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In the inevitable rash of
superhero franchise resurrections, even the Man of Steel isn't immune from
studio unoriginality and profit taking. Perhaps more frightful is the fact
that the original Superman
film will soon be 30 years old, with an entire generation of youths growing
up without remembering the immense and exuberant popularity that spawned so
many sequels. The storyline of director Bryan Singer's 2006
Superman Returns does fit
relatively well into the original franchise's progression, following
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 world domination attempts,
Superman Returns contains both
the personal discovery and the action pieces that everyone expects. 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 has written music for a
Superman-related film or
television series. The major pitfall, of course, is the attempt to emulate
the superior, established styles and themes of John Williams' highly
recognizable 1978 score without simply forcing arrangements of the original
score 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 attempts to rehash the
heroicism of his work.
John Ottman, however, is a smart cookie, and while his superhero scores thus
far had varied from only function to moderately good, he is always
respectful of his composing environment. Few composers today 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 produce scores the opposite of
what Thorne and Courage accomplished in the
Superman franchise. Criticism
awaits any composer who attempts to walk the fine line that Ottman has
attempted here, 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 old and new, and
John Ottman has produced such an event for
Superman Returns. Ottman's score
is everything you hope for a "sequel from a new composer." Its 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
theme from '78 and replaces it with a more convincing one in its place.
Ottman also addresses new challenges of the character with a fresh "theme of
discovery" that assists in rolling the franchise along in musical
development. 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 have 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 has done just that. His career page has 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 theme and rhythm fragments. Pieces of the march, whether
it's the chopping strings below or the octave-flying 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 mature 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 theme 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 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 represented the sidekick Otis.
Ottman's new ideas 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 a shade on the Danny Elfman/Spiderman
side. 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 lowers a note before progressively rising as the
character's confidence grows. It's exactly the kind of uplifting major-key
idea that has eluded Ottman all these years, and by its resolute choral
statements in "Reprise," it clearly identifies itself as the heart and soul
of the score. Some listeners have 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
harmonic 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 size 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 has 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.
Overall, Ottman's intelligence has finally matured in a project that will
hopefully gain him significant, widespread recognition. His handling of this
project, even going so far as inviting Williams to attend a recording
session of the score (which he 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
and may even be used in extended versions of the film on DVD someday.
The CD product contains a satisfying 55 minutes of material, though there is
additional recorded material, as mentioned, that might make for a better
expanded release someday. That space on the commercial CD, however, is
reserved for bonus content that includes trailers and a short "behind the
scenes" film about the recording of the score.
Superman Returns is a success for
Ottman in every regard, and should serve as a fine example of how to
intelligently and successfully score a sequel or remake. |
