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Because Glass was touring at the time of the reshoots and recording sessions, the final score for Fantastic Four is largely a Beltrami product, thus his primary placement in the credits for the work. The score's bulk is orchestral, though a few electronic textures and choral accents become more prevalent as the music progresses. The orchestrations are sadly conventional (the electronic tones emulate the Spider-Man franchise, for some reason) outside of a few influences that Beltrami seems to have retained from Glass, including a satisfying presence of low woodwinds at the outset of the score. Listeners approaching Fantastic Four with hopes of appreciating a fresh Glass work will hear most such material highlighted in "Fantastic Four Prelude," Glass' rhythmic figures, main theme, and orchestrations best illuminated there. It's worth mentioning that the various themes in the score are all appropriately constructed out of series of four notes, these phrases defining the primary theme in the aforementioned prelude, in full bravado form in "Baxter," and throughout the score's action sequences. Secondary themes born from the same four-note constrictions are a Jerry Goldsmith-like action variation (likely a Beltrami direction, as heard gloriously in "Ben's Drop") and the villain's downward manipulation of the heroes' theme (understandably), as heard prominently in "He's Awake." The themes are engaging enough to function even though they're not spectacular enough to compensate for a plethora of mundane background character and thriller bulk in the middle. Some of the action music is awful, especially by the time Beltrami's trademark synthetics lay ruin to some of the later cues. (Blame could rest on his associate "additional composers," the obligatory scapegoats). The opening prelude, "Baxter," and "End Titles" offer upwards of fifteen minutes of entertaining music due to the residual Glass influences, however. Glass enthusiasts will not find much to be proud of in this score, its workmanlike load formatted in such a way as to facilitate the numerous rearrangements of the film later in production. Even in "Fantastic Four Prelude," some of Glass' rhythmic formations are a tad awkward, especially in the bass drum-aided sections. That cue may actually prove more interesting to Danny Elfman enthusiasts with its music box and bassoon passages. The entirety of the score is interesting in parts but extremely underachieving given its original potential. It goes without saying that nothing from John Ottman's prior music for the franchise survives here, except for the concept's inability to escape from rather mediocre filler music outside of its blatant thematic expressions. It's an adequate but disengaged endeavor.  ***   @Amazon.com: CD or Download

Bias Check:

For Marco Beltrami reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 2.74 (in 27 reviews) and the average viewer rating is 2.79 (in 17,424 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.

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