Looney Tunes: Back in Action

Jerry Goldsmith's score for Looney Tunes Back in Action reflects the film's animation meets live-action format with its playful but never quite over the top feel. Indeed, many of the score's cues are relatively restrained, such as "What's Up?" and "Another Take." The tracks that do build into full-fledged wackiness, like "Out of the Bag" and "Dead Duck Walking," manage to do so with a surprising amount of art and tension. A slinky, film noir-ish feel slinks through several of the tracks and electric guitars also wind through the music; both elements give the score some depth beyond the Carl Stalling-inspired whimsy that makes up most of the music. "The Bad Guys," with its playful nastiness and Western soundtrack influences, is one of the score's standout tracks, as are "Thin Air" -- a rock version of Stalling's famous "Powerhouse" -- and "Tasmanian Devil." A fun and often creative score, Looney Tunes Back in Action may actually be better than the film for which it was composed. ~ Heather Phares