Archive
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART I – Alexandre Desplat
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The conclusion of the Harry Potter saga is as much of a cinematic event as it was a literary one when J.K. Rowling’s eagerly-awaited seventh book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, was released in July 2007 and broke a myriad of records for book sales. The success of the Harry Potter franchise is quite astonishing: it is reportedly responsible for almost single-handedly revitalizing the children’s literature market, brought fantasy fiction out of geekdom and into the mainstream, and of course made Rowling herself a gazillionaire, thanks not only to the book sales but also to the spin off merchandise, theme park rides, and of course the movies and soundtracks based on her work. Read more…
IRON MAN 2 – John Debney
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The sequel to the phenomenally successful super hero movie from 2008, Iron Man 2 sees Robert Downey Jr. returning to don the futuristic red and gold suit as Tony Stark, the multi-billionaire industrialist who saves the world in his spare time as his metallic alter ego. This time around his nemesis is megalomaniacal Russian juggernaut Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), seeking revenge for the death of his scientist father, who helped design the original Iron Man technology. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow as Stark’s loyal assistant Pepper Potts, Don Cheadle as Stark’s friend Colonel “Rhodey” Rhodes, and Scarlett Johansson as the sexy undercover agent Nastaha Romanoff, also known as Black Widow. Read more…
LET ME IN – Michael Giacchino
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
Let Me In is the American remake of the underground hit Swedish vampire movie Låt Den Rätte Komma In (Let the Right One In), which was released to great acclaim in 2008. Directed by Cloverfield helmer Matt Reeves and set in the 1980s, the film stars Kodi Smit-McPhee as Owen, a bullied and lonely young boy who lives in a rundown tenement in New Mexico with his mother (Cara Buono), who is in the midst of a divorce. One day, he makes friends with an equally lonely young girl named Abby (Chloe Moretz), who has moved into the same apartment block with her elderly guardian (Richard Jenkins). Despite being initially hesitant, the two develop a gradual friendship; but Abby harbors a secret – she is a vampire, and has been responsible for the spate of murders being investigated by a dogged detective (Elias Koteas). Despite being a remake of what many consider a superior European film, Let Me In has garnered a great deal of praise, for its performances, for its proper adherence to John Ajvide Lindqvist’s original novel, and for Michael Giacchino’s chilling score. Read more…
TOY STORY 3 – Randy Newman
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The second sequel to the groundbreaking Pixar animation comes 15 years after the original, but despite the passage of time has not lost any of its magic or charm. As well as being an excellent (and very funny) diversion for children, it’s also an imaginative, nostalgic, pathos-filled treat for adults, dealing with such mature themes as obsolescence and loss. The majority of the original voice cast – Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn – return to join up with newcomers Ned Beatty and Michael Keaton in a brand new story where the toys are accidentally delivered to a day care facility when their beloved owner Andy goes away to college. At first happy to be played with again, the toys quickly find out that life in the day care is not quite as rosy as it seems, and hatch a plan to escape. Read more…
THE LAST AIRBENDER – James Newton Howard
Original Review by Jonathan Broxton
The Last Airbender, written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is a fantasy adventure film based on the extremely popular Nickelodeon animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender, which ran from 2005 from 2008. The film is set in a world where civilization is divided into four nations based on the elements – water, earth, air and fire – and the concept that, within each nation, people called “benders” have the ability to manipulate their element by practicing different kinds of martial arts. In addition to elemental benders, there is also one person who can manipulate all four elements simultaneously – the mythical Avatar of the title – and his presence brings peace and stability to the world. In Shyamalan’s film, the current Avatar, an air nomad named Aang, has been missing for almost 100 years, and in the intervening period the ruthless Fire nation has begun to dominate the other three elemental kingdoms. After Aang is discovered frozen in ice by two young members of the Water Tribe, the three set off to stop the Fire nation and restore balance to the elements. Read more…
Welcome to the new look Movie Music UK
After many years of a rather stagnant and out of date site design, plus various technological and security-related issues over the past six months, I have decided to bite the bullet and launch a site upgrade, with a new look, and new features intended to make the site more interactive and modern.
The review content and composer biography archive will remain the same (as, hopefully, will the quality of writing!), but in addition to these classic elements the site now has an RSS feed, is set up to allow instant feedback from readers through direct comment areas on each review, and is plugged in to Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Digg, and various other social media outlets to allow easy link sharing.
Over the coming months I will be working on new reviews and content while moving over and converting all the existing reviews and composer biographies to the new style. Currently the majority of the historical reviews and composer bios are unavailable, but this will gradually change over time. I expect all the content to be back live within 10-12 weeks.
I hope you like the all-new MMUK. Comments and questions are always welcome, of course!
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