Buy it... if you wish to hear Danny Elfman's very strong sequel score in its original form, separate from the film's somewhat poor treatment of it.

Avoid it... if you weren't impressed by the first Spider-Man score, or if you were hoping for a more contemporary and stylish turn to the franchise's scores.

Elfman

Spider-Man 2: (Danny Elfman) With the first installment of the Spider-Man franchise performing very well on the big screen in 2002, the cast and crew of the hit film began signing contracts for not just one sequel, but two. The comic-book hero is certainly not short of villains with whom he can battle in these movies, with both a new badguy, Doc Ock, seeking his death in Spider-Man 2, and shades of that old Goblin coming back to haunt Peter Parker as well. The sequel has been heralded by both critics and audiences as being superior to the original, with a better combination of stress and love, a more intriguing villain, and the further development of tension between Parker and his crush, Mary Jane. Returning along with most of the rest of his Spidey crewmates is composer Danny Elfman, an artist who exists in his own sort of superhero bubble within the composing community in Hollywood. Despite a plethora of other modern, active composers with more training in orchestral writing than he has, Elfman brings the element of imagination and capacity for frantic artistry that allows him to perhaps better keep pace with Spider-Man's vast swings, both emotionally and quite literally, than others in Elfman's field. He is also no stranger to sequel scoring, either, having written Batman Returns, a score that loyal fans of the composer cite as one of the best sequel scores in memory. It's entirely possible, however, that Elfman's association with the Spider-Man franchise may be strained by his experiences with Spider-Man 2, and, just as the disappointment came with the Batman franchise, it wouldn't be surprising to see Elfman bow out after the second Spider-Man film. This is no comment on his effort for Spider-Man 2, for it certainly carries the same weight as the original score in the series, but rather an observation about the poor application of Elfman's talents in both the scoring, mixing, and editing process of the project.

What exists as another very strong composition by Elfman for Spider-Man 2 is surprisingly one of the few disappointing aspects of the film itself. Before discussing how Elfman did (or did not) get dangled from the short end of the web, it's important to appreciate this sequel score as it can be heard apart from the film. Unlike Batman Returns, Spider-Man 2 remains much more consistent in tone, thematic development, and instrumentation to the original film in the franchise. Elfman seems to have become better able to harness the excitement of comic book heroes and their villains without going overboard on each individual character's musical identity and thus losing focus of the overall tones of the franchise. Some listeners have remarked that the very consistent extension of musical identity from the first to second score is the weakness of the latter, and during the opening credits and finale, the rehashes of identical bars of music is unfortunate. But where Elfman maintains the orchestral integrity of the first film to a triumphant degree is in the central mass of Spider-Man 2. The opening titles and finale pieces were probably rehashed note-for-note at the demand of the filmmakers, although Elfman does offer the new Doc Ock theme as the appropriate interlude in the titles for this re-recording. Comparing the titles for sheer power of performance, a case could be made that the recording of the original film's score was a tad more overwhelming. The opposite is true for the rest of the Spider-Man 2 score, however, with Elfman pulling some very impressive, awe-inspiring action sequences out of his hat. The choral presence seems better managed in Spider-Man 2 as well, culminating in the "Really Big Web" cue near the end of the project. The love theme for Peter Parker and M.J. has a more believable heart behind its performances as well, with more tender moments between them in this score than the last. Elfman's techniques at mutating and weaving themes together can be heard very well in these cues, showing that Elfman really did take a significant amount of time to construct these ideas.

Of course, no superhero score would be complete without the villain's theme. The fact that Doc Ock's theme consists of eight notes is reportedly due to the coinciding number of limbs on the villain, yet again pointing to Elfman's sense of humor. The theme contains just enough comic book swing... the kind of circus-like, borderline deranged rhythm to the theme to fit it nicely in the genre. But unlike times in the past, when Elfman nearly wrote an entire carnival piece for the villain, the Doc Ock theme consists of the same orchestral construct as the rest of the music, allowing it to be referenced much more smoothly throughout the score's action sequences. Elfman, in fact, does a very noble job of referencing all of his (usually) simple themes for the series in his faster action cues. Just as the Batman theme could be referenced anywhere with only four notes, the same can be done with either the primary Spider-Man theme or the motif that Elfman switches to when the hero is in flight. In the film, it's much more difficult to experience the success of Elfman's music. A bit of temp track fever struck the project from the outset, which probably shouldn't be surprising; anytime you have a successful score for the first film, it's tempting for the filmmakers to place pieces of that score into the sequel and tell the composer to write something identical (and sometimes that original piece just gets slammed into the film without even a re-recording). Late edits also plagued Spider-Man 2, causing a problem with Elfman's scheduled writing for other projects. Thus, the filmmakers had to turn to outside assistance to finish and/or rearrange cues for changes made to the final edits of the film. In this case, two well-known composers were brought on to the project. The first is no surprise: John Debney could make a living off of his ability to be available to provide just these kinds of services. More interesting, however, is horror-score veteran Christopher Young's hiring to provide the music for a key sequence in the film.

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Neither Debney nor Young's contributions are included on the Elfman album for Spider-Man 2, but in the film, the sudden difference in styles from scene to scene is hard to miss. Debney's contribution was a more nominal one, focusing on a comedic pizza delivery twist of heroic proportions. Young, however, re-wrote the train fight sequence with a dominance of brass far more harsh than anything Elfman wrote for the scene. You can't fault these composers for doing their job, although the score album for Spider-Man 2 provides the listener with the opportunity to hear two Elfman cues that were later replaced in the film. One of these is the train fight sequence, followed in the same track by an ethereal cue for the exhausted Peter Parker in "Appreciation." Elfman's take on the train sequence is very strong, with appropriate inclusions of choir and Doc Ock references where appropriate. The "Aunt May Packs" rejected cue is curious because it is the only obvious use of the electric bass in this score. The bass does resurface for the expected return of the Goblin's theme near the finale, and Elfman certainly does his thematic reprises well enough. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Spider-Man 2 score --and this comment applies to both the score in film and on album-- is the lack of a distinctly modern style. In the original score, the highlight was the "Costume Montage" cue... a cue that not only sufficed in its build-up to the introduction of a superhero, but also a cue that offered New York's newest savior with the modern style that he demands. Let's face it: a lot of nerdy people have fantasies of being Peter Parker and becoming this incredible superhero. And with the contemporary setting and this coolness of identity, wouldn't you think that Spider-Man would be more stylish? If any scores could use some more of that electric bass, guitar, and hip rhythm (supported by the full ensemble), it would be these. Not to the same wacky levels as the Men in Black scores (including a far inferior sequel rehash by Elfman), but just enough to add that cool flavor to the urban fantasy character. In any case, though, the only true detriments to this score are the lack of variation in the opening titles and finale cue, as well as the poorly rendered finished product in the film. On album, however, Elfman's work impresses throughout its middle sections.

Score as Heard in the Film: ***
Score as Heard on Album: ****
Overall: ****

Bias Check:

For Danny Elfman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.14 (in 42 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 3.28 (in 93,536 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.