> I love this take on Big Blue. It understands his character in a way the
> Zack Snyder films never had the maturity to comprehend, and also points
> out how exceptional this perspective is for the modern era in a way the
> Richard Donner/Richard Lester films did not. It’s how I’ve always pictured
> the character, who I have adored since I was a child.

I had the same reaction, Robert. It was really nice and refreshing to see this movie.

> Murphy seemed like an odd fit for “Superman,” and when it
> was announced late in post-production that much of his music was being
> adapted and replaced by David Fleming, the community’s response was more
> negative.

Yeah, it was a tough match up from the beginning.

> Add to this that my friend at Warner Bros. told me that Fleming
> had just about a week to rewrite giant sections of the music, and my
> expectations hit an all-time low. After all, John Williams’ “Superman” is
> my favorite score of all time.

Jesus, that's crazy. If that's really the case that changes the context of a lot of the discourse around this score. It is crazy that they got to that point at all.

> And then it came out a few days before the film’s release and I thought it
> was fine.

Yeah! They used the Williams theme.

> After I listened for the first time, I went online to read the comments.
> And holy shit were they all negative. Like… this is probably the
> most roundly hated score by the community since… I dunno? “All Quiet on
> the Western Front”?

If there's anything I've learned from this community it's that Superman scores get some negative discourse. I think people just have really high expectations for the character.

> Anyway, I thought I was slightly crazy for thinking the score was
> perfectly okay, though several Scoreboarders reached out in private
> conversation to confirm that it wasn’t just me.

It's not just you.

> And then I saw the movie last night and my impression of the music
> elevated drastically. I now fully believe this is a good score that
> improves the film it supports. In all my hot takes over the years, this
> may well be the hottest.

It definitely improves the film- they use the John Williams Superman theme!!! That improves literally any film in my eyes.

> Williams’ melody has
> become as definitively associated with its hero in the same way
> Newman/Barry’s 007 theme represents Bond and his own “Jaws” theme
> represents the shark. Everyone knows it. Everyone loves it. And I’m
> ecstatic that its legacy was chosen to continue with this new iteration of
> the character.

Exactly. I strongly believe the argument- James Bond, Mission Impossible, and Star Wars we all celebrate when the old themes come back. That's the whole point! I cannot possibly be convinced that we should abandon the Williams Superman theme. This Superman is surely much closer to Reeve's Superman than Daniel Craig is to any of the proceeding Bonds, and yet we never say Daniel Craig should have gotten a new theme in his debut movie.

The whole point is to keep the theme between character incarnations! Who the hell wants a new theme for characters every movie? That's how we got Marvel. The only reason people know the Avengers theme is because they had the balls to keep it around for more than 2 movies!

I am sorry I am always in favor of camp USE THEME , especially when we are talking about the goddamn THEME of THEMES here, potentially the greatest Superhero theme (or even movie theme) of all time. Yes, I do want to hear the John Williams theme return, even if it's in this fashion. We have Eric Serra's Goldeneye and whatever the heck the latest MI score is, and yet we never say "they should have dropped the theme".

> And normies clearly do too. At my sold-out screening, there were two (2!)
> applause breaks for the music,

I heard one as well. People want the theme! People want to hear John Williams on the big screen. Isn't that why we became film music fans in the first place, themes like Superman? Shit I just heard people clap at Jurrassic World during the Williams theme section as well.

> So yeah, John Powell or James Newton Howard or whoever could have done a
> great new theme had they been hired…

I hope this clear intention to stick with the Superman JW theme opens the door to us hearing other composers (like Powell) tackling one of these WITH the Williams theme. If they stick to their Gunns, I suspect we will get some EXCELLENT Superman scores.

> But this isn’t. This is a reboot with different needs. There
> was no place for the march here, and an entirely orchestral version would
> have felt off in a world that literally keeps calling out punk rock as its
> inspiration.

Eh this is where I disagree. My absolutely biggest complaint about this whole affair is that they abandoned the March rhythm! It only appears in one cue and only for a few measures. That is a huge wasted opportunity, and puts this in the clear "least rhythmic superman score" category where both Williams and Zimmer crushed it

> And, to be clear, I think it’s kinda fucking awesome that Gunn’s POV is to
> take the greatest character theme in film history and have it speak to a
> new generation of filmgoers by modernizing it and warping it. The greatest
> art can stand up to reinterpretations – and speaks to each generation in a
> different, just-as-vital way… and this is an example of that. If you hate
> this take, I have a feeling there will be another version in a few years.

Exactly!!

> Now, do I think the execution is a little sweaty at times? Hell yes. I
> have several issues with it, but honestly don’t want to focus on them here
> because, well, everyone else does everywhere else. I find it crazy that
> I’m 1,200 words into an article about a score that, for me, is
> realistically 3 stars… but at the end of the day, I have such admiration
> for what Gunn, Murphy and Fleming were going for that I couldn’t stop
> myself from writing this.

Yeah the execution is sloppy and amateur and all the worst times. If they really had a week to do the Fleming Sections it totally makes sense because unfortunately that's exactly what it sounds like. This

> I do like several of Murphy’s ideas, most notably his snaky, electronic
> one for Lex Luthor

The most interesting contribution by Murphy for sure. The other Murphy sections leaved a lot to be desired. All in all I think the score is a bit of a mess but I am just glad they used the JW theme and I'm excited for hopefully more usages of the greatest living film composer's themes, even if they get butchered up into chunks and spit out a meat grinder.