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| Jablonsky |
Red Notice: (Steve Jablonsky) If you pay three
actors $20 million each to appear in a heist-genre action comedy, you
are bound to get some attention. And attention is exactly what Netflex
received for
Red Notice, the 2021 caper thriller becoming one of
the distributor's most widely viewed original movies of all time. Gal
Gadot, Dwayne Johnson, and Ryan Reynolds are the three stars, and they
are master thieves seeking the same prize: three ancient Egyptian eggs
that are also the target of Interpol agents as part of a trove of stolen
Nazi loot. Crosses and double crosses are inevitable as they traverse
the world in style, the film's silly banter as much the attraction as
its hyperactive chase sequences. Originally set to be a summer 2020
theatrical blockbuster from Universal,
Red Notice was sold to
Netflix and rode its star power to immediate talk of sequels. Sadly, the
quality of the film is considered atrocious by critics, and even
audiences couldn't bring themselves to describe the movie as high art.
It contains a variety of parody-inducing, pop-culture song placements
throughout, as well as one comedic on-screen performance by Ed Sheeran,
who finds himself also fighting Interpol agents by using his guitar as a
weapon. (Indeed, such is the quality of this movie.) Thrown into the mix
is a score by Steve Jablonsky, who was extending his collaboration with
director Rawson Marshall Thurber from 2018's
Skyscraper. The
Remote Control Productions graduate took a different approach to
Red
Notice, and not just because of the post-production delays caused by
the pandemic. While there was agreement by the composer and director
that the film would be best served by an action score informed by the
jazzy caper style of Henry Mancini and Lalo Schifrin, Thurber waffled
considerably about how heavy a dose of that style should prevail. He
consistently sought to change the tone of the score as post-production
went on, causing Jablonsky to tone up or down the lightness factor
depending upon ongoing edits. Ultimately, the score for
Red
Notice thus ends up in limbo between these two genres, never truly
embracing the parody element of the vintage caper genre and remaining
too light and generic in character to suffice as a ballsy action
affair.
The clear indecision about the direction of the score for
Red Notice is a notable weakness, but there is still much to like
about Jablonsky's work here, and some film music collectors may rank it
highly in his career. When the score is on its game, it really cooks,
with several dramatic and caper-driven highlights that are among the
most engaging cues heard from the composer to this point. The base sound
for Jablonsky is standard for the genre, his orchestral tones
embellished by electric guitars, synthetic backing, and a deep emphasis
on a resounding bass region. As per usual for the composer, his mix
makes these elements sound cheaply rendered, and some listeners may
write off much of the recording as synthetically derived even though 80
players were involved. The mix frustratingly changes from cue to cue, as
well, some sounding far more dynamic in a live sense than others, partly
due to reverb application but also in the inflection inherent in the
performances. This awkward circumstance, accentuated by an overly long
album presentation, affects the appeal of Jablonsky's two supporting
sounds: the outright vintage jazz and the exotic fantasy material for
the Egyptian plot elements. The vibraphone is the coolest contributor to
the jazzy style, though a variety of percussion new to Jablonsky's
palette also attracts. Bass flutes add flavor to these passages as well
as the Egyptian ones, where they provide exotic flair along with
cimbalom and what sounds like a synthetic chorale. The cimbalom and
guitars offer coloration for the villain. The flute is the most organic
contributor in the entire score, with brass often struggling to achieve
the panache factor to make this score truly successful. Better
appreciation of these instrumental colors exists in the cimbalom and
exotic flute of "Roma," guitar and cimbalom of "Sotto Voce," and
electric guitar and groovy vibe of "Resting Failure Face." The most
lively personality comes in the score's two very wetly mixed cues, "Too
Focused on Winning" and "Masquerade Ball," and it's difficult to say why
Jablonsky applied such a vibrantly retro live sound to these two cues in
particular and not the others that reference the jazzy tilt. Other cues,
like "Arrest Me," contain the most generic Jablonsky action sound,
hindered in that particular case by a lack of thematic statements in a
score otherwise fairly consistent in its motifs.
Jablonsky applies several recurring themes to his score
for
Red Notice, and while their execution may not always inspire,
their structures in concept are quite compelling. The film receives a
jazzy main theme for action and coolness, along with a superior B-phrase
of that theme for heightened suspense. Gadot's Sarah Black character
receives a rather underdeveloped secondary idea that is supplanted by a
fresh heroic theme by the end for the trio of thieves working together.
Most intriguing is a pair of themes for the Egyptian setting and golden
egg artifacts, and this material stands out in the score like a sore
thumb. The bulk of the duties, however, falls on the main theme. The
composer described this identity as being the primary adventure
representation of the two male leads, and it espouses the score's
Mancini and Schifrin inspiration. The first cue written was "Red
Notice," and while the director worried that its retro jazzy style was
excessive, this suite eventually came to define the score. The main
theme debuts at 0:27 into "Red Notice" and continues throughout the
track, with a more muscular rendition at 1:59. It opens "Main Title"
faintly before erupting fully at 0:40 in action mode over ambitious
percussion. Fragments of the theme on cimbalom are heard in "Roma," and
it's tense in action form early in "Museum Chase" before becoming
playful later. The theme sounds completely synthetic in the latter cue,
with poor performances and/or mixes detracting. A large, suspenseful
statement opening "Bali" is followed by an ultra-hip flute rendition in
that cue. The theme enjoys a big opening to "The Captain Wants to See
You" and informs "Escape From Gora Smerti" and "Teamwork" in more
challenging pieces. A longer, snazzier version extends to a cool
descending phrase in the great "Masquerade Ball" while a slight
reference opens "The Vault." The main theme's heightened action posture
early in "Mine Shaft" leads to a big phrase at its end, while its
playful demeanor in "Checkmate" yields to a far more brutal performance
at the end of that cue. The identity achieves massive scope in its
native jazz form in "One More Job" with strong percussion and guitars
and a slight James Bond theme reference in the middle. The theme plays
more prominently in some sequences of the film than on the album
presentation, suggesting some possible additional tracking of the
performances from "Red Notice" and "One More Job."
The main theme of
Red Notice contains an
interlude sequence that reveals itself to be a strong B-phrase and seems
to represent the concept of scheming. Introduced at 1:29 into "Red
Notice," it drives many of the cooler passages in the score, including
the suspense at 1:10 into "Main Title." Hints of this B-phrase emerge in
latter half of "Bali" and finally mature in the middle of "Here's the
Plan." The motif especially shines in "Masquerade Ball," where it offers
full ensemble pizzazz with cool rhythmic confidence at 1:30, 2:42, and
4:11. The lightly keyboarded pacing, slapped wooden percussion, and
slight electric guitar accents are good additions here. The motif
extends to drive some of the action rhythms in "Mine Shaft" as well. The
Sarah Black theme is fairly nebulous by comparison, twisting around
pieces of the main theme for its own variant. It opens "Baby Did a Bad
Bad Thing" and shifts to action fragments later, occupying all of
"Profile" and supplying hints throughout "The Captain Wants to See You."
It's altered in "Too Focused on Winning" and "Checkmate," with a light
rhythm set to bell sounds that is octave-bound and dwelling on key, but
it rediscovers itself in the hip contemplation of "Resting Failure
Face." The trio of thieves eventually receives its own heroic identity
of sorts, and this is where Jablonsky ironically provides his most
optimistically romantic tone. A brief burst of this theme at 0:58 into
"Teamwork" becomes fuller at 2:32, and the same spirit continues in "The
Watch" even without the explicit melody. The theme returns at 1:40 into
"One More Job" and builds to rousing fanfare conclusion that perhaps
suggests the idea as the primary identity of a subsequent film involving
the three leads more explicitly working as a team. The most surprising
material in
Red Notice for film music collectors is Jablonsky's
pair of Egyptian-related themes for the historical fantasy element in
the story, even if this material is somewhat short-changed in the film's
context. The fuller Egyptian theme is especially infrequently applied,
sounding like a leftover theme from
The Mummy franchise in its
stereotypical regional progressions. It stands out from all the
contemporary themes at 0:41 into "The Hatch," and portions continue
throughout "The Vault" without a full statement. The composer develops
the idea strongly in the first three minutes of "Myth or Legend" for the
full ensemble, however, a cue that has the feel of a concept
suite.
The Egyptian theme in
Red Notice, even if rather
generic, remains so strikingly lovely in its rare performances that one
can't help but hope that Jablonsky can carry that sound over to another
project. The trumpet performances in the "Myth or Legend" suite are
notable, though they do not contain the source-like trumpets heard
during the wedding scene in Cairo. That scene makes brief use of the
score's other fantasy-related idea, this one representing the three
golden eggs that the thieves are all chasing. Ancient tones in this egg
theme are achieved through exotic flute with a touch of fantasy via
choir. The idea is heard best throughout "The Egg" opening the album,
consolidated at 0:34 and nicely robust at 1:11. This cue seemingly
informs the aforementioned wedding scene, getting cut off before most of
its grandeur, and the Egyptian theme's trumpet source moment interrupted
by Ed Sheeran's sudden song in the film does not appear here, either. A
quick reminder of the egg theme occurs in the middle of "Roma," though
an exotic flute serves as the sole reminder of its melody by "Baby Did a
Bad Bad Thing." A reminder opens "Sotto Voce" with malice in what
amounts to a standard villain cue. The egg theme opens "The Hatch" in
soft choral mystery, extending that style into "The Vault." The "Myth or
Legend" suite closes with a soft reminder of its form from "The Egg" as
well. The disparate styles of the two main themes and the two Egyptian
themes makes them an odd couple in the score, but each is appreciable
when collected into their own separate suites of highlights. Together,
the eight minutes of Egyptian material and 12 to 15 minutes of
highlights from the caper stylings will provide an immensely enjoyable
presentation. The commercial album arrangement for
Red Notice is
too long at 70 minutes to sustain its filler portions, but some of its
best moments aren't featured in the film, including the latter half of
"One More Job," which was replaced by a song. In the end,
Red
Notice is a fleeting guilty pleasure score that stands highly in
Jablonsky's career. But it also promises far more potential than it ever
realizes. The ingredients were all there for a classic work, but the
composer fails to achieve the level of panache required to truly prevail
in this genre, in part because its exuberance factor is a bit
understated but mostly because of poor performance inflection and
mixing. For a caper score to soar, it has to dance in the soundscape,
especially in its percussion and brass. Booming bass regions and other
mundane blockbuster scoring conventions aren't conducive to that sound,
but there are enough prevailing highlights here to forgive some of these
flaws.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Steve Jablonsky reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.2
(in 15 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.47
(in 11,924 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a note from the director and a list of performers.
