I've really never understood the Hollywood obsession with remakes, which has ballooned out of control recently - I could understand if a director or writer saw a film with an ingriguing concept that just didn't quite work out and tried to make it work - could I say Cape Fear as a controversial example? - but why remake something that is perfect to begin with?  Such is the case with The Italian Job, whose original version was a flawless, brilliantly funny and exciting movie.  You were only supposed to blow the bloody doors off, indeed.  But anyway, somebody decided to do a new, Hollywoodised version (perhaps not realising that part of what makes the original so damn cool is its very unHollywoodishness) with Mark Wahlberg instead of Michael Caine - which pretty much says it all.

Quincy Jones's score for the original is indelible, and stepping into his shoes would be very difficult.  British composer John Powell made a go of it, and I'm surprised by how well he did.  There's no theme, which is rather disappointing given how wonderful Jones's original theme was, but instead the score is an ultra-hip effort that reminds me in a way of an updated version of Lalo Schifrin's Bullitt-era style.  There's loads of real and synthesised percussion, guitars, bass - it's a lovely, jazzy, modern piece of music.

The album is notably well-produced, with frenetic action cues (like "Boat Chase") mingling with more restrained, low-key stuff ("Mourning John") and being a perfect length at 42 minutes.  It's not a challenging listen, but it makes for excellent background music and is one of Powell's strongest albums.  Recommended for fans of modern film music.

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