Moana - Lin-Manuel Miranda, Opetaia Foa'i, & Mark Mancina |
11/24/16 |
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What You Will Hear: Songs from Lin-Manuel Miranda (and the obligatory pop versions, as well). In Mancina’s score: lots of percussion and tribal chants.
Standout Tracks: How Far I’ll Go, We Know The Way, You’re Welcome, Shiny, Tala’s Deathbed, Battle of Wills, Climbing, Maui Leaves, Sails To Te Fiti, Te Fiti Restored Will You Be Humming Along? The songs are winners. They were instantly stuck in my head. Unfortunately, the score rarely makes use of the existing melodic content. The album this makes me want to dust off: Frozen - Cristophe Beck Will I come back to the songs? The songs are a lot of fun. Miranda’s wordplay is refreshing and the modern instrumentation (always mixed with the Pacific island influence) fits in nicely. Through it all, the Disney heart is still there. The voice talent is enjoyable, and varied. Jemaine Clement’s performance on “Shiny” is particularly fun. It might be my favorite villain song ever. My only complaint is that each song’s conclusion sounds rushed. I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I’m hoping that pacing or storytelling issues led to the abruptness here. Will I come back to the score? Besides the cultural influences, Mark Mancina’s contribution to Moana is quite generic. While the percussion is appropriately featured throughout (see: Kakamora), the writing is not often dynamic or unique. A lot of this score could easily substitute as temp music for any action movie. Another problem is the lack of strong melodies. The tune from “How Far I’ll Go” shows up a few times, but is just too little. There is no cohesiveness. After the successes of Mancina’s Planes movies, Moana was a big letdown. Will I come back to the extras? Outtakes and demos, meh. I don’t understand their inclusion other than to beef up the track list. |
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