Critics around the country have been dumping negative reviews on
the re-make of
Around The World In 80 Days like so much toxic waste into
Love Canal. Audiences have been staying away from this film as if
it were contaminated with an infectious disease.
Really makes you want to spend an hour listening to the
soundtrack, eh?
Composer Trevor Jones, I’m sure, tried his best, but the natural
limitations of the film seem to spill over into the soundtrack, and
this disc ends up nosediving, crashing and burning like an
experimental aircraft gone horribly wrong.
If there is indeed a hell, the song “It’s A Small World” is
undoubtedly the soundtrack for eternal damnation. Baha Men (aren’t
their 15 minutes of fame up yet?!?) do nothing for the cause by
providing a modern-day take on what could well be the most annoying
song in existence. The other two songs meant to keep the soundtrack
somewhat planted in the modern age are throwaway pop fluff; neither
David A. Stewart’s “Everybody All Over the World (Join The
Celebration)” nor Tina Sugandh’s “River Of Dreams” seems to serve
any real purpose to the story or the disc.
Jones, to his credit, does try to craft his music around the
basis of the story, though it doesn’t completely provide the
listener with enough to help them follow along. (In this reviewer’s
mind, the score of a film should be able to tell the story to the
listener in notes, not words.)
And while some examples like “Jetpack Journey” have their
moments, the bulk of the score to
Around The World In 80 Days falls terribly flat. Did we
really need a snippet of “Can-Can” interspersed into “Rendezvous In
Paris”? Did “Lost In America” really have to be so schizophrenic in
terms of style? Most importantly, did score pieces like “Return Of
The Jade Buddha,” “Prince Hapi Escape” and “Around The World
Overture” really need to be so boring?
Regrettably, that last word amply describes this soundtrack.
There is precious little excitement contained in Jones’s score and
the pop-laden tracks, and listeners will soon find themselves
almost bored to tears with this disc.
Movie-goers have been passing on
Around The World In 80 Days in droves. You’d do wise to do
the same with this turkey of a soundtrack.
