Mirror Mirror Soundtrack Review

• 3rd May 2012

Composer: Alan Menken

Alan Menken’s name you normally found attached to Disney classic cartoons – and he has won awards for some of the best. Here he takes on Indian director Tarsem’s vision of Snow White and surprisingly delivers a fairly routine affair.

Menken is used to delivering an even spread of thrilling music and various songs throughout fairytale – but here (aside from a track at the end) he is called upon to deliver score only. Perhaps everything on screen was rather a bit too lavish to do anything else, but for such a character you’d hope for variations and something a little deeper. But again to point the finger at the film it is purely aimed at kids.

It isn’t that Mirror Mirror has a poor score, it just doesn’t really do anything to stand out. And when it comes to Snow White you’d think that would be an ample opportunity for any composer to play with all sorts of themes, so for that Menken must shoulder some responsibility.

It’s the fact that Menken himself is attached and should have had bigger and better ideas than what he delivers here. It won’t put anyone off his work to come, but it might make a few people scowl. Even the fact that the closing song is given a Bollywood tweak just comes across as rushed and lazy.

Steven Hurst