 |
| Pereira |
Minions: The Rise of Gru: (Heitor Pereira) They're
everywhere. The sustained marketing blitz for the
Minions movies
means that you see those deviant yellow blobs of idiocy in
advertisements on every medium imaginable. It's become so pervasive that
it would be no surprise to encounter inflatable Minion sex dolls in
adult shops. In the case of
Minions: The Rise of Gru, a 2022
sequel to the 2015 spinoff of the
Despicable Me franchise,
extremely targeted campaigns aiming for teenagers yielded success for
Universal, the film earning astounding grosses at the box office. Tying
the two lines of the concept together more closely,
Minions: The Rise
of Gru tells of additional backstory for both the ridiculous yellow
creatures and Gru, the supervillain they become attached to in the bulk
of these storylines. Gru and a subset of the Minions have to thwart a
crime group called Vicious 6 and obtain a "Zodiac Stone" that would keep
the villains from becoming superpowered animals capable of causing more
insurance claims than even global warming. Through the lovable nature of
both a young Gru and the Minions that join him, not to mention vocal
cameos by Julie Andrews, the basis of
Despicable Me is set. Song
placements have always existed at the heart of the soundtracks for these
movies, and with the time period of the plot shifting into the 1970s, a
variety of famous funk, pop, and soul hits of that decade are covered by
contemporary artists. That refocusing of style also affects the score
material for the sequel. The original "Despicable Me" by Heitor Pereira
and Pharrell Williams is reprised, though Pereira handles the score with
a few touches of funk and soul where appropriate. The Brazilian composer
had already made a career out of these ridiculous animated comedies by
2015's
Minions, defining the music for
The Smurfs,
The
Angry Birds, and a variety of equivalent brainless concepts. While
his associations with Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions places
him firmly in that realm in terms of process and style, Pereira still
seems to strive for John Powell inventiveness and spirit in these
scores. He excels at this goal in some individual cues, but scores like
Minions: The Rise of Gru continue to function as completely
anonymous children's music of the era, the hyper merging of orchestral
and pop-related sounds yielding tone but little lasting substance.
There is something vacuous about scores like
Minions: The Rise of Gru; they give you the feeling that you'd
get from John Debney entries in the same genre during the 1990's. Every
moment in the score functions fine in its basic purpose, and there are
recurring themes throughout. But there is a lack of distinctiveness to
these scores that make them soulless and mechanical. Pereira earns his
pay well here, and yet he doesn't expand upon his established franchise
themes in ways that really attract or impress, leaving you wanting for
development of ideas that seem doomed to the whims of the tired comedy
techniques competently guiding each micro-moment of the narrative. The
recording for
Minions: The Rise of Gru sounds shallow, its
orchestral presence weak and a poor mix of soloists diminishing moments
that could have been standout highlights. With the 1970's stylings
struggling on one side, the standard espionage mode for brass only
occasionally excels on the other. The expected assortment of whistling
and zany percussion is applied flatly to the mix as well. Thematically,
Pereira returns to existing themes but not satisfactorily. The Minions
themselves have a march that still sounds like a carryover from Zimmer's
Madagascar scores, a somewhat amusing and effective idea built
upon a simplistic melody over a persistent base rhythmic undulation.
Unfortunately, there is no performance of this idea in
Minions: The
Rise of Gru that can compete with "Minion Mission" in the previous
score. It's playfully hinted at the end of "Vicious Funk" and teased in
"Fly Solo," reduced to fragments in "Distinguished Villains" and "Little
Thief." The idea returns closer to full form in "Hide and Seek with
Otto" and finally combines the full rhythm and theme on top in "Where is
Otto?" But it doesn't gel further from there, hinted early in "Minions
Fired," adapted in "Ransom Time" to Lalo Schifrin
Rush Hour mode,
and playfully frantic in "Minions on the Trolley." The rhythm
contributes to the sneaking of "Intruders," acquires some funk late in
"Groovy Kung Fu," and moves into devious action mode in "The Bank of
Evil Heist." The latter portions of the score don't apply this theme in
any major performance, leaving the listener without much-needed context
at the end. The lack of a greater role for this theme is the score's
most obvious detriment, though the plot does spread its attention around
to other concepts, so perhaps losing this main theme should come as no
surprise.
Replacing the main Minion march in the latter half of
Minions: The Rise of Gru is the existing theme for Gru that dates
back to prominence in "Happy Gru" from
Despicable Me. It is
whistled in vintage form in "Career Day" and adapted into a
happy-go-lucky motif for the Minion Otto in "Otto's Motorcycle Chase."
The most effective thematic manipulation in the score comes with the
emotional depth afforded this theme in later cues, the idea turning
sensitive and somber in "We Will Find You." That light, serious
character extends to woodwinds in "Gru and Otto in Chinatown," which
takes a vaguely ethnic, Chinese tilt but returns to happy form at the
end. The Gru theme shifts back to soft whimsy in the middle of "We're
Gonna Do It All." Meanwhile, the Vicious 6 and the battles associated
with them are provided their own theme in this score, heard early at
0:19 into "The Vicious 6 Are Now Hiring" on brass and opening "Bedtime
for Gru and the Minions" in transitional bravado. This theme offers the
brass section its best moments in the score, as in the moment of high
style early in "The Era of the Vicious 6," the quick reminder in
"Minions Fired," and the brightly ominous pomp late in "Ransom Time." It
is brutal at the outset of "We're Coming for You, Mr. Gru" (turning
nicely snazzy again later) and transitions into a descending brass
figure that becomes an action force in "The Bank of Evil Heist" and
"Knuckles' Home Knocked Down," this manipulation sounding at times like
an extension of the Minion march. Fragments of the Vicious 6 theme
highlight "The Vicious 6 Confront Gru" and "Zodiac Battle" on the way
out. The only other defined motific element exists for the Zodiac Stone,
developed with minimal exoticism throughout "The Legendary Zodiac Stone"
and returning to the same style early in "Otto Follows the Stone" and
"Intruders" before being reprised shortly in the otherwise generic
action of "Zodiac Battle." A handful of unique cues deserve call-outs,
including wild exhaled vocals in "Intruders" and a solo female vocal
opening "The Bank of Evil Heist." An exotic techno throwback in "Groovy
Kung Fu" is opposed by quick rock flair in "Otto's Motorcycle Chase."
(Additional music in the score is credited to rapper RZA, who voiced a
role in the film; it's not obvious if this material exists in the
motorcycle-related cues.) The Gru theme develops into a new heroic form
in "Gru's Coda," and the score-only album closes with two annoying
source songs for the Gru and Minion voices. Ultimately, the 50 minutes
of this score on its own album offers poor recording quality and reveals
little new of interest for enthusiasts of the franchise's music, Pereira
playing this one too safe.
** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
There exists no official packaging for this album.
