 |
| Elfman |
Spider-Man: (Danny Elfman) Long overdue on the big
screen, the famed Marvel comic character of Spider-Man spun a web in
2002 that led to a successful franchise over subsequent years. Sam
Raimi's interpretation of the concept was highly likable, taking
advantage of the best elements of the superhero formula to not only
introduce the origins of the character in
Spider-Man but also
establish his love interest and an immediate, fantastic villain in a
style both effectively dramatic and spirited. The film, altered in the
aftermath of the September 11th attacks for the purpose of removing the
World Trade Center from various special effects shots, was an immediate
success on screen, rivaling even the concurrent
Star Wars: Attack of
the Clones in its longevity and popularity in theatres. Despite
multiple reboots on the big screen, this generation of the character
remains a sentimental favorite. As soon as Raimi's
Spider-Man was
announced as an official production, film score fans predictably rallied
behind the singular idea that composer Danny Elfman was the only
acceptable choice to provide the musical score. While the composer's
knack for writing engaging superhero scores was their primary reason for
this belief, Elfman's already established relationship with Raimi was
more likely the clinching part of the deal. Nevertheless, anticipation
for Elfman's take on
Spider-Man was palpable throughout the first
half of 2002. The contemporary classic status that had been awarded by
both critics and mainstream fans to Elfman's 1989 music for Tim Burton's
Batman gave him a reputation as being a natural for dual-identity
superhero films. Though the genre may be the same,
Spider-Man has
less of the gothic fantasy element than
Batman and therefore
includes a technologically modern, less grandiose approach in its tone.
Instead of producing a magnificently black and white score, as
Batman is, Elfman's
Spider-Man is a colorful work with
streaking flashes of acoustics, electronics, and choir.
The composer intentionally sought a completely different
sonic personality for the
Spider-Man franchise, hesitant to
revisit any of the defining elements of the
Batman scores. A
straight comparison between the scores for these two concepts, however
tempting, remains a mistake, because no matter how popular
Spider-Man seemed at the time, its impact on the movie business,
both in film and score, was never very likely to challenge that of
Batman. Additionally, Elfman was at a different point in his
career in 2002. In 1989,
Batman was for him the opportunity of a
lifetime, and he scored it with the overwhelming and yet simple bravado
that you'd expect to hear from a young composer striving to reach new
territory. More than ten years later, Elfman's scores had returned to
the more acoustically inclined nature that was an integral part of his
years prior to film scoring. His stylistic niche in Hollywood at the
time was best summed up by his score for
Men in Black, for which
quirkiness was a goal achieved with a remarkably nontraditional
combination of orchestra and electronics. After several years of
favoring this electronically-aided tone as the emphasis of his works,
Elfman had shown in
Sleepy Hollow and
Planet of the Apes
an urge to return to his gloriously dark orchestral tendencies, and,
perhaps more than any other of his large-scale scores early in the
2000's,
Spider-Man is a perfect combination of both elements. It
is an orchestral work with acoustic and electronic accents that appeal
to a younger and more urban fantasy audience, yielding an awkwardly
successful melding of
Darkman's agony and
Men in Black's
spunk. The film didn't take itself as seriously as
Batman had,
and thus, Elfman's score for
Spider-Man is more spirited and
somewhat less memorable in its earthly level. If you accept, therefore,
that
Spider-Man never was and never will be
Batman, either
on the screen or your stereo, then you can really enjoy the music for
what it is, rather than dismissing it for what it is not, as an older
generation of film score collectors may be inclined to do.
While the score may not have an overwhelming, immediate
impact on the listener,
Spider-Man shows more than a few
glimpses of Elfman at his best, scoring a dark character with two
identities and providing a musical magic carpet on which to sustain his
flight while he saves a city. The unsentimental, propulsive, and
skittish main theme tears into a series of dramatic chord changes; it's
not a particularly hummable theme, nor is it as effective in its lighter
interpretations. But while Elfman's chord progressions lack easy
fluidity, they are nevertheless appealing in a heroic sense, and
Spider-Man makes repeated use of this thematic approach in nearly
every action cue of elevated volume. The most interesting aspect of this
theme is its merging of multiple parts. You have the noble five-note
motif at its start, on whining strings to open both this and
Spider-Man 2 and on solemn solo horn before the conclusive
statement of the theme during the finale in "Farewell." The actual
primary melody is a pair of two six-note phrases heard first at 0:40 in
"Main Title," and this idea, often staggered and fragmented throughout
the score, takes a while to make a really strong impression because of
its slow development. At 1:32 into that opening cue, Elfman introduces
the third portion of the theme, the octave-descending motif of pure
fantasy that is also singularly employed in the remainder of the score.
Finally, the fourth part of the theme exists at 2:50 into "Main Title,"
and this is perhaps the most satisfying part of the thematic tapestry
for
Spider-Man, extending out of the composer's distinct material
for Peter Parker and his family. When bloated for the full ensemble,
this motif finds itself representing the coolness of the character's
abilities, highlighting the hip, drum-laden performances at the start of
"City Montage" and the end of "Farewell." Elfman's actual main phrase
for the separate Peter Parker responsibility theme, added late in the
score's creation by the composer, is born from the character's
relationship with Uncle Ben, hinting in the final passages of "Main
Titles" and developed in "A New Man" and elsewhere before maturing in
"Farewell" and the sequel score. Sometimes intertwined with this idea is
a nascent but underdeveloped MJ love theme in "Backyard Connection,"
"Hint," "Getting Through," and "Farewell."
Though the various facets of Elfman's main theme and
Parker's responsibility theme begin to blend more and more as the
Spider-Man scores progress, he devises the most unique identity
for Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin. While Willem Dafoe's performance
of the character steals the film, Elfman's sinewy, 16-note theme for the
villain is distinctive but impossible to remember structurally. Its
truly oddball progressions are fairly adept at denoting insanity, but
that elusiveness causes its related material to yield the disappointing
moments in the work, especially by comparison to the wild, Christopher
Young-related material representing the villain in the sequel. Making
its first impact in "Something's Different," this theme is formally
announced with bravado in "Enter the Goblin" but is given extended
treatment on deep, sinister tones (often woodwinds) in "Specter of the
Goblin," "Norman's Troubles," and other low-key, menacing cues. Like
much of the score, the trick to the thematic integrity of this idea is
not in the blatant recapitulation in wholesale form but rather in the
subtleties of its standard instrumentation. The Green Goblin theme may
be appropriately clever in its twisted progressions, but it espouses
absolutely zero memorability outside of its evil inflection. Generally,
for casual listeners, the lack of easy continuity to the themes could
prove disappointing. Pieces of thematic material, such as the heroic
crescendo in "Revelation," are singular, though variations of these
ideas show up as fragments in not only this score but Elfman's portions
of
Spider-Man 2 as well. This especially applies to MJ's almost
intentionally obtuse musical identity, a concept that doesn't really
take flight until the later score. Elfman instead seems content using
this first entry to emphasize the maturation of the Parker
responsibility theme, and he even sometimes applies the descending motif
from the main theme during the Parker/MJ interactions, almost as if to
unsuccessfully trial the use of the heroic identity in softer variants.
One of the intriguing aspects of the thematic statements in this score's
lighter moments is how similar parts of the themes for
Spider-Man
are to that of Elfman's
The Family Man when reduced to soft
woodwind performances. There is a definite tie between that 2000 score
and what you hear in "Getting Through" in
Spider-Man, for
instance.
When you pull back and look at the music for
Spider-Man from a broader viewpoint, it indeed has all the basic
ingredients of a strong superhero score even if Elfman reinvented the
formula to include less grandiose and obvious constructs. It includes a
collection of his finest action cues in the genre, adding a congruence
of thematic accessibility and bold instrumentation not heard in early
2000's efforts like
Planet of the Apes. He replaced the
dissonance of those works with satisfying resolutions such as the ending
of "Parade Attack," which wraps up a climactic scene with a burst of
choral and orchestral energy in the decidedly dramatic shifts of
progressions that are trademark Elfman. The score has several such
defining moments, including the touching equivalent to close out "Final
Confrontation," making it a varied and often exciting experience on
album. The sense of momentum in the Parker responsibility theme at the
start of "City Montage" and the end of "Farewell" is extremely
effective. Another key to the success of
Spider-Man is its
instrumental balance, which unsurprisingly includes medium drums,
electric guitars, and even a vinyl-record manipulation effect, but these
merge with the banging of chimes and gongs, among other familiar Elfman
superhero elements, to help produce a satisfying identity for the
character. No better an example of Elfman's unique touch of attitude
exists than in "Costume Montage," the short but definite highlight for
the main theme in the score. The creation of the character's costume has
Men in Black percussion and acoustic ambience accompanied by a
suave interpretation of the main theme that builds in brass and choir as
the superhero devises his visual persona. If only Parker had more
confidence, then perhaps this kind of snazzy treatment could have
dominated the score. Instead, that obsession with his own inadequacy
yields the cues of melancholy reflection that serve to break the
constant action of the work, not to mention the stewing Goblin material.
Another singular moment worth mentioning is the woodwind and piano work
in "First Web," with a fluttering figure that once again allows Elfman
to score a freak's abilities with pizzazz, a la
Edward
Scissorhands. Much of this instrumental creativity exists in the
first third of the score as suspense factors into the narrative,
contributing to "Spider Bite/Deadlines" and "Transformations."
The overarching format of the score is one that will
please most listeners. Not only is there an overture that is mostly
carried over to
Spider-Man 2 (with a bridge section changed to
reflect back upon a faint hint of the Goblin material), but the common
finale sequences are also a guilty pleasure. Elfman has a knack for
producing satisfyingly grandiose finale cues, a trait that shows itself
in everything from
Batman to
Men in Black, and that habit
continues in
Spider-Man, complete with the usual toll of a chime
at the end. The only annoyingly baffling weakness in this score is the
obnoxious layering of percussion in the short "End Credits," especially
at its beginning. The original 2002 album, while limited to 45 minutes
in length, provides a cross-section of vital music from the film,
unhindered by a single song to interrupt Elfman's work. That said, the
song compilation soundtrack album that also debuted with the film's
release included the longer, film variations of "Main Titles" and
"Farewell." The score contains a fair number of alternate versions, and
several of them inhabit the 2002 score-only album. In 2022, La-La Land
Records provided an immense, 3-CD set of music from
Spider-Man,
including the music heard on the two original albums on its first disc
and the film versions of the full score on the second and third disc.
That final CD also includes eleven alternate takes, sometimes featuring
changes to only the start or end of a cue. A few alternates are totally
divergent, the newly revealed "Costume Montage" variation substantially
different and far less snazzy than the one built upon the main theme in
the picture. Otherwise, the presentation of the film versions helps
illuminate the evolution of the Parker responsibility theme and offers a
few extra nuggets of intrigue for the other two primary themes. The
struggling intersection between the various protagonist themes in "A New
Man" and "Backyard Connection" is particularly appealing, the first
twenty minutes of the score really benefitting from the additional
narrative perspective. In the end, though, the originally released music
in 2002 included all the most pertinent material, and only concept
enthusiasts will find substantial interest in the 78 minutes of film
versions and wealth of alternates. It's a superhero score of many
strengths, and while
Spider-Man may not have the magnificent
stature of
Batman, it spun the genre in an impressive and viable
new direction, yielding messy but effective sequel scores in the
process.
**** @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.
|
The insert of the 2002 Columbia/Sony album includes no extra information
about the score or film. That of the 2022 La-La Land set contains extensive
notation about both.
