By Steve Jablonsky

WaterTower Music, out now

A (Super)man’s best friend…

Well, where to begin with the soundtrack to a movie centring on Krypto the Superdog? Actually we begin by “Leaving Krypton” as Super-origin stories generally do, and noticing that there are some nice elements of John Williams’ Krypton theme from the 1978 Superman The Movie being hinted and riffed upon. It’s teasing, reversing the octaves but keeping the pattern, and so forth to the point just as you might wonder why they didn’t go the whole hog… Jablonsky goes the whole hog, and Williams’ majestic Krypton theme is reverberating in the ears in a most nostalgically awesome way!

It’s a great way to open the album, and actually that might be to its overall detriment, as it goes for this right at the outset, and then, well, then we start getting what you might call music typical of Dreamworks/Pixar type animated comedy action films. There are bouncy horns and strings carrying us along, and jauntier lighter comedy tones, and even the distinct electronic sound of the theremin to tell us when we’re in weird science fictional mad scientist territory. Which is all fine, it’s pleasant enough, but it doesn’t stand out from the crowd in the way that themes from the likes of, say, How To Train Your Dragon or Puss In Boots did.

Fortunately what does stand out are more of those nostalgia hits, such as the thrill of Danny Elfman’s 1989 Batman theme, and the punch-the-air moment of Williams’ definitive Superman theme. No doubt conspiriology bots on the internet will claim this is all part of a plot to erase the Snyderverse, but really, that theme tune for Superman is so iconic that everybody knows it, and everybody will get a kick out of it. Sadly we don’t hear either the TV or 2017 movie theme for Wonder Woman, nor the themes for the 1990 or current Flash TV shows, but you can’t have everything.

There is also one of those travelling songs that tends to crop up in animated movies – this time “Count On Me” by Jac Ross, which is pretty forgettable.

Verdict: Another serviceable soundtrack album that’s good background music, with some great nostalgic moments that hit the spot. 7/10

David A McIntee