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Review of Megamind (Hans Zimmer/Lorne Balfe)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you're tired of hearing Hans Zimmer and his associates
brood and pound away with bass-heavy droning and electronic textures, in
which case Megamind is a snazzy, organic, and enthusiastic return
to the best animation styles the composer has revisited occasionally
throughout the 2000's.
Avoid it... if streamlined, pleasantly predictable Zimmer children's music isn't rowdy or complex enough compared to John Powell's similar achievements to merit only about 30 minutes of it on this album.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Megamind: (Hans Zimmer/Lorne Balfe) Dreamworks and
Paramount's IMAX and 3D animated entree for families early in the 2010
holiday season is Megamind, a tale inspired by Superman
but turning the tables by making the standard villain the protagonist.
Castoffs from their alien worlds, the usual hero, Metro Man, and a
stereotypical blue alien with a huge head, Megamind, fight in perpetuity
due to the latter's ongoing attempts to dominate Metro City. Despite the
genius of the evil Megamind, he finds it frustratingly impossible to
defeat Metro Man, regardless of how many times he takes love interest
and reporter Roxanne Ritchi hostage. That is, until one day he actually
wins, takes control of the city, and, in a twist of fate, discovers that
he is lonely and without purpose after having vanquished his foe. He
sets out to invent a new superhero with whom to do battle (the
reporter's camera man, no less), but instead of a fresh nemesis on the
side of good, his creation, Titan, decides to become a villain himself
and destroy the world as revenge for years of teasing and torment.
Megamind then has to decide whether to take the role of superhero and,
not surprisingly, is pushed in that direction by Roxanne and a
resurrected Metro Man. The sense of humor of Megamind includes
parody references to pop culture, precisely the kind of atmosphere to
inspire a flighty, easy-going score from the Hans Zimmer production
factory at Remote Control. As with 2010's hit Inception, Zimmer
shares primary credit for Megamind with associate Lorne Balfe;
the collaboration between the two goes back many years now and includes
several of Zimmer's highest profile pictures of the past decade. While
Zimmer remains a lightning rod in the film scoring community due his
controversial methodology and stylistic stubbornness, some among these
collectors (and likely the majority in the mainstream) don't realize
that the composer of many masculine trademarks actually maintains a
pretty healthy side-career in the children's genre, often lending his
services, as composer or producer, to animated films ranging from
blockbuster American productions of dubious quality to obscure European
films of significantly more intrigue.
While he always seems to stir debate in the wake of his drama and action assignments, Zimmer's contributions to the children's area are often underappreciated for their deviation from his perceived comfort zone in the aforementioned genres of greater fame. Indeed, some of the composer's best, most compelling material has resulted from his collaborations for animation, and Megamind is an entertaining and lively score of wild enthusiasm that tosses aside Zimmer's usual morbid soundscapes for his action hits. Even so, it's a predictable, lightweight score. But compared to his highly fragmented contributions to films like those in the Madagascar franchise, his efforts with Balfe for Megamind are certain to be a more substantial crowd pleaser. For those familiar with scores like Lauras Stern and The Little Polar Bear 2: The Mysterious Island, the undeniable heart and orchestral sincerity of Megamind will come as no surprise. Everything that typically detracts from Zimmer and Balfe's action tendencies is absent here, including the overwhelming reliance on electronic textures, the distractingly bass-heavy mix, and the related imbalance in orchestration to limit the scope of the soundscape. High style is in abundance in Megamind, sometimes straying toward parody territory but never letting rip with the full, haywire cartoonish tone in which John Powell sometimes becomes ensnared in similar situations. The orchestra and a handful of upbeat soloists dominate the score's rare electronic enhancements, a choir sometimes lending depth to the fantasy or despair. The treble is thankfully represented with gusto in Megamind, trumpets blaring, flutes wailing, and music box effects for cuteness points. On the surface, it may sound much like a more streamlined Powell animated score, though there are some Zimmer trademarks in the genre that continue to shine. For instance, the composer's love of rhythmic bouncing with string ostinatos continues, a perky highlight of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and a device that pushed forward the plot while also retaining your attention on album. Snazzy jazz interludes in Megamind are clearly modeled after Monty Norman's James Bond identity, the famous opening four notes of that theme's brass fanfare used liberally by Zimmer and Balfe, along with sax and thumping bass coolness at times. Thematically, Megamind won't leave you whistling any one tune, though there are several catchy ideas that probably could have used some more air time and/or development. The titular character is given an extremely optimistic little snare-led march in "Giant Blue Head" that borrows a touch of Danny Elfman zaniness, and this theme is pressed into more heroic variations as the score reaches its climax. Also seemingly inspired in part by the Elfman playbook is the quirky suburbia-related theme in "Tightenville," as innocuously pleasant as possible. A crisp recording with just enough wet reverb to expand the seize of the ensemble a bit really assists the appeal of these cues. A noble brass hero's fanfare introduced in the middle of "Stars and Tights" extends to "Crab Nuggets" and is a somewhat generic but equally effective device. A theme of romance slows the pace from "Roxanne (Love Theme)" to "Rejection in the Rain," a pretty, light keyboarded idea with help from warm acoustic guitar and a slightly loungey rhythmic ambience. The latter cue draws the theme into despair with a solo cello reminiscent of, strangely, John Du Prez's A Fish Called Wanda. The James Bond/Monty Norman references follow tender explorations of the theme from "Giant Blue Head" in "Ollo" and extend to the end of "Black Mamba" and start of "Game Over." The score somewhat degenerates in its final three action cues, never really allowing its themes to evolve and intertwine as hoped. This, the only significant flaw of the score structurally, is exacerbated by the fact that "Evil Lair" closes out the soundtrack's album presentation with no real sense of resolution. Somewhere in these last three cues, Zimmer and Balfe failed to build momentum to a singular finale or other satisfying climactic moment in the way Powell has proven himself so adept. Still, the score is enjoyable on the whole and a worthy addition to Zimmer's collection of animation works. On album, its first two thirds are especially entertaining, though the flow of the entire score is interrupted by a decent collection of songs. The product would have been much better had icons like "Bad to the Bone," "A Little Less Conversation," and "Lovin' You" been assembled after the conclusion of the condensed score cues. Although the Zimmer and Balfe portions don't amount to much more than a half-hour in sum on that album (thankfully a CD release), the music has more than enough personality to make it a safe recommendation for animation aficionados. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 48:10
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes extensive pictures from the film, but no extra information
about the score or film.
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