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Review of Spider-Man (Danny Elfman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you seek an engaging Danny Elfman superhero score that
merges the troubled and lonely tones of Darkman with the flashy,
modern energy, and instrumentation of Men in Black.
Avoid it... if you require the score to exude the magnificent stature of Batman, something that Spider-Man's more fragmented stylistic approach does not allow for.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
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. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
2002 Columbia/Sony Album:
Total Time: 44:59
2022 La-La Land Album: Total Time: 169:16
NOTES & QUOTES:
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.
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The reviews and other textual content contained on the filmtracks.com site may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Christian Clemmensen at Filmtracks Publications. All artwork and sound clips from Spider-Man are Copyright © 2002, 2022, Columbia/Sony, La-La Land Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/19/02 and last updated 3/4/23. |
