‘The Bad Guys’ Nods to Classic Caper Movies, and So Does Daniel Pemberton’s Jazzy Heist Score
variety.comJon Burlingame editorThere’s a classic sound to heist films, especially of the ’60s and ’70s – a little jazzy, a little stealthy, occasionally raucous and wild – and composer Daniel Pemberton cleverly channels it throughout “The Bad Guys,” the DreamWorks Animation action comedy that opens today.“The film in some ways is an homage to classic caper movies,” says the English composer, “and it’s a world I really love playing in.
You get to be really bold: big breaks, big brass sections, big tunes and big grooves.”Pemberton’s high-energy music sets the mood and drives the action in Pierre Perifel’s animated adventure about a notorious criminal gang (a wolf, a snake, a piranha, a shark and a tarantula) that considers going straight after they cross paths with a guinea-pig philanthropist and their red-fox governor. “At its core, it’s a very joyous score, even though there’s sneakiness, tension, all that kind of stuff,” he notes.
He cites Quincy Jones’ “The Italian Job,” Lalo Schifrin’s “Bullitt” and David Shire’s “The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3” (all written between 1968 and 1974) as early inspirations.“The Bad Guys” contains Hammond organ, fuzz guitar, bongo drums, Moog synthesizer, which reference that period.
But it’s also a very contemporary sound, with big beats, a full orchestra and a fast pace throughout. There’s never a dull moment in the film or the score.The choice of musicians was key, Pemberton says. “It was a bit like putting your own heist gang together,” he says. “You’ve got the safecracker, the getaway car driver, the muscle guy.
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