Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you wish to hear Danny Elfman's very strong, thematically satisfying sequel score in its original form, separate from the film's awkwardly poor treatment of it. Avoid it... if you were hoping for a more contemporary and stylish turn to the franchise's scores or if, like many, you wonder why the director would force Christopher Young's music from Hellraiser II into this picture. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
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 soon began signing contracts for not just one sequel, but two. The comic-book hero is certainly not short on villains with whom he can battle in these movies, with a new badguy, Doc Ock, seeking his death in Spider-Man 2 and shades of that old Green 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. Particularly striking in all three of the original Spider-Man films is the extremely sympathetic nature of its villains, each entry yielding progressively three-dimensional foes for the protagonist and each of whom requiring some dose of forgiveness for their actions. Despite the popularity of Danny Elfman's score for the first film in the series, the situation concerning director Sam Raimi and his evolving taste in music for the concept started causing problems in Spider-Man 2 that would lead to Elfman's departure from the franchise. He still completed a full score for the second film, however, strengthening his reputation as a superhero music guru in Hollywood. Despite a plethora of other active contemporary composers with more training in orchestral writing, Elfman brings an 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 the composer's field. He is also no stranger to sequel scoring, either, having written an intellectually marvelous score for Batman Returns that loyal fans of the composer cite as one of the best sequel scores in memory (despite its devastating performance and recording issues). Regardless of the fact that Elfman was happy with what he wrote and recorded for Spider-Man 2, Raimi requested substantial re-writes to his music too late in the post-production process for Elfman to complete (he had headed off to London to work on Tim Burton's 2005 films). At that point, a number of other composers, including veterans Christopher Young and John Debney, stepped in to adapt Raimi's temp track or rearrange a number of important cues in the film. Not surprisingly, Elfman, despite some initial rumors that he would participate in Spider-Man 3, was done with the franchise. What exists as another very strong composition by Elfman for Spider-Man 2 is surprisingly one of the few strangely dissatisfying aspects of the film itself. Before discussing how the composer did (or did not) get dangled from the short end of the web, it's important to appreciate this sequel score as Elfman intended it to be heard, represented by a commercial album presentation loyal to his work. Unlike Batman Returns, the arguably less complicated 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 may indeed bother those seeking greater narrative evolution. 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 at the 1:20 mark in this recording. Comparing the titles for sheer power of performance, a case could be made that the recording of the second film's score features a more robust stance, highlighted by the statement of the main theme at 1:40 and offering Elfman's choral colors at their best. The rest of the Spider-Man 2 score similarly improves upon the first score's symphonic stature, the composer pulling some very impressive, awe-inspiring action sequences out of his hat and thus keeping the sequel refreshing to the ears. The choral presence, extending out of the titles and into several major cues, is managed well in Spider-Man 2, culminating in the inspiring "Really Big Web" cue near the end. The love theme for Peter Parker and M.J. has a more believable heart behind its performances as well, a greater quantity of tender moments between them in this score leading to additional development of the idea (and culminating in the still slightly troubled "At Long Last, Love"). Most importantly, Elfman's techniques at mutating and weaving themes together can be heard extensively in the entirety of Spider-Man 2, the significant amount of time devoted to their interactions a definite plus. Whereas the Green Goblin theme in Spider-Man was technically challenging to reference in more linear rhythms due to its smartly twisted progressions, the Doc Ock material in the second score is conveyed with a static series of movements that emulates portions of Spider-Man's own theme, making it rather easy for Elfman to appropriately mingle their phrases. 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 rhythmic pomposity, to fit it nicely in the genre. But unlike times in the past when Elfman nearly wrote an entire carnival-appropriate piece for the villain, the Doc Ock theme consists of the same orchestral construct as the rest of the music, acknowledging the character's well-meaning origins and allowing the identity to be referenced smoothly throughout the score's action sequences. Elfman, in fact, does a very noble job of referencing all of his themes for the series in his fast-paced moments of adventure. Just as the Batman theme could be linked anywhere with as little as two notes, the same can be done with the primary Spider-Man theme, its interlude sequence (which Elfman switches to when the hero is in flight), the Doc Ock theme (which is littered throughout their confrontations), and even the Green Goblin material, which has its cameo performance at the end as necessary but whose progressions are hinted ever so slightly in "Armageddon." In the film, it's much more difficult to experience the full extent of the success of Elfman's music, because there are sudden stylistic shifts caused by Raimi's replacement of several key sequences. A bit of temp track fever struck the project from the outset, not to mention that the director made a habit of slamming Elfman's music from the preceding films in the franchise into both of his sequels. Late edits also plagued Spider-Man 2, and with Elfman having moved on, the filmmakers had to turn to outside assistance to finish and/or rearrange cues for changes made to the final version of the film. While small contributions by orchestrator Steve Bartek and composer Joseph LoDuca were reported at the time, two well-known composers were brought on to complete larger portions of the score. 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, was horror-score veteran Christopher Young's hiring to provide music for two key sequences in the film, the first of which a straight adaptation of one his own classic works. Neither Debney nor Young's contributions are included on the commercial Elfman album for Spider-Man 2, but in the film, the abrupt differences in style from scene to scene are hard to miss. Debney's contribution was a more nominal one, including the "Cake Girl" conversational cue of little significance (though tacked again in the next score in the franchise) but focusing on the comedic pizza delivery twist of heroic proportions in "Special Delivery." Whereas Elfman chose to score this scene's initial gauntlet of bike and cars with the slightly contemporary, funky drums heard elsewhere in the score, Debney instead provided straight action material that could have come out of a trailer music library. Both versions segue into the usual main theme statements when Parker takes to the air to complete his delivery. While Debney's couple of minutes of music in Spider-Man 2 is a small footnote, Young's role is both significant and perplexing. Elfman's music for the fight scene between Spider-Man and Doc Ock on the elevated train was fully replaced by nearly five minutes of new Young material. Interestingly, just like the "Special Delivery" cue, Elfman chose to use a fair amount of his drums for the first half of this sequence, and perhaps their somewhat exotic tone is what Raimi objected to in both circumstances. Young's version of "Runaway Train" is a bit more streamlined in its rhythmic flow and brassy action personality, though Elfman's cue, when tracked to the film, would have been fine by most accounts. In fact, Elfman's version intelligently slows its pace as Parker brings the train to a precariously teetering halt, whereas Young's mad tapping of the snare and chimes comes to an alternately crashing halt. Far more notorious in regards to Young's involvement with Spider-Man 2, however, is his adaptation work for the scenes in which Doc Ock first demonstrates his metallic tentacles and is fused with them. Fans of film scores and the famous villain Pinhead were often surprised and, in some cases, dumbfounded, when the demonstration and fusion scenes were treated to almost intact sequences from Young's score from Hellraiser II: Hellbound. The theme from that Young classic is well enough known that its transfer from the temp track into a new recording by Young for Spider-Man 2 is something of a shock, regardless of how good (and effective) the music is. Five minutes of this rather straight forward adaptation, spanning the sub-cues "The Reveal," "Blue Light," and "Fusion," offer the female vocals, pounding timpani, rising and falling string rhythms, staggered brass notes in the bass, and outright thematic progressions of Hellraiser II, only lacking the trademark tapped cymbals of the prior performance. Composers are hired to ape temp tracks all the time, and if such a blatant rip of Hellraiser II was in the destiny of Spider-Man 2, then at least you have to give Raimi credit for approaching Young and, alternately Young for at least tailoring the theme to this new home. Interestingly, in "Blue Light" and "Fusion," Young does start straying into more original territory, and he deserves kudos for adapting Elfman's theme for Doc Ock seamlessly out of the Hellraiser II material in the former cue, almost as to announce the character's official creation. For Young, he handled the situation well enough to replace Elfman entirely for Spider-Man 3, though even there, his music would contend with reuse of Elfman's themes (and entire cues) and additional new material from Debney and Elfman assistant composer Deborah Lurie. You can't really fault any of these composers for simply doing their job; the blame for the mess is clearly Raimi's responsibility, and while he may have though that bringing in Hellraiser II music for Doc Ock was cool, it really does cause discrepancies of style that will likely twinge people beyond the film music collecting crowd. The Elfman-only score album for Spider-Man 2 does provide the listener with the opportunity to hear two Elfman cues that were later dropped from the film. One of these is the train fight sequence (followed in the same track by an ethereal cue for the exhausted Parker in "Appreciation" that did make the final cut), with its satisfying inclusions of choir and Doc Ock references where appropriate. The rejected "Aunt May Packs" cue is curious because it is the only obvious use of contemporary tones in this score, the acoustic guitar a nice, singular touch. A plethora of other Elfman cues, rejected or otherwise, did not make the album, leading (sometimes along with the ten minutes of Young material) to countless bootlegs of the patchwork finished soundtrack. Ironically, if there is one major criticism to be leveled against Elfman's score, it would be the lack of a distinctly contemporary style. In the original score, the highlight was the "Costume Montage" cue, a passage 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 hip, modern style that he demands and deserves. The fantasy of Peter Parker and Spider-Man merit the kind of style that you hear from Elfman's trademark electric bass, guitar, and hip rhythms (supported by the full ensemble), not with the wackiness of Men in Black, of course, but with just enough spice to add that cool flavor to the urban fantasy character. In any case, Elfman's work impresses with its intelligent thematic narrative and enhanced choral role, defying the bizarrely rendered finished product in the film.
Music as Written by Christopher Young for the Film: *** Music as Written by John Debney for the Film: *** Music as Heard on Album: **** Overall: **** Track Listings:
Total Time: 48:01
* bonus cue rejected from the film All artwork and sound clips from Spider-Man 2 are Copyright © 2004, Columbia/Sony Music Soundtrax. The reviews and notes contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Filmtracks Publications. Audio clips can be heard using RealPlayer but cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 8/6/04, updated 8/29/11. Review Version 4.1 - PHP (Filmtracks Publications). Copyright © 2004-2013, Christian Clemmensen. All rights reserved. |
