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PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Spies in Disguise (Theodore Shapiro)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you love espionage-related parody scores, Theodore
Shapiro infusing a moderate dose of funk into an otherwise jazzy
mood-setter.
Avoid it... if you can't stand the thought of hearing exotic woodwind effects emulate the sounds of birds, the pigeon element fully embraced without shame in the score.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Spies in Disguise: (Theodore Shapiro) Before actor
Will Smith got punchy on the stage of the Academy Awards, he launched
his fists at villains of various ethnicities in 2019's animated
side-show, Spies in Disguise. He voices lead agent Lance Sterling
of the American intelligence group H.T.U.V., going rogue as necessary to
serve the interest of good and, of course, make him look stylish in the
process. The real fun begins when he accidentally ingests a serum made
by his Q-equivalent inventor and turns into a not-so-cool pigeon. Since
Sterling's human form has been accused of being a traitor by his
organization, he and the inventor, Walter, escape to foil the plot of
bad guy Killian (and his obligatory mechanical arm) and clear their
names. It's your standard animated espionage thriller but with a pigeon
with Will Smith's voice as the main attraction. The most important
aspect of the narrative to consider in relation to its music is that
Sterling is ultra-suave while Walter is a bumbling fool with a good
heart and lives his life to make his mother proud. The soundtrack made
its biggest mainstream splash with its songs, highlighted by a soul and
funk collection, some of which original, and a separate EP soundtrack
with these selections provided fans with some of these placements in the
movie. Film score collectors couldn't care less about that, though, for
Spies in Disguise represented the newest in a string of
espionage-related parody music for genre veteran Theodore Shapiro. With
Tropic Thunder, Spy, Captain Underpants: The First Epic
Movie, and Central Intelligence already under his belt,
Shapiro was well-equipped to tackle this assignment in his sleep. How he
approaches these scores does vary a little in personality from film to
film, with some entries playing up their target genre sound more
seriously than others. Usually, parody scores try to play it as
seriously as possible in their bravado, but Shapiro tends to prefer
adding some outwardly humorous instrumental or choral flair to these
scores when possible.
In many of these parody works, Shapiro utilizes fully orchestral might alongside common spy-related jazz elements and electronics, and Spies in Disguise tries to steer that equation over to the realm of funk to account for the specific tone brought by Smith to this film. Surprisingly, this influence is relatively minor, with Shapiro ultimately addressing the humor of the bird aspect more than the funk otherwise captured by the songs. The composer handles Spies in Disguise exactly as one would expect after hearing his prior genre scores, but the execution relies a little more on style than substance in this entry. The coolness is supplied by electric bass, wild percussion, Hammond organ, and guitars, while the explosively confident action material, anchored by snazzy, high jazz cues like "Yakuza Fight" and "High Speed Chase," remind heavily of Michael Giacchino's very similarly rendered music for the Incredibles films. The electronics mimic David Arnold's Die Another Day, which means they're a little abrasive at times, and Shapiro can't resist a terrible analog intrusion in "Tic-Tac Jellyroll!" Adult choral tones for bloated fantasy humor accent two cues of note. The source cue tossed in at the end of the album, "Greasy Palms," is pure fun in the funk realm but not for everyone. Other individual moments of instrumental flair include a cameo for an accordion for the Venice setting. The most unique and memorable element of Spies in Disguise is Shapiro's employment of various bird effects throughout the score, providing slight exoticism that arrives when the pigeon does in "Test 83, Batch 5." The composer uses synthetic woodwind effects to mimic bird sounds, sometimes expanding a generalized jungle tone in cues like "Epigenetic Modulation" and "Unbird Me!" At 1:22 into "Drone Chase," he twists the sounds to a silly whistling effect. Generally, though, these accents are welcome additions for throaty woodwind layers, and they remain affable throughout. Not unexpectedly, the structure of the score is haphazard because of its need for an abundance of short cues, and the thematic narrative does struggle sometimes as a result. An intriguing amount of the score for Spies in Disguise is anonymously rendered in its melodic movements, especially in the middle portions of the story; from "Walk on By" to "Drone Factory Complete," Shapiro neglects his core set of themes to the extent that most of such material is only barely sufficient. Unlike a work like Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, which was buoyed by really solid thematic consistency throughout its length, Spies in Disguise is challenged by comparatively lesser themes and rather unsatisfying development of them. The score still works on the whole, but it's the kind of soundtrack that strives to set a mood rather than tell a story on its own. There are several decent themes employed, but don't expect them to be completely effective in their applications. They include identities for Sterling and his pigeon heroics, Walter's heart and inventiveness, and the villain, with secondary ideas for the H.T.U.V. organization and other concepts contributing at times. The theme of funky attraction for Sterling is meant to be the soul of the score, but it's too brief and lacking secondary phrasing. It's pretty much tethered to just four notes in two phrases, sometimes all descending, sometimes the latter two ascending for an "impostor" version of the identity. The same phrasing extends to secondary portions of the theme, but it all typically remains funk-inspired in instrumentation. The idea becomes a little tedious in that the same four notes repeat without much variation, and yet this phrasing doesn't reach out and grab your memory until you're actively listening to it. In these regards, it almost sounds like an orphaned counterpoint line. The theme is fragmented at 0:08 into "Defusing the Bomb," subdued on strings at 0:15 into "Man, It's Cold!," and mired in techno-suspense early in "Joyless" and throughout "Killian, The Hand." It turns fully cool in brassy jazz during all of "Yakuza Fight" and struts with militaristic stature at 0:43 and 1:01 into "Report to Langley," its cool grooves opening "Lance Meets Walter" as well. The theme exudes agony at 1:00 into "Lance is Accused," its second phrase nicely twisted upwards to suggest malice for the concept of mistaken identities, and is subtle in "What's Your Play" before busting out at 0:36 for two brief phrases. From the point the heroes are on the run from their own masters in Spies in Disguise, the Sterling theme becomes muddier, especially as the pigeon twist takes hold of the music. Its notes are softly curious at the outset of "Test 83, Batch 5," struggle in the middle of "Unbird Me!," inform the wild funk of "High Speed Chase," and open "Kimura's Indoor Pool" in soft suspense with the woodwind-like bird effects. The proper form of the Sterling theme starts to emerge again in the middle of "Arriving in Venice" (with bird sounds over an accordion snippet), opens "Tux Redux" on victorious brass with resounding counterpoint, has a robotic burst early in "Next Gen Weaponry," and arrives with confidence at 2:38 into "Lance Saves Walter." The idea doesn't figure much into the post-climax cues in the score. Ironically, it's Walter's theme, and its association with his mother at the start of the story, that comes to define the score by the end. There are two parts to the theme, one of humorous rhythm to denote the character's inventiveness while the other is a long-lined melody of heartfelt intent, the innocent and sweet representation of his relationship with his mother. This idea is anchored around its initial three-note phrase of wholesome goodness, whereas the rhythm underneath is pleasantly plucked with a modern, synthetic touch. The rhythmic portion of Walter's theme is the catchier half in Spies in Disguise, occupying "Kiddie Glitter," opening "Walter's Promise," popping up at 0:29 into "Test 83, Batch 5," becoming somewhat frantic in the middle of "Epigenetic Modulation," and mocking the theme over bird call effects in "Antidote Success." The theme for Walter's heart is introduced at 0:24 into "Walter's Promise" on flute and builds to a heroic variant on brass at the end. The rhythm bubbles up with the melody at 0:49 into "Lance Meets Walter" before the latter adopts some of Sterling's Hammond organ style early in "Invisible." The theme itself transforms in the whole second half of "Unbird Me!" to a new, major fanfare mode, a sound that is reprised during a heroic moment early in "The Breadcrumb Defense." It returns to its pretty piano form (and later flute) early in "Arriving in Venice," faintly informs the conciliatory tone late in "Killian in Control," opens "Let's Get Weird" on flute (followed by the rhythm about a minute in), and flirts with heroism early in "Next Gen Weaponry" while informing choral majesty later in the cue. Variants of the major action mode for Walter's theme continue in "Lance Saves Walter," a redemptive flourish for the theme at 2:06 presenting a fuller version before the rhythm makes a quick cameo near the end. Walter's theme opens "Spies in Disguise" on clarinet and then bird effects, achieving its own espionage flair at 0:48 as it dominates the end of the score. Related to this protagonist material is an associated five-note minor-third rhythm for general spy coolness that prevails in the middle of the work, bracketed on either end by a distinct theme for the H.T.U.V. organization. This underutilized and attractive idea opens "Report to Langley" with aspirations of being a noble Jerry Goldsmith theme, and it doesn't return with any impact until 1:15 into "Spies in Disguise" to close out the score with distinction. Meanwhile, the villain music for Killian is a bit of a mess in Spies in Disguise, its brutal, synthetic bass rhythm debuting under slappy percussion at the start of "Killian, The Hand" and recurring in the middle of "Killian Escapes." The minor phrases of this motif shift to higher brass fragments in middle portions of the score, the theme on top beginning to consolidate late in "Tux Redux." It returns at 0:34 into "Into Killian's Lair," turning obnoxious by the end, and the melody emerges on top during the hostility in the middle of "Killian in Control." The Killian theme explodes at 1:15 into "Let's Get Weird" and fights the heroic version of Walter's theme in "Next Gen Weaponry." There are a few ancillary motifs in the score, but none makes a huge impact. One sadly missed in much of the score is a sinewy phrase somewhat like David Arnold's theme for Quantum of Solace that is used in counterpoint to Sterling's theme in sneaking mode. It skulks at 0:09 and 0:16 into the electronically rambling "Joyless" and returns at 1:33 into "Arriving in Venice." In the end, though, these themes are frustratingly absent from clear development throughout the score, especially on the part of the villain. The 74-minute score-only album doesn't do it any favors, the highlights of the work easily condensed to twenty minutes that would best feature the two main theme sets. If you appreciate high style of espionage parodies, then Spies in Disguise will give you enough to work with for your own assembly of mood-building moments. But Shapiro has provided more cohesive narratives than this one in his career, leading with a flurry of humorously exotic, bird-like overlays to carry this pigeon to salvation. ***
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 74:03
NOTES & QUOTES:
There exists no official packaging for this album.
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