What You Need to Know: This score material from "Monsters vs. Aliens" delivered mixed results for me. On the one hand, there is an unmistakable charm about Jackman's music that is tough to ignore, however, I kept getting a vibe that the material "felt" like incidental music for a 3D romp. I reach that conclusion simply because there is not a substantial main theme that is represented in the score, which for me, detracts from my listening enjoyment.
Jackman hits all the right notes, tonally, with this effort. When listening to the work, it's quite clear that this music will fit right in line with the visuals I've seen from this movie. It's off beat, somewhat quirky, and most importantly, refrains from going over the top in its execution. Additionally, and as mentioned earlier, there is warmth to Jackman's material that makes this out to be an appealing listening engagement. Where this score falls short, in my opinion, is the lack of a key theme that could have bolstered the presence of the music. For whatever reason, and I've noticed this quite frequently with modern works, there seems to have been a conscience decision to stray away from a representable theme and simply stick with smaller segments of safer, textbook writing. While this doesn't necessarily doom the soundtrack as a failure, it also doesn't catapult it to any level higher than that which it ultimately lands on.
Ironically, while the colors of the score come across a bit restrained, the "Monster Mojo" track at the end of the soundtrack shows off some zany originality and makes for the kind of uniqueness that I think the album could have benefited more from.
Issues aside, this is still capable work by Jackman. He guides the music forward in a consistent and apt manner, making this an album that is fairly enjoyable to get into.
