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| Elfman |
Justice League: (Danny Elfman) After nurturing its
rebooted properties throughout the early 2010's, the DC Comics cinematic
universe was finally prepared to follow its Marvel sibling into the
ensemble cast realm by throwing a bevy of its established characters
into one flick. In the case of 2017's
Justice League, however,
several new characters are introduced in the film, causing justified
complaints about the lack of development for each in the rather thin
plot. The story revolves around Batman and Wayne Manor as the glue that
holds the fledgling group together as they attempt to resurrect
Superman. Primary billing goes to Batman and Wonder Woman as they lead
the "Justice League" against famed DC super-villain Steppenwolf, who
intends to collect a number of "Mother Boxes" with which he can rule the
Earth. The story of
Justice League is an absolute mess, in part
because too many DC elements were explored all at once for one script,
and in part because of significant post-production changes that required
extensive rewrites and reshoots. Director Zack Snyder, sidelined late in
the process by a family tragedy, turned the production over to writer
and genre veteran Joss Whedon, who in turn took over as director during
the final stages of production. While the movie still grossed well
enough at the box office, it was received poorly by critics and failed
to match the prior DC films of the era in returns. Depending on your
perspective, however,
Justice League is an opportunity to correct
a disturbing trend towards sound design in the soundtracks of its
movies, a decision guided by Snyder and composer Hans Zimmer since
Man of Steel for the former and
Batman Begins for the
latter. While the Marvel films have preferred more dynamic, traditional
orchestral scores built upon heroic leitmotifs, the DC alternatives have
supplied Zimmer and his crew of associates' preferred style of morbid
brooding consistently until Rupert Gregson-Williams'
Wonder Woman
earlier in 2017. With Zimmer claiming to bow out of superhero scores
after
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Tom Holkenborg ("Junkie
XL") was set to reunite with Snyder to provide the music for
Justice
League. With Whedon taking the helm, however, the composer of choice
was switched to superhero music guru Danny Elfman, whose hiring caused a
polarizing stir amongst concept fans.
For enthusiasts of the Zimmer and Holkenborg approach to
bass-dwelling force of simplicity and darkness for the DC universe, the
hiring of Elfman for
Justice League represented a frustratingly
backwards move toward a nostalgia that no longer applies to the tone of
modern superhero films. After all, it was Zimmer who declared Elfman's
classic
Batman score of 1989 to be irrelevant in the newer
generation of more depressingly divisive superhero depictions. There
remains debate about the validity of this claim, though scholars of
music can argue well that the tone and style of any musical identity can
be altered to fit any circumstance. Thus, something as noble as John
Williams' 1978
Superman theme can be shifted in chords and
instrumentation to serve a gloomy purpose quite easily. The same can be
said of Elfman's
Batman theme, which was already rooted in
intelligently conflicted battle between major and minor modes from its
inception, a technique that makes far more sense for the Wayne/Batman
duality than anything Zimmer and his team conjured for the character.
Not surprisingly, after his arrival on
Justice League, Elfman
jovially poked Zimmer in the eye (though the two men are reportedly on
friendly terms) by stating that there has only ever been one true Batman
theme for the big screen, and that his 1989 identity would return in
this score. Not only that, but Williams'
Superman was also to be
adapted, and fandom pandemonium broke loose both in support and against
the decision. Lost in all the commotion is the plain fact that Elfman's
writing chops in this genre remain outstanding regardless of thematic
attributions, his music for the original
Spider-Man gaining in
reputation as reboots of that character continue to fall short of
Elfman's 2002 original and his contributions to 2015's
Avengers: Age
of Ultron highly memorable. Regardless of the themes used, Elfman's
style of writing in
Justice League is simply superb, almost
entirely organic as he appropriately addresses each emotional point of
interest with a keen sense of orchestral and choral potential. Possibly
the most impressive aspect of this score is Elfman's ability to adapt
his writing style, much like Patrick Doyle did in the 2010's, to the
prevailingly pounding, bass-heavy, minor-third rhythm environment made
popular by Zimmer for this universe. Elfman's score is heavy on the bass
region and churns through rhythms mercilessly to ensure that the ballsy
force of the Zimmer sound isn't entirely lost in the comparatively
non-processed rendering.
While many fans concentrate on the thematic references in
Elfman's music for
Justice League, and indeed there are many, the
bigger point of interest is the composer's ability to take the building
blocks of the Wonder Woman theme by Zimmer's crew and combine that with
his own Batman theme to form the primary new identity for this movie. In
fact, the entire score is saturated with the progressions and
instrumental nuances of the original
Batman score, so much so
that you can identify sections of the ensemble performing a reference to
that score someplace in most cues. Some of these are obvious, as at 2:41
into "Anti-Hero's Theme," the snare and brass calls unmistakably
vintage, while others, as in the opening of "Batman on the Roof" owe
much to
Batman Returns without outright credit necessary. The
main theme of the group, summarized in "Hero's Theme," has elicited
comparisons to several other film scores, but the idea is actually just
a few notes separated from Elfman's
Batman theme, even down to
the technique of hanging on an anticipatory high note before teasing a
change in direction. Because four of the five initial notes of the theme
are the same, with the third note moved into the second's position from
the original theme, the composer can interchange the two identities
easily, as he does in the major action cues of the work. At times, he
subtracts the third note of the new hero theme, simply making it the
Batman theme without its second note. It's a bit obvious at times, but
given the character's position at the top of this alliance, the
technique is appropriate. Meanwhile, the Wonder Woman rhythmic motif
from
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and
Wonder Woman,
itself a child of the shameless minor-third rhythm trend, is applied
liberally by Elfman, immediately opening "Hero's Theme" and dominating
the action cues with all the bass string muscularity necessary to
perpetuate trademark Zimmer ambience into this work. Aside from these
constant allusions, you do hear both the actual vintage Batman and
Zimmer Wonder Woman themes in full, the former throughout the score
(most notably in preview mode in "Then There Were Three," closing out
"Anti-Hero's Theme" with suspense, and in fully reprised glory in "The
Final Battle") and the latter best expressed at the end of "Wonder Woman
Rescue" courtesy, according to rumor, female composer and Elfman
arranger Pinar Toprak. While missing the flashy electric guitar of its
prior incarnations, the theme kicks sufficient ass in its strictly
orchestral variation here.
Elfman also teased fans prior to the release of
Justice League regarding the reintroduction of Williams' 1978
Superman theme into the equation, and he proves that it can
indeed be done effectively even with the character lacking the same
shiny sense of goodness. The composer adapts the theme's fanfare into a
troubled minor-key mode for several cues, notably "Friends and Foes" and
"The Final Battle," shifting it to lower brass registers. Less
obviously, Elfman also returns to Zimmer's Krypton theme from
Man of
Steel during the resurrection efforts, but this music was omitted
from the album. Hints of Blake Neely's theme (and not Elfman's own from
1990, interestingly) for television's "The Flash" are conveyed in "The
Tunnel Fight" and "Friends and Foes." Further
Batman v Superman: Dawn
of Justice references seem to stew in "Batman on the Roof" and "The
Amazon Mother Box," though not obviously enough to make a difference
when placed in battle against the sound effects in the final mix. Many
of these allusions and outright restatements, in fact, are lost in the
context of the film, which perhaps should indicate to Elfman that even
more obvious placement was necessary to achieve the desired outcome for
the listener. This is also the case with his new themes for
Justice
League. The hero theme, as previously described, represents the
general DC alliance formed to battle evil, but Elfman intriguingly wrote
a separate theme, as bookending the film in "The Justice League Theme -
Logos" and "A New Hope," for seemingly this particular film. This idea
for the movie is memorable if only for its clear resemblance to Mark
Isham's popular "Army Strong" television commercial theme for the
American armed forces. Other new themes or motifs exist for the
secondary characters, but they are not as well developed as the others.
Of these, the material for Flash is the most engaging, his skittish
treble rhythm on violins heard late in "Spark of the Flash" and in the
middle of "Friends and Foes;" its more consolidated version is featured
at the start of "The Amazon Mother Box." A little humorously, Cyborg is
treated to a rhythm not unfamiliar to
Fifty Shades of Grey in
"Enter Cyborg," faintly reprised in "Cyborg Meets Diana." The Aquaman
material is often punctuated by massive choral accompaniment, and his
theme in "Aquaman in Atlantis" is reprised during a pivotal moment in
"The Tunnel Fight." The villain theme, explored in apocalyptic
proportions in "The Story of Steppenwolf" and "The Amazon Mother Box,"
is set against the Batman theme and Wonder Woman, Flash, and Cyborg
rhythms in "Anti-Hero's Theme," but don't expect this idea to leave an
imprint.
One could argue that the greatest weakness of Elfman's
overall product for
Justice League is its thematic ambitions. In
his effort to work so many identities into the score, Elfman manages to
really only excel at the mingling of the main hero and classic Batman
themes. With so many ideas flying around and so little time to properly
develop each one, the score really relies upon the overarching style of
writing, Elfman's compositional voice. For many listeners, this asset
alone will be worth the entire experience. The composer's dramatic
fantasy mode has rarely been as overwhelmingly powerful as it is in
several cues in
Justice League, and his long action pieces are a
wonderment to behold. The duo of "The Tunnel Fight" and "The Final
Battle" are incredibly satisfying explosions of Elfman action at its
best. Not only do these cues contain several of the score's most obvious
reprises of the classic themes, but their orchestration is so dense, the
layers of character ideas on top of each other so numerous, that they
achieve incredible bombast without solely relying upon bass-heavy
droning. The second half of "Tunnel Fight" does rotate rather quickly
between the character identities at the forefront, but there's not much
else Elfman could have done in these circumstances. The same applies to
"The Final Battle," the two together at 24 minutes in running time on
their longer album versions. Note that the album offers shorter
alternatives, but you will want the full recordings that are joined in
the bonus section by the cue "Mother Russia," a muscular choral and low
brass moment of victory seemingly perfect to represent Russia's
successful meddling in other countries' democratic elections. Overall,
you have to admire Elfman's attempt to bring the DC movie soundtrack
style back into the organic realm, even down to the occasional balalaika
interjection for ethnic location. His use of acoustic guitar and piano
for sentimental moments like "Home" offers genuine emotional range
within the concept. There will be a few listeners who take umbrage with
similarities between the phrasing of the composer's main theme here and
that of Alan Silvestri and his own
Avengers: Age of Ultron theme,
perhaps drawing unnecessary connections to the Marvel Cinematic Universe
and DC. While there are certainly several winks and nods throughout this
score, it's tough to believe that this similarity is anything more than
Elfman's attempt to adapt his Batman-like mannerisms into a broader
superhero theme, all of which seem to contain a similarly descending
payoff phrase in their progressions. Despite lingering misgivings some
fans will have about the classic themes reprised in this context, Elfman
succeeds about as well as he can in this ambitiously rousing merging of
new and old.
**** @Amazon.com: CD or
Download
| Bias Check: |
For Danny Elfman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.16
(in 86 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.27
(in 148,807 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert includes extensive photography from the recording sessions but
no extra information about the score or film.
