Mr. & Mrs. Smith - Original Score

John Powell\'s scoring assignments, of late, have focused on action thrillers such as the Bourne series, The Italian Job, and Paycheck, with some animated pictures here and there (i.e. Robots). His style is growing further apart from his Media Ventures beginnings, toward a very unique sound that melds percussive electronics and acoustic instrumentation as the sound platform for the orchestra. His most recent score for Mr. and Mrs. Smith is no exception; he uses the acoustic guitar more than the electronics here, where the synth has dominated the Bourne scores.

There are some exhilarating moments to the score, especially when Powell pulls out the stops in the percussion section ("Kiss and Make Up", "Assignments") and when he mixes the electronics, brass, and acoustic guitar ("Dodging Bullets", "The Next Adventure"). Brief moments of brass elevate the score, namely in "Office Work", "Hood Jump", "John Drops In" and "The Next Adventure". These four cues move away from the Bourne feel, but still fall short of providing the score with a coherent sound, given the little thematic development. Most of this occurs in the last cue.

There are few times that the score differs greatly from Powell\'s past action works. Numerous cues sound like unused cues from the Bourne films. There are some standout cues, but the score, as a whole, comes up short in comparison to the work Powell has done in the recent past. Nevertheless, the score worked really well in the film. Powell added a flamenco tone to some of the cues, as heard in "Hood Jump" and "Tango De Los Asesinos". We have heard Powell do some extraordinary work, both action and drama (i.e. Evolution, I Am Sam, and The Italian Job). Certain cues from Mr. and Mrs. Smith are great and Powell fans will like this score, but I\'m looking forward to what he does next.