Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Trask's music
for
Little Fockers is how much parts of it emulate Newman's
general sound for the franchise, even if specific melodic ideas aren't
maintain and nurtured to any degree. The entirety of this score sounds
like an identical copy of
The Back-Up Plan but with several
homages to Newman along the way. The idea of using Latin flamenco
elements and a host of instrumental parodies of
The Godfather
throughout the score are not new, and Trask revisits those techniques
without really extending them much further. Newman's swashbuckling-like
orchestral flair at times is not really a factor here, though; Trask
does have moments when fully-rounded orchestral performances come into
play, but never really outside of parody mode. The most outward
expression of personality, and perhaps another nod to Newman, is Trask's
new primary identity for the franchise, "Greg's Theme." The performances
of this jazzy piece for the opening titles and then in "Greg's Jam" at
the end of the album whip with piano, Hammond organ, guitar, trumpet,
and/or clapping effects in such a way as to clearly overshadow the rest
of the score. Hearing the enthusiasm and dexterity of Trask's impressive
piano performances in these cues makes one wonder why such spirit was
absent from most of the rest of the score. After this opening salvo of
pizzazz, the score becomes stuck in the parodies of
The Godfather
and smooth Latin tones before tepidly exploring background instrumentals
of marginal interest. Moments of accelerated rhythms, choral backing
(seemingly synthetic), or electronically sampled loops guiding the
ensemble are the highlights, "Early Human School Industrial Reel" an
injection of life. After countless filler cues from
The Back-Up
Plan comes "Suite: Piece of Cake/Land Shark/Suck It!/Meow/Schtupp,"
which devolves into a series of massive parody cliches. Some redemption
comes in the lightly noble symphonic rendition of Greg's theme in "The
Gregfocker." Between the mutilation of a Christmas carol in "Oy Vey,
Christmaka" and the unfathomably awful "Byrnes, Jack Byrnes Remix,"
containing quotes from the film to rhythms by Joseph Bonn, the album
ends somewhat badly. The final track offers two different mixes of the
snazzy opening theme, however. Overall,
Little Fockers does its
job effectively and sprinkles in a few highlights that rival Newman's
music for the franchise, but the sum is so derivative of that
predecessor's material and Trask's own
The Back-Up Plan that it
all seems redundant, perhaps by necessity.
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