 |
|
| Jackman |
|
|
Puss in Boots: (Henry Jackman) Intended originally
to be a straight-to-video offering after the second movie in the
Shrek franchise,
Puss in Boots was eventually slated for a
2011 theatrical release by Dreamworks. Since it was under production at
the same time that
Shrek Forever After was being developed, the
film was careful to remain faithful to only its title character,
supplementing the story with an entirely new cast of supporters in an
effort not to conflict with the franchise's overarching storyline. The
lovable Zorro-inspired cat is shown in action before the events of the
Shrek films, following his quest for golden goose eggs and
partnering with shady characters (many of whom standard fantasy
concepts) who eventually betray him. Puss ultimately takes the ethical
route and becomes a hero to the locals in expected Zorro fashion, all
the while maintaining his alluring outlaw status. Due to a shortage of
labor and animation expertise, Dreamworks outsourced some of the duties
on
Puss in Boots to India, a somewhat controversial move that
understandably saved significant costs and opens the door for similar
shipping of American jobs overseas by the studio for future endeavors.
The music for the
Shrek universe has always remained in the arena
of former Hans Zimmer associates, and now following veteran composers
John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams is rising Remote Control graduate
Henry Jackman. While the English composer has impressed with a few solid
entries in the children's genre over the previous few years, his
collaboration with Zimmer goes back to the 2000's and includes several
major blockbuster titles. His experience in wholesale children's music
and the parody element associated with that genre proved useful for
Jackman in
Puss in Boots. Gregson-Williams had always treated the
character to a certain flair of Latin personality, utilizing basic
connections to classical Spanish musical traditions that have been
referenced since in many forms for original soundtracks. The most
notable such flavor in the digital age of film music has existed in
James Horner's pair of highly acclaimed Zorro-related scores,
The
Mask of Zorro in 1998 and
The Legend of Zorro in 2005, both
of which memorable in part because they represent such a pointed
departure from the composer's usual career sound.
For
Puss in Boots, Jackman does remain faithful
to the same techniques and instrumentation of traditional Latin music,
but he also exposes significant connections to both of Horner's scores
as well as the kind of stereotyped spaghetti western sounds associated
more recently (in
Rango, most specifically) with Zimmer's
fondness for poking fun at such vintage Ennio Morricone methodology. The
final result is a parody score that sounds like extended temp-track
emulation, and while it basically functions because of its personality,
its narrative is diminished because of its total lack of originality.
Although Horner accessed the same traditions for his Zorro scores for
near parody reasons, he managed to give that sound the depth of
authenticity necessary to resurrect it in a serious context. Jackman,
meanwhile, seems to have approached
Puss in Boots with the silly
plundering of such traditions in mind, yielding a score that conveys the
empty shell of such Latin music without much more than standard
children's genre slapstick to back it up. And even then, Jackman wanders
all over the spectrum in terms of his tone and instrumentation,
augmenting the acoustic guitars, trumpets, and castanets with the sounds
of choir, harpsichord, and harmonica while blasting through Powell's
standard fantasy modes, some of which taking the music to classical and
even Middle Eastern realms before finally arriving back at a major
fantasy theme that is, ironically, yanked from the style of Horner's
efforts in the genre in the early 1990's. Jackman provides two themes to
the title character, one a snazzy trumpet affair that has more Morricone
written on it than Horner, but the other a romantic alternative that is
resembles the latter composer's work completely. The format of "A Bad
Kitty" even opens with the same clapping and foot stomping over
castanets and guitars in the aggressively rhythmic initial format of
The Mask of Zorro, and by the time a senseless shakuhachi flute
makes an appearance in its usual puffed mannerisms, the emulation of
Horner is total. Several of the progressions in the two main themes do
little to obscure these blindingly obvious temp-track placements;
certainly, Jackmam could have done more to put a unique stamp on
Puss
in Boots. He almost concedes the connections as though the Antonio
Banderas crossover merits them. For spaghetti western enthusiasts, cues
like "One Leche" and "Confronting the Past" are equally shameless,
whistling and chimes combined with deep male choir in the latter cue
(and "The Puss Suite") to twist it in a distinctly Zimmer-like
angle.
Despite the head-spinning instrumental and structural
aspects of
Puss in Boots that make it one of the more outlandish
parodies of its era, Jackman does offer several secondary themes that do
distract from the Latin elements, especially in the second half of the
work. A quirky, carnivalesque theme for the villains, Jack and Jill,
appears in the cue of that name and "The Wagon Chase," among others, and
has a knack for reminding of Toto's
Dune. An offshoot of this
theme exists for Humpty Dumpty and figures in the action material in the
center portion of the score, culminating in a spooky rendition in "I Was
Always There" and one of defeat in "The Great Terror." The magical
element, including everything from the "Jack and Beanstalk," castle in
the sky, giant, and golden goose, begins in "Planting the Beans" as
though it's going to follow strictly Powell lines (in fact, that cue is
pure Powell in nearly every regard), but by the end of "The Magic
Beanstalk," it has morphed into a solid tribute to Horner's early 1990's
children's music. The pair of "Castle in the Clouds" and "Golden Goose
of Legend" becomes so saturated with Horner's mannerisms by the latter
cue that the connections truly distract. An offshoot of this theme in
"The Giant's Castle" is similarly retrospective, though in the latter
half of this cue, Jackman's full string performances of the idea focus
squarely on Horner's romantic portions of
Krull. After the once
domineering Latin tones largely exited in the middle of the score,
Jackman returns to them in "Farewell to San Ricardo," an absolutely
blatant structural pull from the conclusion of
The Legend of
Zorro. When you step back and look at
Puss in Boots as a
whole, the temp-track imitation is so obvious that it often dilutes the
effort, a cue like "Honor and Justice" simply encouraging the listener
to revisit Horner's music rather than continue to be struck by
tongue-in-cheek parodies of the same general sound. Ironically, the best
portions of the score are the non-Latin ones, but they too don't exhibit
much originality. All of this said, Jackman has provided the film with
what it basically called for, and most of the distracting references are
the kinds of things that reveal themselves far more outside of context.
The Rodrigo y Gabriela guitar contributions are reportedly newly
arranged re-recordings of their previous work, and if they perform in
the original score, they don't have a notable impact. Still, their
appearance here is better suited than in
Pirates of the Caribbean: On
Stranger Tides earlier in the same year. The overall package of
Puss in Boots will likely become a guilty pleasure for many
listeners, but for Powell, Morricone, and especially Horner collectors,
it may send you seeking the original sources of inspiration. Been there,
done that.
Amazon.com Price Hunt: CD or Download
Music as Written for the Film: ****
Music as Heard on Album: ***
Overall: ***
The insert includes an extended tagline for the film but no extra
information about the score or film.
