, but I'm getting bored at this point already.

Give him Superman or something!

Karol

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Give him Superman or something!

Karol

Maybe, just maybe, there is some more emotionally gripping stuff then shopworn comic heroes on the horizon. Would love to see Powell tackle some historical epic. Even Gregson-Williams star shone brightly for a moment when he did KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

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Not really, most of his scores are Spanish-infused.

It would be interesting if he did one some day, to stray away a little from his comfort zone. A horror/suspense film could really help to this, too...

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Maybe, just maybe, there is some more emotionally gripping stuff then shopworn comic heroes on the horizon. Would love to see Powell tackle some historical epic. Even Gregson-Williams star shone brightly for a moment when he did KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.

Oh yes. Anything new in Powell's repertoire would be welcomed.

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I think Powell badly needs to accept an assignment that doesn't involve animation, or serious drama where he brings his percussion loops out. You'd think that after his string of animations he'd be looking for something different.

Closest he came was X-Men 3, which I like bits of.

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You'll never get him to do a traditional orchestral score. If you want something like X-Men, then check out Hancock (which is infinitely better). His love for percussion and propulsive beats are his signature sounds. So something as dark and minimalistic as United 93 still screams Powell.

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Ah, how could I forget Hancock? That's the style he needs to take on more.

I said X-Men just as an example really... I find it generally as colourless as many others. Action music is too loud and busy.

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It's one of my least favorite scores by him. Which is probably why most of you love it - it doesn't sound like Powell. Temp track hell.

Would you care to expand on that point? Seems interesting.

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It sounds a lot like a traditional superhero score rather than a John Powell superhero score. Lots of Spider-Man and Superman in there. Hancock is what we get when he's free to properly homage John Williams.

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It sounds a lot like a traditional superhero score rather than a John Powell superhero score. Lots of Spider-Man and Superman in there. Hancock is what we get when he's free to properly homage John Williams.

I see, and I agree. While I enjoy lots of moments from X-Men 3, Hancock feels like Powell was really enjoying composing it. And the non-traditional orchestral elements (like jazz and some funky music) really add personality to it.

Too bad none of the complete scores have that short Superman homage... It's awesome!

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  • 3 months later...

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