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| Ottman |
Superman Returns: (John Ottman) In the inevitable
rash of superhero franchise resurrections in the 2000's, even the Man of
Steel wasn't immune from studio unoriginality and profit taking. Perhaps
more frightful is the fact that the original Richard Donner
Superman film of 1978 is so dated that an entire generation of
youth have now grown up without remembering the immense and exuberant
popularity of the classic that spawned so many sequels. The storyline of
director Bryan Singer's 2006 sequel,
Superman Returns, did fit
relatively well into the original franchise's progression, following the
events of Superman's battle with fellow Krypton outcasts led by General
Zod in
Superman II (the destruction of New York has never been so
corny or fun) and the less spectacular
Superman III. It's a time
in the story when Superman attempts to determine if he is indeed the
final survivor of Krypton and allows that journey to let his life on
Earth pass him by. The landscape has changed, with Lois Lane involved
(and with a young child) and Lex Luther out of prison and a legitimate
businessman. The world has seemingly lost its use for Superman, but
thanks to Luther's inability to detach himself from attempts at world
domination,
Superman Returns contains both the personal discovery
and the action pieces that everyone expects. The film was a box office
success, but not enough to justify additional sequels with the same cast
and crew, forcing the concept to be rebooted completely with 2013's
Man of Steel. Regular Singer collaborator John Ottman had the
exciting, frustrating, and dangerous task of avoiding the pitfalls of
Ken Thorne, Alexander Courage, Jay Gruska, and anyone else who had
written music for a
Superman-related film or television series in
the previous few decades. The major pitfall, of course, was the attempt
to emulate the superior, established styles and themes of John Williams'
highly recognizable 1978 score without simply forcing arrangements of
the original music into new scenes. Thorne and Courage did just that,
creating three unoriginal sequel scores that neither intelligently
advanced the musical ideas of the franchise nor reprised the originals
with any sense of progress. For Gruska and others in the television
shows based on the character, Williams' themes were buried despite
occasional attempts to rehash the heroic ambience of his
foundation.
Ottman, however, is a man especially considerate of
cinematic history, and while his superhero scores have usually varied
from only functional to moderately appealing, he is always respectful of
his conceptual environment. Few composers of his era actually make a
concerted effort to research a franchise's musical history whenever yet
another sequel or reinterpretation is made. Some claim to never even
listen to the scores of the predecessors, and thus they produce music
the opposite of what Thorne and Courage accomplished in the
Superman franchise. For
Man of Steel, Hans Zimmer
completely ignored the concept's history and produced what was
considered by leading soundtrack reviewers to be among the worst scores
of that year, not to the franchise. Criticism awaits any composer who
endeavors to walk the fine line that Ottman attempted with
Superman
Returns, with loyalty and originality always seemingly at odds. It
takes a really careful and intellectual understanding of the previous
material to actually pull off a successful balance between the old and
the new, and Ottman managed to produce such an intelligent event for
Superman Returns. His score is everything you hope for in a
sequel from a new composer. Because of Singer and Ottman's early choice
(and an obvious one, they state), to incorporate the existing themes due
to the film's posture as a tribute to the 1978 classic, the 2006 score's
foundation doesn't stray from Williams' mastery, with nearly all of the
original 1978 themes used to varying degrees here. It also drops the
least functional Williams theme and replaces it with a more convincing
one for Luther. Ottman also addresses new challenges experienced by the
character with a fresh "theme of discovery" that assists in rolling the
franchise along in musical development. The base instrumentation is
everything required for the reprises of old themes, while new additions
expand Superman's horizons. If you sit and analyze Ottman's
Superman
Returns from a technical standpoint, it contains few flaws, if any.
How you react to it emotionally becomes the key, and that reaction will
depend on your personal history with the franchise. For Ottman, he
proves his intellectual capacity in this score, something that fans of
his had been waiting for the composer to do for several years since he
quietly introduced himself with several dark and devious scores of
delight in the 1990's. He had once commented that he yearned for the day
when he could write a score primarily in the major key, and in the
redeeming new theme for Superman's self-discovery, he did just that. For
him, a career page was finally turned.
Of most interest to die-hard fans of the franchise will be
Ottman's loyalty to Williams' most heralded presentations of themes,
recording a faithful rendition of the original "Main Titles" that
reintroduces us to the primary march and the "Can You Read My Mind" love
theme. The title march integration into the score is masterful, existing
just often enough to punctuate pertinent victories for the hero without
rambling on and becoming tiresome. Where Ottman really shows off his
research is in the plentiful incorporations of melodic and rhythmic
fragments. Pieces of the march, whether it's the chopping strings below
or the octave-spanning brass above, pop up everywhere throughout
Superman Returns, sometimes in full glory but usually in more
interesting fragmented form. Rearrangements of the title theme are top
notch, from the first life-saving moments of "Rough Flight" to the
triumphant finale burst in "Fly Away." The love theme is a sentimental
favorite from Williams' score, faring better through the decades as the
title march becomes a tad tiresome, though the nature of the distanced
relationship between Lane and Superman doesn't allow Ottman to expand
the theme to the same flourishing levels of romance that Williams could.
Statements of the theme are often subtle and fragmented, only performed
in significance twice (and the theme typically doesn't have a chance to
develop to its conclusion, leaving it hanging, mostly). Ottman's
interpretation of the "Kent Family Theme" is perhaps the most intriguing
on the album, offering a jubilant, choral performance in "Memories" and
merging the idea with the primary new one and the love theme in "I
Wanted You to Know," a fantastic touch of maturity for both the
character and Ottman. Only a few statements of the noble "Krypton Theme"
(another Williams idea that has held up well with time) are to be heard,
one by a whispering woodwind in "How Could You Leave Us?" and then by
defiant brass in the following "Tell Me Everything." Absent from
Ottman's score is Williams' "March of the Villains," a piece that many
agree was far too upbeat for the Luther character in the original film
(despite Gene Hackman's sense of humor) and better representative of the
sidekick, Otis. The awkwardly silly, humorous element was played down by
Singer in the 2006 sequel, so those quirky mannerisms were thankfully
not considered for inclusion here. On the whole, Ottman's infusion of
Williams' ideas is so frequently engrained in the background of this
work that you will find that the mass majority of cues contain at least
one reference and credit to Williams. Despite these efforts, the
significant length of the score means that these reflections never
overstay their welcome.
Ottman's new ideas in
Superman Returns include a
replacement for the villains' theme, interestingly still set to a
strongly rhythmic base, with mechanized strings and woodwinds prancing
above blasts of dissonant brass. The construct is by no means
spectacular, but it is recognizable immediately upon arrival in "Not
Like the Train Set" and is far more convincing in its menace than
Williams' original. As this theme is reprised later in the score, Ottman
throws in a diverse drum array that causes some of the score's primary
action sequences to sound closer to the Danny Elfman and
Spiderman side of the superhero equation. Staggered rhythms,
disjointed octave-hopping, and a hefty bed of timpani in "Bank Job" is a
singular throwback to Jerry Goldsmith's
Capricorn One. The most
important new idea in
Superman Returns is Ottman's introduction
of a "personal theme" for Superman's inner turmoil, an idea that
appropriately descends a note before progressively rising as the
character's confidence grows. It's exactly the kind of uplifting
major-key idea that had eluded Ottman in prior years, and by its
resolute choral statements in "Reprise," it clearly identifies itself as
the heart and soul of the score. Some listeners had criticized Ottman in
the past for writing decent scores that are plagued by poor thematic
concepts and integration, and on the surface, these listeners might
argue that
Superman Returns succeeds because John Williams wrote
the themes and Ottman was able to use his typically strong arranging and
editing skills to make the score soar. But the invention and
interpolation of the "personal theme" directly refutes that notion.
Additionally, the action material in
Superman Returns doesn't
suffer from the anonymity of his work for
Fantastic Four or
X-Men 2. It moves with purpose and direction. There are some
extremely impressive, accessible explosions of rhythmic performances in
this work, often balanced very well by slight dissonance or a layer of
two of effective counterpoint. Even in the frenziest moments of new
battle material, Ottman's use of fragments from Williams' score can be
distinctly noticed. Much of your ability to enjoy each element of
Ottman's score is owed to a fine recording quality. The Hollywood
performers are not on the same level as the London Symphony Orchestra,
and in the opening reprise of the title march, a direct comparison in
ambient force does not favor
Superman Returns. But the
performance is enthusiastic and mixed well; some listeners may not care
for the dry mix (and they can certainly add some reverb on their own to
rectify that if they choose), but it does allow for the intelligence of
Ottman's highly layered score to shine through.
Of particular note in
Superman Returns is
Ottman's use of the choir. In previous scores, his best use of voice had
often involved solo, synthetic, or unconventional performances, with
usage such as
Apt Pupil retaining far more memorability than the
rather mundane employment of choir in his more recent superhero scores.
His incorporation of the two singing groups in
Superman Returns
ranges from the majestic (the opening of "So Long Superman" is a
highlight in Ottman's career) to the higher-ranging, innocently magical
style of Elfman's early fantasy scores in the reflective "How Could You
Leave Us?" and "Reprise." Ottman even gives you the opportunity to hear
short snippets of Williams' title theme and march with choral
accompaniment throughout the score as well, a nice treat given the lack
of such identity in the original. Overall, Ottman's intelligence finally
matured fully in this, a project that gave hope that he would gain
greater widespread recognition as a result. Unfortunately, due to the
ultimately lukewarm reception the film received, the project was not a
transcendent career entry for the composer. Still, his handling of this
task, even going so far as inviting Williams to attend a recording
session of the score (which the maestro was unable to do because of
distance), is admirable. He gave Singer and the producers several
options in
Superman Returns, recording additional pieces, some of
which loyal re-recordings of original Williams cues, that were
ultimately rejected but showed Ottman's intent for goodwill. Some of
this material eventually arose on DVD releases from the franchise. The
original Rhino/Warner CD product contained a satisfying 55 minutes of
musical material, its remaining space reserved for bonus content that
includes trailers and a short "behind the scenes" film about the
recording of the score. Everyone was well aware at the time that there
existed significant additional material begging for an expanded release,
however, and in 2013, La-La Land Records pressed over two hours of that
material onto a limited 2-CD set. This product is very impressive in its
revealing of additional depth to Ottman's composition, the expansion's
listening experience only held back by a few ambient cues of
disinterest. The commercial album may have provided casual listeners
with the best tonal highlights of the score, but the 2013 set is
remarkable in its illumination of additional noteworthy moments of
grandeur and heart. The product gives you even greater appreciation for
the across-the-board quality that Ottman placed into this work, effort
all the more impressive considering his role as editor on the film as
well. In the end,
Superman Returns was a great artistic success
for Ottman, and it continues to serve as a fine example of how to
intelligently and successfully score a sequel or remake.
***** @Amazon.com: CD or
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| Bias Check: |
For John Ottman reviews at Filmtracks, the average editorial rating is 3.17
(in 35 reviews)
and the average viewer rating is 3.05
(in 21,438 votes). The maximum rating is 5 stars.
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The insert of the 2006 Rhino album includes a note from Ottman about the score and film.
That product is an enhanced CD with trailers and footage from the recording session for the title
theme. The 2013 La-La Land album's insert contains notation about both the score and film as well.
