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Review of Superman Returns (John Ottman)
FILMTRACKS RECOMMENDS:
Buy it... if you are prepared for a nearly perfect exhibition of
intelligent balance between loyalty and originality in a superhero score
that entertains in a multitude of ways.
Avoid it... if you are bothered by the idea of wholesale adaptation of John Williams' original 1978 score in this resurrection despite John Ottman's best attempts to integrate that classic identity into a fresh, new environment.
FILMTRACKS EDITORIAL REVIEW:
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. *****
TRACK LISTINGS:
2006 Rhino Album:
Total Time: 54:59
2013 La-La Land Album: Total Time: 127:26
NOTES & QUOTES:
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.
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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 Superman Returns are Copyright © 2006, 2013, Rhino/Warner, La-La Land Records and cannot be redistributed without the label's expressed written consent. Page created 6/23/06 and last updated 1/31/14. |
