Filmtracks Traffic Rank: #1,658
Written 9/15/16
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Buy it... if you can admire John Debney's mindful interpolation of
a few David Newman and John Powell themes from the franchise's past,
spread amongst his better space-faring parody material for this tale.
Avoid it... if even the better-executed variety of this genre's
predictable sound from Debney cannot maintain your interest apart from
the film, despite the lack of any truly obnoxious portions here.
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| Debney |
Ice Age: Collision Course: (John Debney) It's
franchises like "Ice Age" that contribute to the ultimate "dumbing down"
of the movie industry in the age of senseless sequels aimed solely at
squeezing dollars out of parents eager to throw their kids in front of a
screen. There's really no reason for 2016's Ice Age: Collision
Course to exist otherwise, critics widely recognizing that the
concept has long past its prime. So asinine has the "Ice Age" franchise
become that this fifth film actually takes the story into outer space
and postulates that the idiotic pre-historic characters of the tale
could not only cause asteroids to hurl towards their planet but actually
alter the trajectory of those asteroids upon learning of their imminent
demise. It's really stupid stuff, folks, but 20th Century Fox seems
pleased enough with the box office results to allow the pondering of a
sixth feature film in the series. Aside from the ridiculous space
element in Ice Age: Collision Course, there's the expected
continuation of the interpersonal development of the main animals in
"The Herd," the unlikely gang that has persisted through these films
joined by a range of auxiliary characters each providing their comedy
relief. At the heart of the story is Scrat the squirrel and his endless
chase of the ever-elusive acorn, which, in this case, sends him to Mars
aboard a spaceship. Not much more needs said about the plot. The music
for the series, after kicking off the concept with David Newman, has
largely been the domain of John Powell since, and these energetic
children's comedy scores have often resided in the safely competent
"3-star" range of quality. The same "safely competent 3-star range"
descriptor could be applied to the majority of composer John Debney's
ventures into the genre as well, and his journey to the "Ice Age" realm
(which, incidentally, he claims to have always admired through the
years) will likely receive much of the same response from soundtrack
enthusiasts. Debney, whose career continues to be defined by obscure
dramas, pointless horror flicks, and silly comedies, has actually
enjoyed a fantastic 2016 to this point, with both The Young
Messiah and The Jungle Book being solid scores that
intelligently interpolate existing thematic ideas into engaging new
packages. The same is true of Ice Age: Collision Course, and it's
good to hear the veteran composer infuse ideas from the franchise's past
amongst his own parody sensibilities. The result is a score that will
for many still be a predictable, workmanlike 3-star bore. But there's
enough going on in this non-offensive experience to recommend another
examination.
The demeanor of the music for
Ice Age: Collision
Course is less guided by Carl Stalling's "Mickey Mousing" than you'd
expect, though that element certainly exists throughout. Rather, due to
the space setting and deeper familial character exploration, Debney
responds with a greater dose of outright fantasy and dramatic heft.
Along with the sometimes zany and bluegrass comedy elements, you receive
a score whose closest relative, perhaps, is
My Favorite Martian.
The ensemble is nicely handled; Debney certainly knows how to balance
the standard orchestra with a variety of specialty instruments and
electronic effects to produce the right atmosphere. The highlights of
the work come in the thematic and outright parody portions, not
surprisingly. He does offer recurring melodies of his own for this tale,
and he maintains enough instrumental consistency in their references to
keep them viable. Perhaps most impressive is his glowing "Geotopia"
motif of grandeur. His Scrat idea borrows heavily from Alan Silvestri's
manic Doc Brown material from
Back to the Future. Of more
intrigue for a film music collector otherwise tired of children's comedy
music is the care with which Debney incorporates ideas directly and
indirectly from other works. His application of existing franchise
themes by Newman and Powell throughout the score was an unnecessary but
extremely welcome choice. He pulls Newman's very pretty family theme
from "Checking Out the Cave" in
Ice Age (recall the lovely
performance near the end of that cue) for three notable renditions here,
each of them maintaining Newman's attractive counterpoint structures and
brightening up the tone to give the relationships their due deliverance.
Meanwhile, the concluding fanfare from Powell's "End Credits" suite in
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is reworked in two cues,
particularly the start of "We Did It," though don't look for this
material to be as well adapted as that from Newman. Other familiar
moments abound, from the classical parody in "Magnets" to Richard
Strauss' obligatory "Also Sprach Zarathustra" timpani at the end of
"Wedding Preparations." Debney seems most taken by James Horner's "Star
Trek" scores, however, using them as a tongue-in-cheek inspiration for
Scrat's spaceside endeavors. Highlights in these portions include the
second half of "Earthbound Acorn" and the end of "We Did It;" the latter
humorously resurrects Horner's ubiquitous, rising crescendo from the end
of
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (after, no less, the Doc
Brown/Scrat motif). Overall,
Ice Age: Collision Course doesn't
reinvent the wheel (except for using existing franchise themes...
imagine that!), but it's a very competent, overachieving score and an
easy listening experience on album.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
Bias Check:
For John Debney reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.33
(in 56 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.1
(in 49,967 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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