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The Incredibles: (Michael Giacchino) When writer and
director Brad Bird had the idea for this film rumbling around in his head
for several years before beginning production, you can easily see why he
wanted to make it. While only the animated genre would really work for the
story,
The Incredibles is an opportunity to mesmerize the kids with
Pixar's usual magic while also merging a dose of modern reality in the story
for adults to chuckle about (
Finding Nemo bridged this gap
successfully and became a smash hit for the studio as well). A high-flying
superhero of the 1950's is forced in a mundane, suburban lifestyle when
faced with lawsuits from ungrateful people whom he had saved, raising a
family (all budding superheroes, of course, along with Mr. Incredible's
wife) that is attempting to maintain a normal lifestyle while adorned with
special powers. Mr. Incredible himself is spotlighted as a study in the
perils of early retirement, sneaking off with other older superhero buddies
for occasional late night fun. As fate would have it, of course,
The
Incredibles has a villain who wants to unleash fearsome robots upon the
earth from a Pacific island (no surprise), and our favorite family of
superheroes is called upon to save the day. Bird claims that he had the
music for the film in mind long before the writing was finished, and that
the genre he envisioned was always that of big band jazz and orchestral
action rolled into one. Such music was popular in capers of the 1960's, and
probably best got its footing in the James Bond films, which, more than
anything else, put that genre in the mainstream of film music. When thinking
of a composer for
The Incredibles, Bird also claimed to have
difficulty finding an individual who would honor the big jazz action sound
without reverting to more modern methodology, such as synthetics. This
remark by Bird is interesting, because one obvious place to start looking
would have been David Arnold, whose score for
Tomorrow Never Dies, as
well as his band experience and reverence for the 1960's, might have served
as a strong calling card. But the call went to video game and television
composer Michael Giacchino, whose studies of previous genres of music and
abilities to reproduce them are equally strong, though noticed thus far on a
smaller scale. For Giacchino,
The Incredibles would be an excellent
opportunity to bust out into the mainstream film music business with a Pixar
film that's likely to bring him consider notice.
The style that Giacchino has raised from the dead for
The Incredibles turns out to not only be a smart idea by Bird, but
also provides in its finished recording a piece of music that stands out
with the glorious exuberance and unique perceptive that any feature cartoon
deserves. What Giacchino has done is merge two sides of the same
1950's/1960's genre of spy thrillers, the silly caper music you'd often hear
on television, and the larger ensemble of thrillers on the big screen, and
offer them with a remarkable combination of genuine attitude and occasional
tongue in cheek. Rambunctious themes are highlighted by wailing brass and
wild percussion, and the rhythmic structure of the genre is expertly
executed from beginning to end. Kids will likely devour the spirited
explosions of jazzy themes, although Giacchino's thematic constructs mature
as the score progresses, changing its perspective in much of the same way
the film matures as well. This attention to the film's evolution alone
requires recognition of Giacchino's ability to avoid getting caught up in
the rapture of his own creation, although he does allow quite a celebratory
arrangement of his themes over the end credits. For fans of John Barry and
David Arnold's James Bond scores, there are moments of less loungey
inspiration that you'll likely recognize (with maybe an intentional tip of
the hat at a time or two by Giacchino). The fluttering string theme of the
first cue offers perfect Barry whimsy, and the awesome character melding of
jazz and action in "Bob vs. the Omnidroid" turns a twist on Arnold's more
traditionally-minded Bond work (and
Tomorrow Never Dies more
specifically). The churning repetition of the evil mastermind's
plot-thickening bravado in "New and Improved" and "Kronos Unveiled,"
highlighted by a rolling piano in the latter cue, represents the typical
fashion in which Barry often built suspense in his own Bond efforts. Despite
the press that the moments of outrageous, explosive action that the score
for
The Incredibles will receive, the diversity of its
interpretations on the genre are what keep it interesting. Whether the jazzy
element is intimate or soaring, its rhythmic foundation is always present,
thus making Giacchino's effort an intelligently dynamic but consistent
product.
Even by itself on album, the affection that the music
conveys projects itself as being perfect for a Pixar film about aging
superheroes, but whether you will enjoy the music outside of context all
together will depend on how easily you fall to the allure of the high
jazz/action genre. No matter how masterfully Giacchino's work succeeds for
some listeners, it's also pretty easy to picture the score for
The
Incredibles causing headaches for other listeners. It's one of those
mood scores; a piece of music that will spark the right enthusiasm for you
when you're in a particular, but also a piece of music that may be less
tolerable in the second listen once you've satisfied your craving. Others,
one may suspect, will run screaming from the room when
The
Incredibles is on the stereo, but such a mixed reaction could probably
be expected given the intensity of the loyalty to the genre that Giacchino
maintains. A few technical notes of interest should be mentioned about the
recording. First, one of the reasons the score exhibits an authenticity
beyond all other efforts to capture the genre is because it was
intentionally recorded with analog technology. If you're seeking sound as
crystal clear and vibrant as the recent
Sky Captain and the World of
Tomorrow (another similarly conceived score that went to a different era
in its genre interpretation), then you might be disappointed with
The
Incredibles. Secondly, along those same lines, all of the elements of
the orchestra were recorded together in the same room for
The
Incredibles, with none of the brass or percussion tracked at a later
time. It's difficult to describe how this affects the sound precisely,
although a more fluid, better integrated sound to the fuller moments may be
the result. Finally, the score seems awkwardly balanced between the two
sides of the soundscape, with more of the live percussion and additional
brass elements coming clearly through on the left side with slightly more
muted elements occupying the right side. This last observation isn't
necessarily a detraction; it's simply something not heard often in scores
today. Overall,
The Incredibles is a well-conceived, refreshing
resurrection of a genre long-deserving of such a thoughtful interpretation.
Whether it fits you're current mood will likely determine everything about
your liking for it. For a first feature score, a tip of the hat is warranted
for Giacchino, who has long generated speculation that he would be an
eventual force in Hollywood since his first
Medal of Honor score five
years ago.
****
| Bias Check: | For Michael Giacchino reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating
is 3.6 (in 11 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.39
(in 6,229 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The insert includes extensive notation about the score and its creation.
