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| Giacchino |
Sky High: (Michael Giacchino) Before Walt Disney
Pictures became obsessed with their acquisition of the Marvel Cinematic
Universe, it dabbled in a few unique superhero-related endeavors. One
that has earned more respect over time is 2005's
Sky High, which
combines the usual elements of the superhero genre with the everlasting
appeal of teenage angst. The premise supposes that there is a high
school floating up in the sky that is run and attended by superheroes,
helping them navigate the usual studies while also developing their
various superhero skills. A new crop of freshmen is followed by the
story, and they experience all the expected conflicts with older
students and lovesick interpersonal troubles amongst themselves. The
lead character is the son of two successful heroes, but he gets off to a
slow start and is relegated to the sidekick pathway of remediation in
the school's curriculum. It turns out that he's the focus of an evil
plot, because, for whatever reason, supervillains are trained at this
school alongside the heroes. With a limited budget,
Sky High kept
its costumes, interior settings, and effects to a minimum, but audiences
found the concept charming enough to make it successful. Despite years
of sequel or spin-off discussions, the shifting focus of Disney to its
glitzier franchises have essentially ended such talk. The filmmakers
knew composer Michael Giacchino from their shared days in 1990's
animation, and although the Giacchino was mostly known for his
television and video game music at the time, the studio agreed to his
hiring for
Sky High because of his recent and popular score for
The Incredibles. Together, these assignments solidified the
composer's place in mainstream cinema and opened many doors for feature
assignments thereafter. In the case of
Sky High, though, the
movie uses covers of 1980s new wave songs throughout the film, causing
Giacchino's score to be comprised of really short cues dropped
haphazardly into the picture in between. That work is mostly orchestral
with a few synthetic accents for contemporary coolness, those two halves
never really coming together with any comfort. The brass in the
recording is a bit flat, but the woodwinds enjoy vibrant contributing
roles. A choir joins near the end of the score for some quick chanting
at two or three moments as the villains take over the school.
The spirit of Giacchino's music for
Sky High is
appropriate, as is its heart. The whole endeavor has its tongue lodged
in the cheek as it conveys its brightly cartoonish characters, and some
listeners may find the music really synonymous with the composer's work
in that realm. It doesn't have any of the snazzy espionage element from
The Incredibles, instead playing the tone a bit more consistent
with 1980's conventions. The middle of the score has some really slow
incidental moments after early heroics set the stage. During these
passages come the score's unique contributions by co-writers, diversions
that sound totally disparate from everything in the rest of the score.
The first of these contains synthetic pulses and bad loops in "Power
Placement" as contributed by Brandon Christy. The second takes these
tones and combines them with the orchestra in "Save the Citizen" with
absolutely terrible manipulation of the soundscape, and Kevin Riepl and
Chris Tilton had a hand in these portions. On the orchestral side, the
extremely dry recording damn near ruins the whole thing, a really
terrible, constricted sound for this topic. Oddly, one weird exception
is "Fighting Back" near the end of the story, which opens up some
much-needed reverb unexpectedly. The score is fairly transparent
thematically, with an easy main identity but rather obtuse secondary
ones. The main theme is a cheesy adventure entry with a bit of early
James Horner children's film tendencies at the outset. Its first
nine-note phrase leads to similar ascending lines that often resolve
like John Williams'
Superman. With no true interlude sequence, a
common issue with Giacchino themes, the same main phrase simply repeats
several times. This idea is developed nicely in various guides for all
players throughout "Sky High Opening," Giacchino's handling of the idea
moving from Horner to Williams in the woodwinds and string portions. An
ascending fifth interval sometimes punctuates the underlying rhythms of
the idea. It's not a very substantial theme overall, but it makes all
the necessary noise in its bravado. Some listeners may find the heroism
a bit too saturating, and the dry recording really hurts here, but the
suite still serves its purpose. The intro rhythm leads to more
challenging renditions in "Trouble Downtown," building anticipation with
almost Alan Silvestri-like movement in "Next Stop... Sky High" and
achieving its fanfare mode with a traditional string rendition in the
middle.
Giacchino manipulates his main theme competently after
establishing it early in
Sky High, with most of the innocent
shine lost. Fragments of the idea touch the end of "Round-Up" as a
resolution to suspense, and it's toned back for reserved, noble
renditions on brass in "Welcome to Sky High." Nervous giddiness in "The
Secret Sanctum" on strings is followed by chipper comedy. The theme
tries to insert hope at the end of "Respect the Hat," is barely intact
on strings in "Movin' On Up," prevails over the obnoxious synthetic
processing in "Private Tutor," and returns to its wholesome version in
"Homecoming News." In subdued form, the idea tries to hint at its former
golden self in "Keeping Promises" and "She's Totally Into You," adding
light piano lines in "Gotta Get to Sky High." Congealing late in
"Pacified" on soft flute, the main theme influences the sparse action of
"Fighting Back," serves as counterpoint against the villain material in
"Royal Pain is Monologuing," and achieves its heroic resolution in "That
Could've Been Messy," where it is cheery like in the original suite
rendition. At the resolution of the tale, brass layers lay on the
gleaming goodness in "You Saved Sky High" and the underlying rhythms on
timpani and snare flow into bright versions in "Sky High End Credits"
before an oddly understated ending. An anonymously pretty sidekick
character theme appears on clarinet late in "I'm a Sidekick," stews
alongside parts of the main theme in "Sidekicked Out," and bounces early
in "Kiss of Death" on oboe. It slows considerably on strings in "Makeout
Sanctum" and is barely impactful in "She's Totally Into You." At the
same time, the villain theme is a minor-mode alteration to the main
theme in a cyclical rise from key and becomes prominent later in the
score. Heard in the middle of "Round-Up" and throughout "Still
Looking/Stare Down," this idea shifts to less-serious theremin tones in
"Medulla All Blown-Uppa" but returns to form in the middle of "Vat's an
Idea!/Respect the Hat." It's skittish at the start of "Cafeteria
Brawl/Proud Papa" before blowing up to full action. At the climax,
chanting punctuates the villain motif in "Pacified," and the theme earns
its menacing posture in "Fighting Back." Stewing early in "Royal Pain is
Monologuing," Giacchino brings in the choir again. The narrative is
decent overall, but it's not as obvious as one might hope for this
cartoonish environment. On album, the dry and dull sound is somewhat
disqualifying, but the composition has its perks. The score-only product
offers four bonus cues at the end that aren't very significant. It's fun
superhero innocence, but Giacchino refined that sound to far better ends
later in his career.
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| Bias Check: |
For Michael Giacchino reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.27
(in 54 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.06
(in 26,501 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes a list of performers and detailed information about the score and film.
