Jan 24, 2010

Knight And Day Poster Art

Following the promising trailer (it doesn't feel quite right, but that seems like it's because the trailer was probably cut with only a few scenes actually in the can), we now have even more promising poster art for James Mangold's Tom Cruise/Cameron Diaz spy romp.  In fact, this image is more than promising; it's downright awesome.  I love it, in both its US one-sheet and UK quad configurations.  I'm so glad that studio publicity departments are slowly getting away from the boring, boring, boring "Photoshopped head close-ups" poster design of recent years and experimenting once more (a bit, anyway) with more striking compositions and even, ever so slightly, artwork.  I applaud Fox's publicity department for having the courage to go with a teaser image that doesn't even show their big stars' faces!  This is great, appealingly-retro-but-at the same time forward thinking spy artwork.  I love it. 


I really, really hope that John Powell's score for this film matches this poster artwork.  Looking at it, for some reason the music I hear in my head is the theme from the anime series Cowboy Bebop, which itself owes more than a little to George Martin's cue "Baron Samedi's Dance of Death" from his score for Live and Let Die.  It's a modern theme with definite Sixties (and, clearly early Seventies) spy music roots, and I'd love to see that combination drive this movie, based on that poster and what we know about the plot and the Eurospyish MacGuffin.  I love Powell's scores for the Bourne films, the Italian Job remake and, particularly, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, but his spy music is seldom what I'd call "retro."  To me, this poster demands something more like what Michael Giacchino concocted for The Incredibles.  (And based only on his great but very contemporary and very electronic Alias scores, I wouldn't have pegged Giacchino for writing such a perfect tribute to John Barry, so you never know...) I'd love to hear Powel's ode to spy music of the past, but perhaps I'm just forming the wrong expectations based on a teaser poster.  Whatever the music turns out to be, I love this poster and I'm definitely looking forward to the film!

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