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Gregson-
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Antz: (John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams)
While it may not have been the magnificent success in 1998 that
A
Bug's Life would become, Dreamworks'
Antz has nevertheless
stood the test of time as a worthy adult-focused companion piece to the
Disney entry. Its cast is unparalleled in modern animation, ranging from
Woody Allen and Sharon Stone to Sylvester Stallone and Gene Hackman,
with the personality of Allen as 'Z' defining the film's mature
examinations of psychology, Marxism, and all of the variants you'd
typically find in one of Allen's own films. Genuinely adult humor is
littered throughout
Antz, and while the story includes enough
flashiness to keep the kids entertained, the endeavor found itself in an
awkward place between the two audiences. To help bridge the gap,
composers John Powell and Harry Gregson-Williams provided a score filled
with both adult references and enough raw and wild enthusiasm to attract
younger ears. The two relative newcomers onto the solo scoring scene had
not yet established their own credentials, but few film score collectors
ten years later would argue that better composers would come out of Hans
Zimmer's Media Ventures factory of clones than Powell and
Gregson-Williams. Their collaborations on future animated features
(
Chicken Run,
Shrek, etc) would arguably be more popular
than
Antz, but you can't help but look back at
Antz with
amusement. Setting the stage for the large scope of the future animation
scores, Powell and Gregson-Williams (with the help of a few other MV
junkies on individual cues) would employ 85 orchestral players, 25
choral singers, the usual array of synthesizers and their normal
samples, as well as a host of solo performances from the group. At the
time, the score was often obnoxious for listeners accustomed to a more
tame musical approach for animated films. But it was also a very clear
departure from the usual Zimmer sound that these two composers in
particular had been identified with in their early scores (both
Face/Off and
Enemy of the State were sadly underdeveloped
clone work), thus providing an overwhelming breath of fresh air for
listeners skeptical of new collaboration.
While the score is thematically diverse, it's the
overarching attitude and genre choices that define
Antz's
strangely enticing personality. The funk offered in the score's first
half extends from the sophisticated metropolitan musings of plucked
strings for 'Z' to the massively mambo-derived "whistle while you work"
joy representing the ants' colony. But the musical center of the score
would turn out to be two adaptations of famous themes for
Antz,
including a wickedly polar representation of "Guantanamera" and a
lyrically creative variation of "Johnny Comes Marching Home." The latter
may not be as integrated into the fabric of the score as it would be in
Jerry Goldsmith's
Small Soldiers the same year, but it's still
memorable. Three primary themes are loyally developed, including the
aforementioned jazzy string affair for 'Z' and his social ineptitude.
The colony's massively rendered theme bounces with robust movement and
features instrumentation the most similar to the upcoming
Chicken
Run; the cue "The Colony" is a marvelously entertaining and
inspiring two minutes of mood-building spirit. The more shadowy "General
Mandible" is given a mundane minor key theme of origins rooted in
Zimmer's simplistic progressions and partially synthetic
instrumentation. All three themes would appear in full at least three
times, with the first two often co-existing in the numerous crescendos
of action throughout the score. As would become custom,
Antz
would highlight its resolution with a choral crescendo of grand beauty
and a thematic wrap-up. The main weakness of the
Antz score is
its downward turn in its latter half. After sparking the film to life
with outrageous personality in its initial half hour, the action
material during and after the ants go to war is largely uninteresting
and fails to offer further creativity in its thematic integrations. The
exception is "Ant Revolution," which returns to the personality of the
film's opening moments and throws in some bass woodwind rhythms highly
reminiscent of Rachel Portman's comedy works. Overall, Powell and
Gregson-Williams may not have been in top form by 1998, but
Antz
has fifteen or so minutes of truly magical and addictive personality
more cohesive and enjoyable than Danny Elfman's similar attempts at the
time. Just make sure you're in the mood...
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For John Powell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.18
(in 45 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.11
(in 47,489 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
For Harry Gregson-Williams reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.94
(in 35 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.99
(in 51,865 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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