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FILMTRACKS.COM
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VIEW 
Review of Spider-Man: Far From Home (Michael Giacchino)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... on the strength of the villain's material, for Michael
Giacchino really excels at providing Mysterio with an evolving identity
that outshines all other development in the score.
Avoid it... if you can't help but continue comparing Giacchino's main themes for the Spider-Man, Parker, and MJ characters to Danny Elfman's superior legacy work for those concepts in nearly identical scenes.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
Spider-Man: Far From Home: (Michael Giacchino)
Sneaking in behind Marvel's massive Avengers: Endgame in 2019 was
Spider-Man: Far From Home, a direct sequel to the 2017 reboot,
Spider-Man: Homecoming. With 23 films in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe already in the franchise and five pre-existing "Spider-Man"
entries over multiple character sets prior to this incarnation, one
might think that audiences are tired of seeing the same scenarios
rehashed over and over again in these action/fantasy films. But, alas,
they awarded Spider-Man: Far From Home with another $1.1 billion
in grosses and ensured a healthy continuation of this character set for
the concept in additional films. This version of teenage Spider-Man
continues his struggles with identity and romance as per usual, in this
film joining his love interest, MJ, on a school trip to Europe. But with
the larger Marvel scheme at work, Peter Parker also contends with Nick
Fury, the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization, and the death of Tony Stark in the
preceding Marvel film, the heartfelt introspection of the original
trilogy of Spider-Man films long lost. The adversary of this tale is yet
another protagonist gone awry in a mid-script twist, seeking revenge
upon Stark and masquerading as a new superhero, Mysterio, whose talent
with holograms causes havoc that he can conveniently vanquish. The plot
was met with widespread praise; the production may as well have been
financed by European tourism agencies, allowing battles between the
titular hero and his enemies to extend far beyond New York. Perhaps the
most amusing aspect of the film is the return of actor J. K. Simmons
(sans fake hair) to the role he originated in the original trilogy, a
cameo that prompts the film to (essentially) end abruptly on the same
obscenity as its predecessor. Meanwhile, the casting of Marisa Tomei as
Aunt May becomes all the more bizarre as time goes on. Less
controversial is the return of Michael Giacchino to scoring duties on
Spider-Man: Far From Home. Though still overshadowed by the
legacy of Danny Elfman in the Spider-Man universe generally, his work
for these Marvel films has been fairly well received. He continues
direct development of his three main themes from Spider-Man:
Homecoming in this second venture while adding two new major
identities for the villains and making frequent interpolations of the
Alan Silvestri theme for The Avengers that has not only become
the Marvel calling card but also an alternate identity for Nick Fury in
these films.
The overall approach by Giacchino to Spider-Man: Far From Home is as workmanlike as always, dodging a wide array of song placements with expectedly competent but not particularly extraordinary underscore in sum. His music for the previous film is adequate but not as memorable as prior concept entries by Elfman and James Horner. As with the "Star Trek" franchise, he attempted to re-invent a wheel that didn't need re-inventing, with occasionally strong moments hindered by a constantly nagging feeling that so much unnecessary effort went into re-imagining musical identities that were perfectly fine before and ingrained in audience memories. With Spider-Man: Far From Home, Giacchino fine-tunes his version of the concept's music, and he does so rather well in several places. Indeed, it's a score with a few really smart foundational choices by the composer, but it also suffers from extremely variable execution. At times, this score really cooks, surpassing the highlights of the previous score with ease. At other times, it drags pointlessly through anonymous action sequences that function about as well as a paycheck-collecting Brian Tyler equivalent. Instrumentally, the composer's blend of orchestral and electronic elements is very well handled in Spider-Man: Far From Home, a balance as satisfying here as in Star Trek and Doctor Strange but without the alluring exoticism. The electric guitar and pulsing synthetic rhythms that represent the deception of Mysterio are exceptional in several cues. To a lesser degree, Giacchino supplies the same tones to Peter Parker for his inherent coolness, as in "Night Monkey Knows How to Do It," though in a rock-inspired cue like this one, he applies too heavy a touch compared to Elfman in the same mode. The recording of these parts once again suffers Giacchino's typical muted mix, a rather flat soundscape diminishing his electronic effects substantially. He has no chance of ever catching Jerry Goldsmith in the application of synthetics as long as his recordings lack any decent reverb whatsoever. Whereas the ambient mix can be lifeless at times, especially in the softer cues, the action and main thematic sequences impress you with their sheer size and enthusiasm. The large-scale moments of motific expression in this work are plain and obvious, almost too much so at times, but it's this conveyance of straight forward superhero identity that provides much of the score's appeal. That said, there are several cues, including "A Lot of 'Splaining to Do" and "And Now This...," where Giacchino simply overplays his hand and the film's sound mixers obliged him. Both of those cues needed a dose of suspense rather than a brazen hero's theme. Thematically, Giacchino makes some positive strides in Spider-Man: Far From Home, particularly in the strength of Mysterio's material above and beyond Vulture's from the previous film. The two primary themes return in fully glory, one for the superhero and the other for Peter Parker. Joining it is the developing love theme for MJ. The end credits arrangement by Giacchino, "Far From Home Suite Home," is a fantastic highlight of the work, conveniently parading all of the score's themes out for listeners. The three returning themes come first, the superhero anthem opening the suite and the nimble spider-inspired movement at 0:35 doing its best to emulate similar techniques by Elfman. At the one-minute mark, Giacchino segues into the Parker motif and continues to alternate between the two themes. (It should be noted that this passage was split apart on screen to accommodate "And Now This....") The full rendition of the MJ love theme that follows is appropriately tender but is a devoid of truly genuine depth. Giacchino's attempts to address the emotional gravity of the familial and romance elements in these works cannot compete with either Elfman or Horner. At the four-minute mark in "Far From Home Suite Home," he shifts into his theme for Nick Fury and S.H.I.E.L.D. that is clearly an adaptation of Silvestri's main "Avengers" concept theme. Giacchino uses this idea several times throughout the score, and although the progressions are altered a bit, Silvestri's theme does receive formal credit for most of them. The suite continues into a massive and excellent presentation of the Mysterio theme. His rhythmic, octave-hopping intro arrives at 4:58, and his primary theme follows on brass at 5:05. His subtheme for deception (alternately for his holograms or "elementals") is heard at 5:36 and consists of a repetitive series of rising, ominous chords with blasting trumpet figures above. These two parts of the subtheme rarely overlap in the actual score, which is a shame, but they both return individually, the brass figures often paired with the underlying rhythmic intro sequence. By the main Mysterio theme's rendition at 6:22, it's appropriately shifted into minor mode. The suite concludes with a return to the two themes for Spider-Man and Parker. For many casual listeners, this suite will suffice as a musical representation of Spider-Man: Far From Home. The score itself is one of those endeavors that starts remarkably well, the first half exhibiting solid, four-star quality. The second half unfortunately devolves into the territory of mundane action along with the aforementioned moments when Giacchino simply misses the mark with his overexuberant tone. The handling of the main Spider-Man and Parker themes is a mixed bag, the heavy-handedness of their applications sometime obnoxious. Giacchino has better luck at times when he shifts into the softer moments of staccato intrigue or intimate contemplation, as in "Change of Plans." In some of these passages, the composer seems intent upon providing a solo cello as the main instrument of the heart. There are times when his fanfare applications are expected and fine, and the end of "Tower of Cower" is a good example of such a moment. By "Swinging Set," however, the obligatory scene of Spider-Man swinging between skyscrapers at the end simply begs for Elfman's theme, whether arranged by Elfman himself or Christopher Young or John Debney. We've seen these types of visuals before, and the music for them worked so well before that Giacchino's re-do is superfluous here, especially as it utilizes some of the same swirling structures on strings. The final note of "Taking the Gullible Express/Spidey Sensitive," with its dramatic crescendo and harp, is especially Elfman-like, though. The MJ theme is tepidly reprised throughout, including "It's Perfect" and "Personal Hijinks," before the composer tries to crank up the intensity with marginal success in "Bridge and Love's Burning." Just as the physical chemistry between these actors seems lacking compared to the initial trilogy, Giacchino's music for them also doesn't quite click. By comparison, the Silvestri-inspired material always works, and it's great to hear the Marvel franchise maintaining the "Avengers" theme as its connective tissue. Doubling for Nick Fury, this theme opens "Multiple Realities," punctuates an important moment at 1:52 into "Who's Behind Those Foster Grants," rises to the occasion late in "Taking the Gullible Express/Spidey Sensitive," and briskly joins the action at 0:16 into "An Internal Battle." The idea only really shines with the full major-key glory of Silvestri's original intent in the "Spidey Sensitive" performance, an important moment of rescue of sorts in the story. Also to be appreciated is Giacchino's handling of the various Quentin Beck and Mysterio themes in the score. Since this film, like the prior one, only exposes an ally as the villain partway through the story, the composer aptly supplies the Mysterio theme as just another superhero identity in bright, major key armor in the first half of the score. He scores the character from Parker's perspective, which is a brilliant decision. From the action of "World's Worst Water Feature" to the sensitivity of "Who's Behind Those Foster Grants," Giacchino could truly fool the listener with the sincerity of this material, At times, it's more attractive than even the main franchise theme. So enamored is Parker with Mysterio that he inevitably joins the fight alongside the newcomer against perceived common enemies. In "Mr. One Hundred and One," Giacchino provides keen counterpoint between the two themes, overlapping them with ease. The relaxing electric guitar and cello solos for the theme in "Change of Plans" extend the sense of false comfort, as does the grieving solo horn for the idea in the latter half of "Prague Rocked." As Mysterio is revealed to be the villain of Spider-Man: Far From Home, the electronic rhythms that made him cool suddenly become sinister and mysterious. The turning point of the score is "Power to the People," a transformation cue that is outstanding in many ways but also pushes Mysterio's main theme towards the wildly overblown villain's theme of caper origins in The Incredibles. The rendition at 2:08 into "The Magical Mysterio Tour" especially suffers from this connection. Always welcome is the hidden highlight of the score: the secondary Mysterio theme for deception. In "Power to the People," "Praguenosis: Bad," and "Gloom and Doom," the repetitive motif of suspense really drives the bad-ass nature of the villain's plans. The composer provides a soft foreshadowing of this transition from coolness into darkness during "Multiple Realities." Interestingly, while Giacchino utilizes the blasting trumpet portion for this theme in a few of the action scenes involving the Mysterio illusions, the composer doesn't make as much use of the idea as he should. In fact, the absolutely shameless rip of Gustav Holst's "The Planets" in the place of this superior, original material for the concept during "World's Worst Water Feature" is totally baffling. That cue may ruin the score for some listeners the same way Hans Zimmer's Gladiator rubs folks the wrong way; Giacchino is better than this and should be flogged for, one must assume, succumbing to pressure from the filmmakers for that blatant and ridiculous emulation. On the whole, the score's narrative begins to fall apart after Mysterio is exposed, "The Magical Mysterio Tour" and beyond exhibiting some creative instrumental techniques and outright dissonance at times but losing the lineage of the themes in the process. Cues like "High and Flighty," "Happy Landings," and "Tower of Cower" bang the chimes and roll the cymbals in between their basic expressions of the main themes, but they fail to really generate interest apart from the film. Still, the strength of the Mysterio themes elevates this work beyond Spider-Man: Homecoming, and its loyalty to maintaining the themes from that film is admirable even if they continue to trail Elfman's unmatched identity for the concept. As such, Giacchino ekes out a four-star rating for this sequel despite its web of nagging ills. ****
TRACK LISTINGS:
Total Time: 79:43
NOTES & QUOTES:
The insert includes a list of performers and unfolds into a poster, but it offers
no extra information about the score or film.
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