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| Zimmer |
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| Balfe |
Kung Fu Panda 3: (Hans Zimmer/Lorne Balfe)
Successful enough for the studio to openly speculate about a series of
six feature films, the
Kung Fu Panda concept has resulted in
predictably funny, innocuous family entertainment over its initial three
entries, with 2016's
Kung Fu Panda 3 returning most of the cast
and crew from the 2011 predecessor to applause from critics and
audiences. The titular character, Jack Black's Po, evolves from a
clumsy, accidental hero to a teacher of kung fu himself, a
transformation that is understandably challenging for the pudgy
protagonist. Along the way to inspiring his friends and a new generation
of pandas, he discovers his biological father and the spirit world,
where he must wage battle against a warrior who has betrayed the forces
of good by stealing their chi (and, being voiced by J.K. Simmons, he's
probably inclined to sell them substandard homeowner insurance policies
as well). The story's emphasis on the supernatural is the hook for
Kung Fu Panda 3, along with, of course, all the usual jokes
related to excessive eating and ever-expanding, flaccid bodily girth.
The soundtracks for this franchise have always been affable mixtures of
John Powell animation superiority and Remote Control artistic flair,
with a touch of Hans Zimmer's own string rhythms and thematic
sensibilities now and then. The second score was a noticeable
improvement over the original, the positive influence of Powell really
guiding the work in parts. For
Kung Fu Panda 3, Powell stepped
aside to tackle a duo of other projects on which he was committed,
leaving Zimmer to turn to his healthy stock of Remote Control production
house ghostwriters to fill in the gaps. Of course, you'd never know this
from the solo credit that Zimmer receives on the soundtrack cover and
posters for the film, this despite involvement by Lorne Balfe and, to a
lesser extent, Paul Mounsey that likely constitutes a majority of the
score. Balfe enjoyed a solid year of productivity in 2015, and while he
has difficulty matching to prowess of Powell in this circumstance, he
acquits himself quite well nevertheless. Throw in a theme by the group
Imagine Dragons and an adaptation of "Kung Fu Fighting" by The Vamps and
you have a typical Zimmer orgy of contributors cobbling together a
soundtrack through jovial, carefree collaboration. While the lack of
true attribution regarding who wrote exactly what remains extremely
annoying, the end result more than suffices, and
Kung Fu Panda 3
manages to overcome the loss of Powell with a few notable highlights of
its own.
The basic ingredients are all familiar in
Kung Fu
Panda 3, many of the same soloists carrying over their usual
contributions on erhu and other specialty instruments from the prior
recordings. Somewhat lost in the mix are piano performances by Lang
Lang, who is credited on three cues but really only makes an impact on
"Oogway's Legacy," which in the film is tacked onto the end credits.
Likewise a source of discord between the film and album seems to be the
adapted material by Imagine Dragons for the evil Kai; it is heard in
countless cues on album but is comparatively downplayed on screen. The
most notable new theme for the film is Balfe's own "Father and Son"
theme, heard prominently twice on album and unfortunately a little too
understated emotionally to really stick. There are times when Zimmer's
own voice shines through in
Kung Fu Panda 3, but not as often as
his fans might like. Expect to hear his writing more prominently in
"Oogway's Legacy" and "Jaded," his heavy-handed tendencies on strings
especially guiding the latter. While Mounsey excels at the percussion,
you get the feeling that Balfe struggled at times to emulate Powell, but
there are some successes to note. As in the previous score, some of the
most beautiful music exists to represent the secret panda village of the
franchise, the aptly named cue, "The Panda Village," expressing
downright lovely choral and orchestral shades of majesty that easily
constitute the highlight of the score. A nice nugget at about three
minutes into that cue is a statement of Powell's panda village motif
from the prior score. On album, this cue is adjacent to "The Legend of
Kai," the other top entry of the score, especially in its passing of the
score's primary descending motif down the octaves midway through. Don't
expect to encounter many other portions that beckon you for repeat
listens, but the remainder of the work is still pleasantly solid. Even
the Imagine Dragons material is adapted into the score with a congruent
voice. Some listeners may label this East/West merging to be cheap, but
for the concept we're talking about here, not much more intelligence is
really required. The album nicely consolidates the song placements to
its conclusion, but the score selections are not provided in film order.
Nor do they really maintain a cohesive narrative flow. Still, don't be
surprised if you append a handful of cues from this score to any
compilation of favorites from the stronger
Kung Fu Panda 2. Once
again, contracts permitting, Zimmer and his ghostwriters don't seem to
care about the issue of appropriate, prominent credit for these works,
but it's only fair to enlighten listeners who have the mistaken
impression that Zimmer writes all or most of this material himself. This
is only marginally a Zimmer score.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.83
(in 123 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.95
(in 298,424 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
For Lorne Balfe reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.83
(in 30 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.86
(in 23,387 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a list of performers and a short note from the
directors about the score.
