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| Doyle |
Igor: (Patrick Doyle) An attempt by MGM to compete
in the animation genre during the 2008 summer season resulted in
Igor, the kind of devious production that tried unsuccessfully to
emulate the style of Tim Burton's morbidly rendered productions aimed at
similar audiences. Unfortunately for Tony Leondis' lighthearted take on
the mad scientist subgenre,
Igor was too frightening for small
kids but too dumb for adults, and without the kind of support from older
kids and teenagers, it wasted a strong ensemble cast and degenerated
into a series of pop-culture references. The story finally gives the
most famous mad scientist's assistant his own spotlight, but despite all
of Igor's own attempts to produce evil in the mould of his dead master,
he manages to only yield positive results. His creature is a giant woman
who only wants to perform on stage, for instance. The title character's
worst intentions still manage to gain him a cute and cuddly persona,
perhaps one of the film's more challenging hurdles. With a story that
ultimately evolves into one of a theatre troop, the role of
genre-defying music in a context of massive fantasy and horror tones had
to be twisted into awkward combinations with vintage jazz and showtune
sensibilities. Accepting the challenge of bringing all of these musical
styles under one leaky roof was Patrick Doyle, who has claimed to always
have had a soft spot for animation despite only rarely tackling the
genre. Assignments such as this one allow for the kind of overblown
creativity rarely allowed in other topics, though Doyle does resort to
standard cartoon techniques at times. His work for
Igor is indeed
colorful in the musical spectrum, with tones ranging from grandiose,
epic choral fright and solo soprano beauty to snazzy vintage lounge
material and solo piano elegance. Some listeners will get hung up on the
material that takes inspiration from Carl Stalling and other more recent
masters of capturing the frenetic, unpredictable movement of the
characters, and indeed Doyle provides enough wacky percussive effects
and slapstick techniques to connect
Igor to that style in about
half of its cues. The trick to scores like this one, however, is to
completely ignore these predictable portions and concentrate on the
bursts of monumental orchestral force and thematic grace, together
amounting to fifteen to twenty minutes of music. Undoubtedly,
Igor is a score of spectacular highlights and eye-rolling
detriments, and your ability to parse and rearrange the somewhat messy
combination will determine your affinity for the work.
There was likely no better way for Doyle to approach
Igor, and for offering the film the very best that its story
could allow in terms of overarching cohesiveness, he should be
commended. It is a work that very much resembles his career in parts,
but not in ways you'd expect. For example, the composer doesn't really
reference the style of
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein but does, with
greater rewards, handle one of the four themes in
Igor in lovely
solo piano format. These primary thematic representations are offered in
clear, snapshot succession in the character-specific tracks that open
the album release. Doyle's own piano performances for Eva extend out of
the pretty "Eva" to occupy "Wistful Thinking" and, with orchestral
backing that begins to show shades of Rachel Portman's writing, "Opening
Night Presents." Of more bravado is Igor's theme, throwing all of the
typical gothic elements (from solo soprano to pipe organ) into a
distinctly Doyle-like melodramatic progression that is sufficiently
introductory in "Igor" but really flies in "Evil Bone." The interesting
aspect of both the themes for Eva and Igor is Doyle's intentional
finishing of measures on slightly disharmonious keys, reminding of the
off-kilter personalities of these characters. Supplemental themes
explored in "Schadenfreude" and "Hi Heidi" are more singular and have
less of an impact on the remainder of the score. The two primary themes
struggle to maintain an identity in the first half of the album but
eventually flourish in the last five or six cues; from "Secret Passage"
on,
Igor shakes most of the tambourines and other clanging and
tingling percussive effects and instead emphasizes the full Bulgarian
ensemble, including more compelling vocal tones. The soprano singing in
the second half of "Through the Clouds" is mesmerizing and the massive
choral proclamations in "Let's Get Evil" and "Evil Annie" are
reminiscent of the composer's epic fantasy works. Doyle's sense of humor
is well tempered in the incorporation of the famous and applicable song
from "Annie" mixed atop the latter cue. Doyle's most redemptive style of
writing is beautifully conveyed in "Malaria Community Theatre," with
romantic comedy tones more attractive than most in live action cinema
today. This is Doyle's unashamed lyricism at its best. Still, as a
whole,
Igor is plagued by source-like, genre-bending cues like
"Hot Tub Rub," which sounds like a cheap holdover from
Nim's
Island. The listening experience on album requires significant
editing into your own compilations, but Doyle's overall approach is
fresh and affable. The highlights, from solo piano to massive gothic
harmonics, are too strong to brush aside because of the genre's
limitations or this particular film's flaws.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Patrick Doyle reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.84
(in 32 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.44
(in 26,327 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a note from the composer about the score.
