Whenever Debney approaches a major adventure or fantasy project, the first thing score collectors want to know is whether it compares favorably to his well-established and respected calling card: Cutthroat Island. So to say it right off the bat, Zathura is nowhere near Cutthroat Island territory. But it exists at the better-than-average level of My Favorite Martian and The Scorpion King, with some of the lengthy choral contributions of the latter score. What Zathura has going in favor it is a ceaseless level of orchestral activity from a large Los Angeles ensemble. In its bulk application, Debney succeeds in providing satisfying rhythms and stereotypical chord progressions from space adventures of yesteryear with all the exuberance necessary to cause the music to take flight. On the other hand, there's a significantly campy and borderline cheesy side to Zathura that smells distinctly like David Newman's Galaxy Quest, with the incessant snare and the lighter, underpowered choir draining whatever seriousness there would have been in the music otherwise. The main titles are an unashamed tribute to the sensibilities of James Horner's Star Trek scores, with a touch of David Arnold's heroics left over from Debney's wholesale use of it in Chicken Little, and even the repetition of the final orchestral hits in John Williams fashion. A handful of these monumental cues lead Zathura on its satisfying ride, highlighted by the expansive "Shooting Star Card" cue. Some of the stutter-step action pieces, however, remind of the campy B-grade sci-fi scores of the 1980's, with Craig Safan's The Last Starfighter mentioned as a similarly faux-heroic entry in the same library of sounds. The score progressively loses that innocence as it reaches its strong, final six cues. But throughout its length of blaring brass, borderline choral overuse, and that still ceaselessly ripping snare, the recording quality of the score is remarkably flat. This phenomenon has plagued several of Debney's fuller recordings in the action genre, and it constricts Zathura with a dry sound that doesn't do justice to the soaring spirit of space travel. Overall, though, another commendable effort in Debney's remarkable year.  ****   @Amazon.com: CD or Download