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| Zimmer |
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| Howard |
The Dark Knight: (Hans Zimmer/James Newton Howard)
The superlatives don't seem to stop for director Christopher Nolan's
vision of Gotham City. Three years after reintroducing the legendary
comic book hero with
Batman Begins, Nolan and his brother,
Jonathan, have fashioned a sequel that is, by nearly all critical
accounts, a superior and transcendent summer blockbuster. In
The Dark
Knight, the Nolan brothers build upon the framework that established
the origins of the Caped Crusader in
Batman Begins with the
addition of the characters of Harvey Dent and the Joker. Stunning
cinematography and art direction are prerequisites for any outstanding
super hero film, and
The Dark Knight spares no expense in its
sense of spectacle. The rejuvenation of the
Batman franchise from
the soulless sequels that followed Tim Burton's original two films is
quite remarkable, though for film music fans, the split in opinion over
the changing winds of the concept's musical sound has been as ferocious
as it has been polarizing. In its most basic foundation, the debate pits
identities for the titular character defined by two distinctly different
composers, men who not only tackled the task from opposite directions,
but faced entirely different directorial styles in the process. There
will always be heated discussions about whether Danny Elfman or Hans
Zimmer better captured the essence of Batman (and let's not forget
Elliot Goldenthal), but the roots of that disparity are inherent in the
manner with which Burton and Nolan so differently treated the character
and his universe. Never has Hollywood presented such a conundrum for
fans to ponder: two very successful but extremely distinct views of the
same concept in their own franchises. Nolan could very well be on track
for artistic dominance and might eventually surpass Warner Brothers'
adjusted earnings for the first four films combined, but there will
always remain respect for Burton's original
Batman, as well as a
notch on many "guilty pleasure" lists for
Batman Returns. The
inevitable comparison in soundtracks is a troublesome subject, in part
because of Hans Zimmer's habit of polarizing film music collectors and
in part due to an abundance of crazed hype generated by both the studio
and the composer prior to the Nolan films.
While Zimmer collaborated with highly respected veteran
James Newton Howard for Nolan's first two
Batman films, it's easy
to get the impression that these are primarily Zimmer scores. They have
the distinct traits of his works in most sections and he was involved
for greater lengths of time in their creation. In interviews, Howard
often volunteers a secondary position and showers Zimmer with constant
praise. With the exception of a few clear moments in
The Dark
Knight, Zimmer's trademark sound is on grand and predictable
display. The two composers did several rounds of interviews prior to
this film's release, often jovial in tone and always curiously overt in
their expressions of respect for one another. At times, they sound like
teammates on a college sports team who, under those circumstances, would
give each other a good slap on each others' asses for a job well done.
They both think very highly of their work for
The Dark Knight, as
assuring as they had also been about their choices prior to
Batman
Begins (but perhaps with a bit more cautious restraint the first
time). Their words are illuminating of their intentions (and Nolan's
agreement with them), and they convey a confidence that you rarely hear
so strongly from composers nowadays. They have spent ample time
explaining their unconventional moves and placing those choices in
context, recognizing in some cases that this music will "irritate" some
listeners. They also, however, have spent so much time dwelling on the
rationale for these decisions that their attitude tends to border on
condescending, especially in their dismissal of the Burton/Elfman
approach that they are apparently tired of hearing about. Warner is
sticking to its guns, too, commercializing the endeavor to such an
extent that there are three different CD albums (a regular CD, a
collector's edition with extra art, and a limited special edition
digipack... Open thy wallet, fool!) and even a 2-LP vinyl product for
the most serious (and nostalgic) aficionados. For their achievements,
the composers are being treated like rock stars, performing live on
stage at an IMAX theatre in New York City prior to the premiere showing
of the film and then appearing throughout the country at Virgin
Megastores to sign copies of the products over the following days.
Zimmer then planned to go on a worldwide concert tour later in 2008 and
take a sabbatical from film score writing (a sabbatical that never ended
up happening).
Perhaps lost in all of this hype is one tiny little
complication: the quality of the music. Reactions to both of these
scores from the die-hard fans of Zimmer have been utterly predictable.
Reactions from Howard's fans have been more interesting, in many ways,
because many of them consider Howard to be a far more talented and
versatile composer. Some of them seemingly tolerate or, in better cases,
appreciate Howard's contributions to these scores while distancing
themselves from Zimmer's work. For
The Dark Knight, Zimmer was
able to expand upon ideas that he concocted in
Batman Begins and,
for the most part, produced an extremely similar score in tone and
style. Many parts of the two are interchangeable, and this fact is due
to the composer's notion that the Nolan interpretation of Gotham and its
characters is far more gloomy and brooding than even Burton's vision.
Zimmer is quick to emphasize "sound" and "texture" over traditional
thematic structures, which is largely why he doesn't take any
inspiration from Elfman's music for the concept. One of the more
obnoxious and disrespectful statements that Zimmer made in a 2008
interview about
The Dark Knight involved his dismissal of
Elfman's "happy jolly theme" for
Batman. Regardless of the
differences in the movies, and regardless of the fact that Elfman's
rendering of his primary idea had shades of Bernard Herrmann attached to
it, Zimmer seems inept at understanding the notion of duality. It's
possible that the reason Zimmer used the words "happy" and "jolly" to
describe that theme (outside of the fact that he sometimes doesn't
exercise good diction in his use of English) is because Elfman used some
rousing major-key statements in his material. But what remains more
important is the fact that Elfman used both minor and major key
components in the theme to represent Bruce Wayne's two personas. Elliot
Goldenthal would follow suit in his title theme for the latter two
sequels. Zimmer, on the other hand, is so infatuated with the darker
side of the character that he doesn't seem to equate the major key part
of Elfman's "happy jolly theme" with the necessary element of superhero
duty. Elfman's score is downright menacing in parts (despite its
major-key usage) and is, appropriately, gothic. Conversely, relying
solely on minor-key dramatics is boring and immature.
By now, any score collector will be familiar with the fact
that Zimmer loves to use cellos and basses to churn up his sense of
brooding melodrama. Throw in some broad brass tones over the top, some
electronic pulsation or ostinato for movement, and convey the whole
thing in harmonious progressions... It's become the Zimmer trademark of
the 2000's. If he wants to address Nolan's superhero with this sound,
then so be it. Few would argue that it isn't at least functional. The
first film was so good in its other production elements that it easily
carried an underachieving score, and
The Dark Knight does the
same. Zimmer and Howard are both quick to point out that continuity is
important, and that being the case, both of the most obvious motifs from
the first score return. The pinpoint string ostinatos representing the
general coolness of Batman, as well as the rising two-note minor-key
progression for his heroic self, are both preserved and given
satisfactory airtime. The progression is more intelligently woven into
several of the action cues. Much fuss was made at the time of
Batman
Begins about the fact that Zimmer had written a more elaborate idea
for Batman, but that the theme had no place in that film because the
character had not yet matured into his regular role as Gotham's savior.
In the sequel, we finally hear what Zimmer had in mind for the character
and, unfortunately, it's a murky blend of
The Last Samurai,
The Thin Red Line,
The Da Vinci Code, and, most
interestingly,
Crimson Tide. It's hard to imagine how collectors
who denigrate James Horner for his blatant self-referencing will be able
to give Zimmer a free pass for resurrecting so many previous scores in
The Dark Knight, for the pulls are undeniable. The expanded title
theme only appears twice in the score ("I'm Not a Hero" and "A Dark
Knight" on the albums), ironically, and passes as a generic, muscular
anthem from the composer. Its slow, easy shifts, as pleasantly harmonic
as they were in scores as far back as
The House of the Spirits,
rank well on Zimmer's list of easy listening hits, especially in the
expansive exploration of the idea in "The Dark Knight." This clear
rip-off from
The Da Vinci Code, while entertaining in its most
basic sense, is devoid of style, vivacity, and duality.
The ideas that Zimmer and Howard composed for the film's
two major secondary characters are far more intriguing. The composers
very explicitly split these duties, with Howard jokingly stating that he
is too traditional to come up with the kind of radical sound that Zimmer
eventually conjured for the Joker. Instead, Howard tackled Harvey Dent
and his eventual villainous side, Two-Face. While the Joker's material
is Zimmer's alone, the Harvey Dent contributions by Howard are arranged,
performed, and mixed into a style that fits Zimmer's larger mould for
the surrounding score. The two composers have commented frequently on
the fact that their material has been heavily integrated, though
Howard's music for Dent does stand apart from Zimmer's writing in its
brighter romanticism. Indeed, the two did boil the score down to action
(Zimmer) and elegance (Howard), as had been the case in
Batman
Begins. The Harvey Dent theme is defined by Howard's usual solo
piano and varied string tones. Its compelling progression is the most
memorable tune of
The Dark Knight if only because it exists in
the treble region as well as Zimmer's more comfortable, deeper turmoil.
For the Dent side of the character, Howard uses the primary, repeating
six-note figure on delicate piano and poignant strings. For the
evolution of Two-Face, the theme becomes a bold brass piece of
surprisingly forceful harmony. The last minute of "Harvey Two-Face"
offers a gorgeous performance of theme with all the robust orchestral
majesty of the best parts of
The Water Horse and
I Am
Legend. The lighter portions of the theme convey the same character
intimacy as the ending to
The Interpreter. The theme's subsequent
usage can be masked by Zimmer's heavy bass applications, which
disappointingly strip the idea of its caring appeal (with the exception
of "Blood on My Hands"). In fact, outside of "Harvey Two-Face," "Blood
on My Hands," and parts of "Agent of Chaos," it's difficult to point to
specific moments within the score and identify them as purely Howard
contributions. To this end, Zimmer indeed was quite successful at his
editing tasks. It's a bit surprising that Zimmer didn't alter the six
minutes of "Harvey Two-Face" to fit better stylistically with the
remainder of the score, though its effectiveness would likely have been
diminished if he had done so.
Zimmer toiled for three months with the theme for the
Joker and, in the end, he took a two-note motif and condensed it down to
one note. Debate amongst the fans ensued about whether one note can
qualify as a theme. It all comes down to the texture of the performance,
and this is where Zimmer defines the idea. This representation isn't
even as much a note as it is a sound effect, a rising tone of a siren
that's been altered into a harsh, digital calling card that is
extraordinarily distinct. With such a blatantly awkward construct, this
rising tone is very effective at representing the character. In "Why So
Serious?," Zimmer drives the point home with a series of equally
abrasive, looped rhythms and pounding ensemble hits. A substantial
amount of dissonant ambient design went into this performance, as well
as several others accompanying the Joker and his rising tone. While
Zimmer's idea works, it also proves that any sound effect can be altered
to convey a character or idea with a single note. Perhaps the most
famous use of a unique sound in such a way was with the "Blaster Beam"
effect employed by Jerry Goldsmith in
Star Trek: The Motion
Picture. One rip of that monster pipe and everyone knew that
Goldsmith was referring to the mysterious cloud approaching the Earth.
In theory, any noise could function for a crazed individual, so long as
it was presented in an abnormal way. A hair dryer, a garbage can lid, a
squealing baby, the sigh of an orgasm. The problem with using one sound,
one note for the Joker is that it betrays the complexity of the
character. Once again, as with the Batman character, Zimmer has tried so
hard, labored for so long, that he has over-thought the situation.
Praise may be poured on the idea because it's intellectually different,
but that doesn't mean that it's the best representation for the
character. The attempt to simplify the musical idea for the purposes of
being radically different says more about the composer than it does
about the character on screen. That doesn't mean that the music box and
waltz approach of Elfman for the same character was any better, but at
least it was three-dimensional. On album, Zimmer's "theme" for the Joker
is unlistenable, as is the entire "Why So Serious?" cue. Those nine
minutes, among others in the score, are, as one famous film score
reviewer said, minutes of your life that you'll never get back.
Zimmer integrates his themes well into the mass of the
underscore, with Batman's two-note motif and the Joker's rising tone
easy to identify in several places. The action and suspense material is
perhaps the biggest disappointment of the score, either pointless in its
aimless development or boring in its references to previous Zimmer
works. You have to get a chuckle out of a reprise of
Backdraft
percussion and progressions when the fires in
The Dark Knight
become a factor. More annoying is the use of the "mutiny" theme from
Crimson Tide, a motif used by Zimmer when the submarine crew is
in the active state of an armed takeover, in parts of Batman's extended
identity. You'll hear these similarities especially in the midsections
of "A Dark Knight." Some of the library samples that Zimmer employs are
also reminiscent of
Crimson Tide, including the drum pad and
metallic percussion sounds (among other ambient elements) first heard
late in "Aggressive Expansion." A swooshing sound effect to mimic
Batman's cape is decently incorporated into several cues, but doesn't
have much of an impact. Extended moments of dissonance, as in "A Little
Push," are weakly aided by more uninteresting sound effects. This
distraught tension extends to "I Am the Batman," which may effectively
represent torment of the soul, but offers nothing to please on album.
The penultimate track on the first album, "Watch the World Burn,"
presents cellos and basses in snooze mode. In cues like this,
you can't tell if they're recorded live or sampled. There are singular,
momentary highlights in the action music between "And I Thought My Jokes
Were Bad" and "Introduce a Little Anarchy," but these will often remind
of previous Zimmer ventures of the 2000's. The familiar ostinato from
Batman Begins is translated into even more menacing bass string
performances at times, almost overwhelming two cues. The very lengthy "A
Dark Knight" is the most consistently enjoyable album track, even with
the violins translating the Joker's theme in ear-shattering fashion at
the eleven-minute mark. Its bombastic brass conclusion of theme at about
14:20 is somewhat overwrought, however, forcefully melodramatic to a
fault. A slow dissolving of the franchise ostinato (which is seemingly a
bit more electronic in its rendering here) and reprise of the two-note
Batman theme is an appropriate way to finish off the original
product.
Six months after the first regular and limited, special
edition albums debuted, Warner stuck it to consumers with another
special edition product, this time containing two CDs. It advertised
itself as containing the complete score, but fans quickly realized that
this advertising was blatantly and unacceptably false. Despite
containing over 120 minutes of score material, the December 2008 set is
not only missing some music but also very badly presented. Its first CD
matches the previously released one and the second one offers 50
additional minutes in a manner that makes the set useless for those
wishing for a chronological ordering. Some of Zimmer's cues for the
first CD were edited so that such a presentation wasn't possible anyway.
At any rate, four remixes of cues are tacked on (three of them
completely insufferable) and a 40 page booklet rounds out a set that
commanded an initial retail price over $57. As for the score tracks on
the second CD, "Bank Robbery/Prologue" is essentially the same as "Why
So Serious?" but without the Joker theme at the forefront. "Buyer
Beware" is generic action ambience that leads to several full statements
of Zimmer's complete Batman theme. Some of Howard's melancholy piano
work at minimal volumes is reprised in "Halfway to Hong Kong" and
"Decent Men in an Indecent Time," the latter cue degenerating into
Zimmer's atmospheric effects. The Joker's grating material returns in
"You're Gonna Love Me," but in a less developed format. Distant string
meandering for conversational settings in "Chance," led by solo cello,
will recall the character interactions from
K2. Absolutely
nothing of note happens in "You Complete Me" until its final minute, at
which point another canned performance of the main theme is conveyed
over the ostinatos. The word "sparse" describes the entirety of the
tiresome and immensely boring "The Ferries," with only a couple hints of
the minor-third progression of the main theme to wake you up during its
ten minutes. That atmosphere continues into "We Are Tonight's
Entertainment" until the Joker's whining pitch on violins leads to a
couple of melodramatic chords and tumultuous ostinatos. Slight
references to Howard's theme for Dent in this cue cannot save it. Some
life is finally heard in "A Watchful Guardian," which is a competent
suite of all the ideas from the score. It includes a tender piano
rendition of the Dent theme, a reprise of the thematic lift from
The
Da Vinci Code on the first CD's "The Dark Knight," and one final
reminder that the Joker's theme is truly obnoxious.
Although the 2-CD set for
The Dark Knight does
make more music available, that material is far less interesting than
what was already released. If you want to spend over $50 on a truly
complete, faithful presentation of a score, seek instead the infinitely
superior sets for Howard Shore's
The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Musically speaking,
The Dark Knight is once again a score carried
by the quality of the film. It receives top grades for effort, but is
suspect in terms of actual quality and consistency. Zimmer has attempted
to address the darker ambience of these Nolan films by simplifying the
style of his themes and lowering the tone of the soundscape to more
primordial levels, treble clef be damned. Whether or not that philosophy
actually works is as interesting a debate as whether or not Zimmer was
artistically capable of providing any other sound for the concept.
Regardless of the fact that Danny Elfman's far more famous
Batman
theme would not be a comfortable fit in Nolan's films, Elfman still
displayed something in his music for the franchise that his friend
Zimmer has not: intuition. Undoubtedly, a talented composer (including
Elfman himself) could have taken the brilliant duality of the original
Burton films' scores and adapted the sound for the Nolan alternatives.
Hearing a Batman theme without a sense of duality is insulting to Bruce
Wayne. And on the subject of creativity: a one-note "theme" for the
Joker or the reliance on low strings for a dark ambience isn't creative.
If Zimmer had been able to provide the same effect with high strings and
(God forbid!) woodwinds, then there would be reason to be impressed. As
it is, too much of this music falls into Zimmer's comfort zone. The
score sounds, as usual, as though a heavy hand was used in the mixing
and editing of all the individual performances. Although the recording
used over 100 orchestral players and is, technically, more organic in
that foundation, Zimmer once again gives the score an overbearing bass
mix and a harsh edge that only betrays the complexity and sophistication
of the concept. Howard, who provided beautiful ideas for both the love
theme in the first film and Harvey Dent here, needs to be excused; if
anything, there should be lamentation that Howard didn't handle these
entire scores by himself. In the end, even the biggest detractors of the
score for
The Dark Knight should recognize that it functions in
its basic duties, but Zimmer can't be let off the hook for his tiring
self-references and over-thought attempts at innovation. Gotham and its
hero, despite all their gloom and despair, still have a heart, and
Zimmer has yet to find its pulse.
@Amazon.com: CD or
Download
- Music as Written for the Film: **
- Music as Heard on the Single-CD Albums: **
- Music as Heard on the Expanded, 2-CD Set: *
- Overall: **
| Bias Check: |
For Hans Zimmer reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.84
(in 121 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.96
(in 298,172 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
For James Newton Howard reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.4
(in 70 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.36
(in 86,418 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
For Lorne Balfe reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.83
(in 30 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 2.86
(in 23,357 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
|
The inserts of the initial July 2008 releases include a lengthy note from the director
about working with Zimmer and Howard on the score. They also offer extensive credits and
photography from the film. The December 2008 2-CD set is packaged in a 40-page hardbound
booklet with troublesome rubber pegs holding the CDs. Only the same exact director's note
from the previous albums is included, with no additional information about the score or film.
The majority of the set's useless booklet is dedicated to more photography from the film.
