Overview of 2014 Scores Part 1 of 3

I know I’ve been mighty quiet on this blog the past year. I would like to say that I’ve gotten a lot busier—in fact, I have gotten busier. Nevertheless, I admit that I have been devoting my diminishing free time to pursuits other than writing. In any case, the time has come for me to slavishly follow the lead of the more prestigious film score review sites by compiling a list of the best scores of 2014. As in last year’s post, this will be more of a “year in review” post, covering all the new scores I heard in the last year.

I thought that 2014 was a better year for mainstream American film music than 2013. For example, Mark Mancina’s thrilling score for Planes managed to place 4^th in last year’s list. This year’s score for Planes: Fire and Rescue, while comparable in quality to the first (and maybe even a little better), placed 11^th this year. (I listened to 27 new scores in both 2013 and 2014). While Danny Elfman and Michael Giacchino didn’t get a whole lot of work this year, Alexandre Desplat did—and all five of his scores that I listened to evinced quality writing. I’ve always thought Desplat was a pretty good composer, but he’s starting to become a personal favorite now. Former collaborators Harry Gregson-Williams and John Powell returned to film scoring after taking 2013 off; Powell’s comeback ended up being more glorious, though to be fair, he had a better canvas to work on. And surprise—Hans Zimmer, who seems to have taken leave of his talent since 1999 (with one or two exceptions), wrote one score that didn’t suck and another that was within a smidgen of being masterful.

Some notes on scores I heard in the film but not on the soundtrack: The Raid 2 (Fajar Yuskemal, Aria Prayogi, Joseph Trapanese) took a electronics-heavy approach similar to that Trapanese and Mike Shinoda used for The Raid: Redemption, though with more “ethnic” (presumably Indonesian) flavoring—but not anything terribly distinctive. Muppets: Most Wanted featured some charming songs by Bret McKenzie, but Christophe Beck’s score made no impression on me. Beck’s score to the entertaining Edge of Tomorrow (starring Mr. Scientology and Emily Blunt) consisted of themeless, stock action music that did nothing to distinguish itself from the music of countless boring action scores by Ramin Djawadi, Steve Jablonsky, Tyler Bates, and the like. God’s Not Dead had a score by one Will Musser, but I’m afraid the only music I remember from that film is the eponymous song by The Newsboys. Rupert Gregson-Williams (Harry’s brother) wrote some African-flavored music for the Blended (in which Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore meet cute for the third—or is it the 53^rd? --time) as well as some easy-on-the-ears romantic tunes, but nothing I felt like paying to hear on a soundtrack. Another Zimmer apprentice, Heitor Pereira, wrote music for If I Stay (starring Chloe Grace Moretz, playing a character who, in a dramatic change for the talented actress, is a normal human being). The music must have been pleasant enough, but again, I don’t recall any of it. Finally, David Fincher’s superbly directed Gone Girl received an underwhelming score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (par for the course for the pair as far as I’m concerned). As you can see, these scores ranged from unmemorable to downright insipid; I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by not having them on album.

Part 1 will cover 27-21 (plus some special mentions), Part 2 will consist of 20-11, and Part 3 will comprise 10-1:

Special Mention: String Quartet #1/Early Chamber Works, Othello Ballet Suite (Elliot Goldenthal)

Sadly, Goldenthal doesn’t seem to be in demand for film work, but his record label, Zarathustra Records, did release a stellar pair of albums in 2014. The former CD exhibits Goldenthal’s considerable abilities and assured voice even at such a young age; the brass quintet in particular is especially wild while still manifesting compositional maturity. The Othello suite would rate in my top 10 if it were a 2014 film score; the slightly unhinged yet exhilarating “Tarantella” and alternately radiant and musically eclectic “Adagio” are particular highlights.

Special Mention: Into the Woods (Stephen Sondheim)*

Sondheim’s masterful, witty, twisted musical has been around for a while, but this Broadway show, one of the earliest (and best) fairy-tale mash-ups, finally made it to the big screen. Sondheim’s songs are, of course, magnificent in their sophistication and specificity to theme and character; from the classical sound of Rapunzel’s air (threaded throughout the score and forming the spine of “Stay with Me”) and the soaring excitement of “Giants in the Sky” to the melodramatic strains of “Agony” and the sincere emotion of “Witch’s Lament” and “No One Is Alone,” Sondheim’s craft is impeccable. The film actors do well pretty well with the singing, but the real attraction of the film soundtrack is the grand orchestrations of Sondheim’s melodies, both in the song backings and the score tracks. Cinderella’s theme and Rapunzel’s theme (the latter of which becomes more of a general theme as the film goes on) receive some especially lush treatments in “Cinderella at the Grave,” “The Forbidden Tower,” “Ever After,” and “The Far Away Prince.” I still prefer the singing of the Broadway actors (and Sweeney Todd remains my favorite Sondheim musical), but the instrumental arrangements in this film version make the soundtrack a must-buy for fans of the show—and good musicals in general.

27. X-Men: Days of Future Past (John Ottman)

X-Men: DOFP provided Ottman a golden opportunity, as he became the first composer to score more than one X-Men film. Unfortunately, he squandered that opportunity (though it may be director Bryan Singer’s fault), providing a dull, lifeless score that quotes his theme from X2 only once outside of the opening and closing credits. X2 used to be my least favorite X-Men score, but its orchestral mush sadly proves far superior to the prosaic, unpleasant electronics and simplistic ostinatos of DOFP.

26. The Equalizer (Harry Gregson-Williams)

Other reviewers have said this more eloquently than I, but The Equalizer sounds just how you’d expect a Denzel Washington/Tony Scott action thriller to sound (though Antoine Fuqua directed this film). Gregson-Williams knows how to create propulsive action music without sounding obnoxious; brash, thrashing electric guitars take no prisoners in the concluding cue “The Equalizer” and a touching motif plays to Washington’s relationship with Chloe Moretz’s character. But the score doesn’t feature anything Gregson-Williams hasn’t done better before in Spy Game and Man on Fire.

25. Guardians of the Galaxy (Tyler Bates)

If I were writing about the use of the songs in the film, then Guardians of the Galaxy would rate much higher on this list. However, I’m focusing on the score here, and Tyler Bates’s effort, while containing an adventurous main theme and a stirring anthem for the Nova Corps, fails to impress whenever those themes aren’t playing.  And, sadly, the themes don’t really play as often as I would have liked. The action music in particular consists of monotonous, simplistic string chopping that bores after about three seconds. As about half of the hour-long CD consists of action music, you can imagine how tedious it gets. Again, the songs are what provide the real musical interest in this superbly entertaining movie.

24. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Henry Jackman)

Jackman eschewed Alan Silvestri’s Captain America theme in his score, and his own simpler theme for the character pales in comparison. Yet Jackman’s orchestrations of the theme in “Taking a Stand” and in the even better cue (unreleased on CD) that plays under the closing few minutes of the end credits are quite stirring. The electronic screaming effect for The Winter Soldier, while unpleasant by design, serves as a distinctive accompaniment to Steve Rogers’s twisted, broken “antagonist.” And—I know this is blasphemy—I I like it more than the Joker’s music in The Dark Knight. While not a great score, the more consistent action material puts it a step above the score to Guardians of the Galaxy.

23. The Lego Movie (Mark Mothersbaugh)

This score sounds a lot better in the film than it does on CD; the film dials out the more obnoxious electronic noises (listen to the first few seconds of the opening cue, “Prologue,” and compare it to the opening logos in the film, for example). “Emmet’s Morning” is the catchiest cue, the electronics matching the energy of the music without overwhelming everything else. Serving as the antidote to the all the wild electronica, “My Secret Weapon” contains unexpectedly emotional writing for the orchestra. Emmet does have a main theme that Mothersbaugh molds into different guises, while Wildstyle gets a motif that sounds a bit like “Waltz of the Flowers” from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker. But the real gem is the deliberately vacuous song “Everything is Awesome!!!” written by Shawn Patterson and produced by Mothersbaugh.

22. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (Hans Zimmer)

I wasn’t the biggest fan of James Horner’s score the first “Amazing” Spider-Man, yet I was baffled and disappointed to learn that Hans Zimmer would be handling the sequel. Yet despite the score’s six co-composers and five co-co-composers, it still features some reasonably entertaining music. Electro’s emo-poetry theme comes across as self-indulgent, and Spidey’s theme itself doesn’t rise beyond its Aaron Copland influence. Yet Zimmer and Company’s varied instrumentation (from woodwinds to high brass to light dubstep) provides a mélange of musical interest, while the action cues (“Still Crazy,” “I’m Goblin,“ and “Cold War”—that’s right, those are pretty much the only action cues on the album) eschew the tedious low string ostinatos Zimmer’s been so fond of for the last decade. Most of the “down-time” music is rather dull, and overall, this is the least of the Spider-Man movie scores. However, it is still by far the best superhero score Zimmer has done to date (though that’s not saying much).

21. The Expendables 3 (Brian Tyler)

I’m sure differences exist among Brain Tyler’s scores for the three Expendables films, but they all kind of just run together. (If I’m remembering correctly, only the first uses a choir). The main theme for these films consists of several simple, catchy cells that Tyler sprinkles throughout the scores, embellishing them with complicated writing for brass and strings. There’s a whole lot of action, but fortunately, Tyler writes some of the most thrilling action music today. “Valet Parking Done Right” and the explosive “Armored Freaking Transport” exhibit Tyler’s considerable skill at creating complex yet clear music. Ultimately, there’s not much more to say about this score—it’s big, loud, and exciting, but not quite distinctive enough to count as one of Tyler’s best.

Overview of 2013 Scores Part 2 of 3

20. After Earth (James Newton Howard)

Howard can usually be counted on to write superb scores for the films of M. Night Shyamalan, but for the first time, we have to settle with a merely OK one. The middle of the score is undoubtedly the weakest, filled with mostly uninteresting atmospheres. But the beginning and especially the last three cues (“Ghosting,” “I Wanna Work With Mom,” and “After Earth”) hint at the kind of music that made me fall in love with JNH’s scores 14 years ago. No one can do mystic grandeur quite like Howard can, but there are only traces of that beauty in this score.

19. Rush (Hans Zimmer)

After writing an underwhelming score for Man of Steel, Zimmer partially redeemed himself with his score for Ron Howard’s Rush. The score harks back to his “glory decade” of 1988-1998, with effective, memorable themes, propulsive action music, and moments of haunting simplicity. It starts out with entertaining, rock-based cues before moving on to the more serious action and intense emotion of cues such as “Nürburgring,” “Lost But Won,” and “My Best Enemy.” Though it doesn’t quite reach the heights of Zimmer’s best, it’s still his best score since Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End.

18. Monsters University (Randy Newman)

Newman’s score for Pixar’s first prequel is almost completely different from his score for Monsters, Inc. Eschewing the jazz angle he employed for the first film, Newman writes a noble tune for the university, new themes for Mike and Sulley, and marching band music, complete with drum corps. I happen to love the sound of marching band drums, and the upbeat cue “Rise and Shine” uses them to brilliant, rip-roaring effect (despite the end of the melody resembling John Williams’s theme for 1941). The score lacks the emotion of the original (namely Boo’s theme) and the action music is a little haphazard, but it definitely has its highlights.

17. Frozen (Christophe Beck, songs by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez)

This was my first time hearing a feature score from Christophe Beck (I had only heard Paperman previously), and his score for this remarkable Disney film is solid, yet I can’t say there are any particular highlights. What brings it up are the songs—especially “For the First Time in Forever” and “Let It Go” (the Idina Menzel version), with “Love is An Open Door” and the melody for “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” not far behind. Though not on par with the best of Alan Menken, they are still surprisingly potent. My favorite track, though, is “Vuelie,” a choral track using the melody by Forde Fjellheim; its use under the film’s opening logos and title seems to herald a magical event.

16. Jack the Giant Slayer (John Ottman)

Ottman has never been one of my favorite composers, but this score proves he’s come a long way from the bland noodlings of X2. Ottman writes a commendably adventurous theme, though it still suffers a bit from his characteristic nebulosity. His action music is fine and frenzied, though somewhat diminished by references to other composers’ music. “Logo Mania,” underscoring what I presume is the logos, is my favorite cue of the score (much like the logo music for Frozen, Charlotte’s Web, A Beautiful Mind, and Kick-Ass 2).

15. Turbo (Henry Jackman)

Creating a score that merges full-bodied orchestral optimism with techno and dubstep beats may seem like a disaster from the pen of any film composer not named Elliot Goldenthal. Yet the versatile Henry Jackman manages to create a highly entertaining score that doesn’t skimp on either the orchestra or the electronics. The sheer delight and enthusiasm of the orchestral themes in cues like “And It Looks Like the Winner Is” combine with the high-octane beats of tracks such as “Indy 500” and “Supersnail.” “Turbo,” the final track, features a confluence of the two qualities in a score that is brought down only by its slight themes. It’s no Wreck-It Ralph, but it’s still impressive. Turbo-tastic!

14. The Croods (Alan Silvestri)

Alan Silvestri has three great themes in this colorful score: the Croods family theme, the cave painting theme, and a theme based on the film’s song “Shine Your Way” (though the attribution of these themes in the film itself is somewhat arbitrary). The song features a bridge that matches the structure and shape of the cave painting theme; both are laden with the poignancy that Silvestri habitually delivers in scores such as Forrest Gump, Contact, Stuart Little, and The Abyss. The family theme is more malleable, often molded into a more lighthearted guise and featuring an opening horn statement drawn right out of Back to the Future III. The major weakness of the score is that, until the third act, Silvestri barely uses any of these themes, opting for the cartoony, stop-and-go type of music that Randy Newman, the old scoundrel, is so inveterately fond of.

13. Star Trek Into Darkness (Michael Giacchino)

Giacchino’s score reflects the wall-to-wall action in the film and, to be truthful, the composer has written better action music. But he has set such a high standard for himself that one can forgive him for writing something less than sublime. His anthemic main theme is fully established now, and he pushes Spock’s yearning theme into darker corners. The Klingons are treated to vigorous choral blasts in “The Kronos Wartet” while John Harrison (one need only read the back of the Blu-ray or DVD to find out his true identity) gets a slithering, percolating winner of a theme.  Unfortunately, the complete “Ode to Harrison” track is not available on the CD. Instead, we get a hideous track called “The Growl” (thankfully not composed by Giacchino) that is a disgrace to electronic music. “Warp Core Values” and “Buying the Space Farm” provide ample doses of pathos, and the frantic “San Fran Hustle” includes the rather infamous fight music from the original TV series composed by Gerald Fried. There are no chances in the film for wonder and awe, which is a shame as I know Giacchino could write grand cues for such moments. But as it is, he delivers a great action score.

12. Now You See Me (Brian Tyler)

Let’s get this score’s weakness out of the way: it’s incredibly repetitive. Yet the prolific Tyler composes an invigorating, stylish main theme that’s more magical than the rather flat movie it accompanies. Churning low strings, a catchy ostinato in higher strings, economic use of electric guitar, a mystically yearning melody, and top-notch drum-kit work performed by Tyler himself combine to create an irresistible theme. Some of the action tracks, like “Battle of the Cards” and “Bridge Pursuit,” do feature more varied work, highlighting more of the composer’s impressive percussion writing and performance. If you don’t like the main theme, you won’t like the score. But I did. (Sorry, no pithy comment).

11. Epic (Danny Elfman)

The opening track, “Leafmen,” recalls some of Elfman’s more sprightly work on Charlotte’s Web and Black Beauty. An acoustic guitar backs a patented Elfman jig before introducing the main theme. The strengths of this score are the beautiful, ethereal moments found in cues like “Tara’s Chamber,” “Tara’s Gift,” and “False Start” as well as the thrilling action of “Pursuit,” “Escape,” and “Epic Final Confrontation.” Elfman uses choir better than probably any other Hollywood film composer alive, and choral passages are liberally strewn throughout the score. There’s nothing as striking as Alice in Wonderland or Edward Scissorhands, but there’s still much to feast on. As expected, Elfman puts his theme through the wringer, playing it in various settings to reflect different moods and developments in the story (I assume; I haven’t seen the film and don’t plan to). My appreciation for Elfman continues to grow after every score of his I hear; even if a score isn’t a divine masterpiece, it always has moments of quality.

Ranking the X-Men Film Scores

As far as superhero films go, it has become sadly accepted that there will be no musical continuity between films—it’s become the exception rather than the rule. It’s understandable that reboots like The Incredible Hulk, The Amazing Spider-Man, Man of Steel, and Christopher Nolan’s Batman would have different scores from the originals (though coincidentally, I didn’t really enjoy the scores from any of these films, especially compared to their predecessors.) Iron Man went from Ramin Djawadi to John Debney to Brian Tyler, with the last two being vastly superior scores to the first, so maybe that wasn’t a bad thing. Nolan’s Batman lost James Newton Howard for the last installment, to its detriment. Thor is going from Patrick Doyle to Brian Tyler and Captain America from Alan Silvestri to Henry Jackman. Perhaps most inexplicable of all, The Amazing Spider-Man is ditching James Horner for Hans Zimmer. And if rumor has it, Tyler may be replacing Silvestri for Avengers: Age of Ultron (or it could be puffery; the original Captain America was rumored to be scored by Michael Giacchino or John Powell at one point). These frustrations are another topic, but the X-Men films were ahead of the curve in that all six were scored by different composers. It has taken seven films for a composer to score two X-Men films with John Ottman slated for X-Men: Days of Future Past. 

With the recent release of The Wolverine, I decided to do a personal ranking of the X-Men film scores. I do not have Marco Beltrami’s score to The Wolverine on CD and only heard it in the film, but there would have to be some pretty epic unused material for me to change its ranking on here.

6. X2: X-Men United (John Ottman)

Ottman’s theme is catchy and rousing, even if the rhythm recalls Henry Mancini’s Lifeforce and the melody is a sped-up variation of Danny Elfman’s Batman. But whenever I listen to the score, I find my mind wandering; most of it sounds like orchestral mush. Things happen and melodic fragments drift here and there, but there’s no discernible structure and the melodies are nebulous and unmemorable. There are apparently themes for Magneto, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler,  Mystique,  and Pyro according to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, but I can’t recall any of them. There’s nothing offensive about the music, but even the main theme doesn’t appear much in the body of the score. The “Suite from X2” contains the best statement of the theme, but only the first 90 seconds and last minute are interesting, with five minutes of noodling in between. One moment I do like is the part is near the end of the film when Xavier, using Cerebro, targets every non-mutant on Earth, and there is an effective, creepy use of pipe organ. But other than that, I don’t really enjoy this score that much.

5. The Wolverine (Marco Beltrami)

Again, I don’t have this score on CD, but I did hear it in the film. I didn’t really pick up on a theme (though from what I’ve read from other reviews, there isn’t really one). It definitely supports the film, but nothing really stood out, apart from sparse use of harmonica in some of the early scenes. Music for the quiet/tender scenes is understated, and the action music is very brutal and somewhat complex—sort of a messier, less structured (and less interesting) version of Elfman’s modern action music. It wasn’t really a theme, but I did like the cue that played during the first part of the end credits (before the extra scene); it really stood out from the rest of the score in a good way. Which was probably why it was in the end credits, but that’s another topic.

4. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Harry Gregson-Williams)

This isn’t at the absolute top of HGW’s body of scores. Much of the action cues are ostinato based but, as he often does, HGW makes good use of the choir, with some powerful writing in “The Towers Collapse.” “Agent Zero Comes For Logan” is also a pulse-pounding action cue with electric guitars. “Wade Goes To Work” is the most “modern” sounding cue, with percussive electronics and a backbeat, sort of a toned down version of some of the composer’s Metal Gear Solid material. The best part of the score is a great theme for Logan, introduced in “Logan Through Time,” which plays under the title sequence and is perhaps the best track. HGW’s distinctive choral work melds with the theme, which gets two full plays. It appears again at the beginning of “Adamantium” and gets a charged, final playing in “I’ll Find My Own Way” over ascending string ostinatos. The theme does an admirable job portraying Logan’s stoic loneliness and restrained emotion. There’s also a lovely theme for Kayla Silverfox best heard in “Kayla.” HGW has always been good at these tender themes, heard in the quieter moments of scores like Man on Fire, Spy Game, Veronica Guerin, and the first two Narnia films. Unfortunately, the score also contains a fair amount of droning, filler material. Nevertheless, the themes and action are worth listening to.

3. X-Men (Michael K-Men)

I don’t know the full story behind this score, but I do know that director Bryan Singer only chose Kamen because his regular composer (and editor) John Ottman wasn’t available. I also know that Klaus Badelt overlaid a lot of electronic material over Kamen’s score. I won’t use the term “electronic junk” because some of it actually works fine, particularly in the first part of the end credits and “X-Jet”. Because of these factors, the score probably isn’t quite as good as Kamen was capable of, but it is still a worthy effort. Much of it is low-key, but Kamen does have a very good, simple main theme and an unsettling, slithering motif for Mystique. Kamen fans will definitely recognize his delightful style in “Mutant School,” and a heartfelt theme for oboe in “Logan and Rogue” that he also used for Mr. Holland’s Opus. There’s a yeaning adagio in “Concentration Camp” (reused for the opening of First Class) and exciting action music for the climax of the film. The best statement and expansion of the main theme can be heard during the final scene and first few minutes of the end credits (also heard in abbreviated form in “X-Jet.”) The sparse use of the main theme, subtle nature of many of the cues, and electronic overlays may be a turn-off to some, but there are also undeniable highlights that make one wonder what Kamen would have achieved had he done X2.

2. X-Men: First Class (Henry Jackman)

If you watch the documentary on the Blu-ray, you can see a segment on the score where Jackman explains that his original approach was much more orchestral and full-bodied. Furthermore, the theme for Magneto seems simple because it was originally the bass line for a much more elaborate, James Bond-style theme for the character. Stripped-down as the final score is, it is still highly effective, with a great main theme for the X-Men and a simple, badass theme for Magneto with reams of electrifying action music. Shaw’s motif is similar to Magneto’s, heard in cues like “Sub Lift.” More tender music can be found for Mystique in tracks like “Would You Date Me,” and “To Beast Or Not To Beast.” Magneto’s guitar theme highlights brutal cues such as “Not That Sort Of Bank” and “Frankenstein’s Monster.” Guitar backs the main theme in “X-Training” and the introduction to the New Mutants Division and is given a Russian flavor in the aptly named “Mobilize for Russia.” “Rage and Serenity” features the theme at its emotional height as Erik learns how to harness his power and use it to its fullest extent.

Electronics are also deftly incorporated into the numerous thrilling action cues, from the boat fight and “Rise Up To Rule” to the lengthy final battle. Only half of the music for the final battle (or less) is available on CD, but can be heard on the Blu-ray’s isolated score, including fast-paced, adventurous variations on the main theme, the triumphant “Sub Lift,” dramatic renditions of Magneto’s theme for Shaw’s demise, frantic action for Erik’s final attack, and an adagio of sorts for Charles’s and Erik’s parting of ways. “Magneto” and “First Class” present final, full arrangements of the themes for the end credits. Jackman’s score is always interesting and composed with a sense of class (sorry) made even more impressive by the fact that the building blocks of the score are so simple. I would have loved to hear what he would have done had Vaughn directed Days of Future Past.

1. X-Men: The Last Stand (John Powell)

Powell wrote the best X-Men score for the worst X-Men film, an apocalyptic, raging work filled with relentless action and awesome wonder. It has to be said, before I start the raving, that there are some dull, dead spots in the early part of the score, especially before Xavier’s death. But from then on, it’s pretty much an endless action symphony. Powell wrote four primary themes for the film, each different yet able to exist with each other. The main theme builds off of Ottman’s (which in turn was built off of Kamen’s) and the first phrase bears some resemblance in shape to John Barry’s On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, but not too much. There is a jubilant, soaring theme with two distinct phrases that can be attributed to either Angel or the mutant cure. There is a menacing theme for Magneto often played on brass. And finally there is Phoenix’s theme, a vaguely exotic sounding tune that is accompanied by a women’s choir during its most raging statements. Though much of the score is action, there are effective quieter bits, found in “Angel’s Cure,” “X Funeral,” and “Skating and Rogue Leaves.”

But much of the score, especially in its boisterous latter half, showcases, Powell’s penchant for writing complex, rambunctious, almost out-of-control action music. For instance, witness the flutes 30 seconds before the end of “The Death of X” (there’s similar music in “The Phoenix Arises,” but it’s harder to hear because on top of all that orchestral craziness, there’s a chanting female choir as well.) The 20 minutes from “Building Bridges” to “The Phoenix Arises” is a non-stop maelstrom of orchestral frenzy. About 3-4 minutes or so of this is cut from the CD and in truth a bit of fatigue can set in; there is one phrase based on a shortened version of the main theme that plays just a bit too often in the complete score. But once Phoenix/Jean Grey starts disintegrating everybody, the aforementioned female choir enters and Powell has your full attention again. The album version statement of the title theme (almost identical to the end credit version) uses a rhythm from John Williams’s Superman score, while the more interesting film version draws upon Danny Elfman’s Spider-Man, with its swirling strings along with Powell’s own great use of bass strings and brass. One of the few prominent uses of electronics is the final statement of Phoenix’s theme in the end credits. The score can be slow during the first half and exhausting during the second, but it’s undoubtedly a stellar achievement as yet unmatched in the X-Men cinematic universe.

The Future

John Ottman is set to write the score for X-Men: Days of Future Past. As X2 is my least favorite X-Men score, I’m not too wildly keen on it, but Ottman may surprise me. I will say that superhero scores don’t seem to be Ottman’s forte; his scores for X2, Superman Returns, and the two Fantastic Four films were all underwhelming. On the positive side, I did like his score for Astro Boy, and his work for Jack the Giant Slayer, while not great, proves that Ottman has shown some improvement in the fantasy-adventure genre. I know he probably won’t do this, but I would like him to expand on Jackman’s highly effective Magneto theme from First Class because for the life of me I can’t remember what Ottman himself wrote for the character—and I just finished listening to X2! And I suppose a pleasant surprise from Ottman would be better than a disappointment from Powell or Jackman, but for now, my expectations remain tempered.

See also Ranking the X-Men Films

John Ottman

John Ottman is not only a film composer, but also a film editor for director Bryan Singer. He also directed, edited, and scored the film Urban Legends: Final Cut. As a film composer, Ottman got started with scoring Singer's Public Access and next scored The Usual Suspects, deftly scoring the superb film with expressive melodies, full orchestrations, and dramatic accents. Ottman subsequently scored the Singer films Apt Pupil, X2, Superman Returns, Valkyrie, Jack the Giant Slayer, and X-Men: Days of Future Past. Many Ottman scores are dark and brooding, as in Incognito, Lake Placid, Gothika, Cellular, Hide and Seek, House of Wax, Orphan, The Resident, and Unknown. His score for Shane Black's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a stylish departure from Ottman's usual darker fare. Ottman has also scored a handful of superhero films, including X2, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Superman Returns, and two Fantastic Four movies. Unfortunately, the scores for these films tend toward the bland side, especially given the high standards of music in many superhero films. A happy exception is his score for the animated film Astro Boy, a wonderfully whimsical confection with driving adventure music, soaring melodies, and a spectacular main theme. Hopefully, his future assignments will allow his to use his gifts for brooding suspense and high-flying enterprises.

Astro Boy
Jack the Giant Slayer
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Superman Returns

The Usual Suspects

X2: X-Men United
X-Men: Days of Future Past
X-Men: Apocalypse