: (John Powell) It's unfortunate
that the humor in this film's title will go unnoticed by the majority of
today's generation, though kudos to the filmmakers will likely be
afforded by anyone who remembers
and its peers
in vintage sci-fi schlock. The 2011 animated production of
is a spin-off of the Robert Zemeckis technique of performance
capture, and one of the famed director's peripheral collaborators, Simon
Wells, returns to the genre for Disney rather than Dreamworks. In the
likable but rather vacuous story, a nine-year-old boy's mother is
abducted by Martians, who are in dire need of good mommy skills on their
own planet. The boy stows away on one of the Martian rockets and travels
to the red planet, where he teams up with misfits and other kids to
rescue his mom and, of course, strengthen his relationship with her in
the process. Although
did not open to stellar
reviews, Disney did sink $150 million into the project, once again
allotting a fair sum of money towards the music for the film. Wells had
collaborated three times with James Horner for his early career entries
in animation, all of which during Horner's fruitful 1980's and 1990's
period of work in the genre. Since his most definitive success,
, however, Wells has utilized the services of Hans
Zimmer and his associate composers, the usual choice of Dreamworks.
Wells' contribution to the studio's films goes all the way back to
, so it's no surprise that he retained
the services of John Powell for this newest stint with Disney. Powell's
prolific quantity of assignments in the past few years has led to a
period in 2010 and 2011 dominated by large-scale music for animation,
and
is clearly representative of the ongoing
fine-tuning of his capabilities in that regard. Whereas the composer's
scores for animated films earlier in the 2000's often ran wild in style
and were challenging listening experiences on their own, Powell has
finally found a way to create truly cohesive and compelling scores for
such projects, the pinnacle of which being the highly lauded
There is no doubt that
Mars Needs Moms represents
yet another very positive step in the evolution (or maturation, some
might say) of Powell's writing for animation. If you compare this score
to franchise entries just five years ago, you can hear a better
establishment of thematic foundations, development, and memorable
conclusion. The orchestrations of his lines are more palatable as well,
and cues often extend for several minutes of satisfying exploration
without feeling the need to address comedy with tired mechanisms from
old Warner Brothers cartoons. Powell enthusiasts are going to absolutely
love this music's easily accessible personality and well executed
instrumentation. There is an abundance of monumental flourishes of
harmonic majesty to be heard, while dissonant stingers are held to a
minimum and the funnier moments mixed on the mastering of the album to
blend in rather than distract (for instance, the theremin on headphones
may dominate, but on a large stereo system, it works much better as a
nuanced ensemble contributor). On the other hand,
Mars Needs Moms
does have one, possibly significant detraction, and that is its reliance
on what seems like a pretty familiar temp track. There are an abundance
of moments in this score when Powell references techniques by either
James Horner or Jerry Goldsmith, as well as a plethora of connections to
his own prior successes. Fortunately, he competently rearranges these
ideas into a largely refreshing package by infusing them with a
consistently affable personality and robust depth. The score is mostly
orchestral, though Powell does employ his usual programming of synthetic
elements to augment the bass region and rhythmic drive. Most notably, he
applies a theremin effect and several cute Danny Elfman-like samples to
appropriately represent the zaniness of the Martians. Live specialty
instrumentation, including percussion, is not as expansive as heard in
How to Train Your Dragon, but duties are spread dynamically
between sections of the ensemble. The standard choral accents yield
expected cooing for the fantasy element and deep male interludes for
ominous passages. The recording sounds fantastic, though as only a
download release, fans will unfortunately not able to appreciate the
score's full range as clearly noticed on the lossless copy provided by
Disney for this review.
Thematically,
Mars Needs Moms is rich with
predictable but entertaining motifs. Their references are almost
constant, keeping up with quick pacing on screen with precision in
fragmented reminders. Several minor ideas are explored as contributors
to the score's three major themes, sometimes disappointingly neglected
at times, but these minor motifs at the very least maintain your
interest in every cue. The first half of the score is dominated by
Powell's Martian theme, a series of faux-scary descending phrases that
is often performed by woodwinds or solo tuba to keep it light. The
resemblance between this idea and Horner's early-90's equivalents is
unmistakable (
The Rocketeer comes to mind); in fact, with the
exception of the sound effects, the first minute of "Mars Observers" is
so reminiscent of vintage Horner material that this aspect of the music
is majorly distracting. By "Abduction/Trashworld," the theme is finally
afforded a full-blooded theremin-inspired performance of grandeur. Not
surprisingly, the frequent application and easily recognizable
progressions of the Martian theme (even in fragmented variations) make
it arguably the score's most memorable idea, though even in the opening
few cues, Powell lays the groundwork for the protagonists' themes in
Mars Needs Moms. There is, as expected, a main theme of heroic
intent to represent the boy's adventure, first heard in full form in
"Enjoy the Ride" and soaring with ensemble fortitude and a cool,
slapping percussion layer. The major group performances of this idea,
such as those heard in "Transformation" and the end credits suite, take
rather obvious inspiration from Powell's own
X-Men: The Last
Stand. While these moments will mostly likely represent the score as
a whole, Powell's softer renditions of the idea are far more
interesting. In the intimate performances of the theme, its secondary
phrase becomes much more familiar to
How to Train Your Dragon,
especially in the melodramatic piano and woodwind versions in "Gribble's
Loss" and "Firing Squad." Unquestionably, the heart heard in the piano
performances in "Gribble's Loss" are a highlight of Powell's entire
career and are destined to connect with listeners to the much of same
degree as "Forbidden Friendship" did in the previous year's score.
Nothing sets the senses tingling like a romantically rambling piano over
deep string harmony.
The last major thematic identity in
Mars Needs
Moms exists for the family bond in the story. This idea is conveyed
in "Mars Needs Moms" with some of the same instrumentation as in
"Forbidden Friendship," another positive connection. The family theme's
performances are a bit more fleeting than hoped, but they do extend from
heroic variations (as at the end of "Firing Squad") to mammoth
expressions of love (as in "Transformation" and "Family Reunion"). These
performances are often written with sensibilities very clearly inspired
by Goldsmith. The opening minutes of "Family Reunion" contain several
moments of pure Goldsmith magic, even down to the use of woodwinds at
0:55 into the cue, a fluttering technique heard several times in this
score (it was Goldsmith's replacement for his synthetic element in
The Edge, though
Alien is also a factor). The soft middle
portion of the lovely "Gribble's Loss" is tinged with a passage of
darkness with muted trumpet over piano that reminds of Elfman's
addressing of Bruce Wayne's childhood in
Batman. Individual cues
stand out as additional holdovers from Powell's previous works as well,
"Gribble's Plan" an oddly intriguing merging of the percussive rhythm,
quirky progressions, and synthetic whistling effect (likely the theremin
sound in more subtle ranges) from
Antz. Additionally, there are
snippets from
Chicken Run to be heard in several places as well,
especially in Powell's usual chord progressions. The composer's adagio
mode in "The Sacrifice" uses the choir in trademark Horner fashion
before treading into
X-Men territory. Overall,
Mars Needs
Moms is a highly familiar score because of all of these references
to previous film music. Some listeners may therefore be underwhelmed by
the lack of originality in the score. However, the inspiration Powell
utilizes is often top notch and he executes the pieces of the puzzle
very well. For a film score novice,
Mars Needs Moms will seem
quite original and be highly entertaining. Veterans should still find it
fruitfully engaging and cohesive in its smart development of themes and
application of instrumental colors. The album presentation is consistent
in flow and has no detriment until the insane source track, "Martian
Mambo," thankfully placed at the very end (a holdover from Elfman's
Men in Black, no doubt). Compared to
How to Train Your
Dragon, which remains uniquely fresh,
Mars Needs Moms has too
many (likely intentional) connections to the past to earn the highest
rating. But make no mistake about it; this is an outstanding score
worthy of repeat appreciation.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For John Powell reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.28
(in 50 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.16
(in 52,492 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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