The "Amazing" Spider-Man?

I'm distraught.  Heartbroken.  Colors have stopped popping.  Sounds are less alluring.  My life has simply dulled.  And - as much as I hate to say it - it's Hans' fault.

OK maybe I'm being a bit dramatic.  First world problems anyone?  But I'm just gonna put it out there: I didn't like the Amazing Spider-Man 2 Score.

Now let's not get ahead of ourselves and freak out.  It's a Hans Zimmer score which means that there were definitely things I liked about it.  But, for me, the disappointments far outweighed the triumphs for this one.  Let's start with the bad, so we can finish with the good.

I get it.  Hans Zimmer (along with Pharrell Williams) tried to do what he always does and what makes him so popular: find new and innovative methods to scoring movies.  He tried to fuse the ever-popular dubstep "music" into the film scoring world.  But it just didn't work for me.  It was confusing.  I think the best example of this shortcoming is in the track "My Enemy," which is the first scene between the newly born Electro and Spider-Man in Times Square.  This is a long scene, and the music accompanying it takes so many twists and turns, that it made me feel like Hans didn't know what kind of music he wanted.  He couldn't commit.  It starts off with the loud, banging dubstep style with that (annoying) whispering in the background.  Then the classical woodwinds come in at about 0:34 and throw the whole sound for a loop.  At 1:05 the strings join the woodwinds in the background, while the "electro" still dominates the sound.  Slowly, however, the strings come to the forefront.  At 1:38 Hans' signature electric guitar joins in the fun (a la The Dark Knight), and it slowly fades out to just the whispering again (groan).  At about 2:16 is when it gets really weird:  Those clarinets are the only sound besides the whispers, and it begins to sound like a classical score.  What??!  But lest you think this is just another score, the strings quickly take us back to dubstep electronic mode at 2:36.  Is anyone else confused by what I just wrote, or is it just me?
The track is 8:18 long, so I'm not going to go through all of it.  But that is just a preview of the confusion I felt while watching the movie, and then listening again.  We get it: ELECTRO.  It's his theme.  The synths, dubstep, and electronic sounds.  But why throw in the classical sounds to muddle the theme you're going for?

Besides the within-track confusion that I felt, I also felt the loud electronic bangs to be distracting during the actual movie.  Generally, especially in superhero movies, there's a build-up.  It's like the most classic strategy used by any artist in any genre.  You build up to the climax.  A few times that the loud booms dominated the sound, I actually jumped in my seat and stopped following the scene for a moment.  Is that what a score is intended to do?  To command the attention and overshadow the images on screen?  I never went to film scoring school, but my inclination is not.

Which brings me to the positives.  First of all, I applaud Hans for attempting something somewhat unprecedented and seemingly backwards.  Dubstep and classical music do not generally blend, and he used the identity and symbolism of Electro to try and created that ironic fusion.  For me it fell short because it seemed like Hans still wanted to retain the classic superhero themes while introducing this new age sound, but it was a clear and valiant attempt.

And I even think he succeeded in getting those superhero sounding themes across.  In most of the scenes showing Spider-Man himself fighting crime, I loved the music.  There were so many tributes to and hints of Danny Elfman's popular scores for the old Spider-Man movies which I am a huge fan of.  Hans' signature electric guitar was featured in many tracks, and he made it work as he has so many times before.  Just another day at the office.

Maybe I'm just a traditionalist when it comes to superhero movies.  Maybe I want my composer to "stick to the script" and write a score that has identifiable and exciting themes and instills inspiration and motivation, but doesn't try too hard or stand out too much.  Maybe that makes me boring.  But I find that much more effective in this genre of film.

All in all:  This score had some enjoyable features, but one fatal flaw.  And I think that flaw simply detracted too much from the album as a whole.  For that reason I didn't love it and probably wouldn't buy it.

Some tracks to stay away from (generally all of Electro's theme):
I'm Electro
My Enemy
Still Crazy
The Electro Suite - OY!

Some tracks to get close to (awkward?):
I'm Spider-Man - Wow.  Made me feel like I could jump and swing from building to building.  Don't try this at home.
So Much Anger - THAT'S the theme Hans was looking for (I think).  That's the synthesis that worked.
I Need to Know
No Place Like Home - Cool ending.

P.S. - The whole Gwen/Peter theme throughout the film was cute.  Didn't think it needed to be reviewed extensively because it was enjoyable overall but nothing special.  One track I particularly liked though was We're Best Friends.  Check it.

Her: Futuristic Fire

It's time to talk about Her.  In my opinion, she's the frontrunner for Best Picture. (see what I did there?)  But - obviously - I'm here to talk about the music.

What was done in Her is something that has been trending lately for movie scores: calling on bands to score music.  I personally think it's a great move.  Yes, it's a risk, but so far I think it has worked out tremendously.  Take Explosions in the Sky as a prime example.  They were a rock band and worked on the music for the TV show Friday Night Lights, producing the ever-popular track "First Breath After Coma."  This song was actually used in the Friday Night Lights movie and many many commercials (mainly sports-related), and its theme is especially recognizable.  I personally loved it.

So I think that's why I loved the score for Her as well.  Obviously the Oscar nomination speaks for itself, but we all know that the academy is not the end-all of ratings (after all, someone should consult me, shouldn't they?).  The movie itself is so powerful, that Spike Jonze had a really difficult task in choosing accompanying music.  But he chose wisely.  Arcade Fire (along with Owen Pallett, who is not technically part of the band) produced music that so masterfully accompanies the themes of the movie itself, while being minimalist enough not to overshadow it.  And it's the minimalism that complements the movie at the same time!  Whoa...

First and foremost, the electronic, synthy sound clearly blends with the futuristic feel of the movie.  To me, this score is similar to the score for The Social Network, but without the brashness that the latter contains.  But it's not just the ultramodernity that makes it so effective.  The simplicity and hollowness of the few raw string instruments echo the loneliness that many moments in the story represent.  I mean, come on, 2 of the tracks are even called “Loneliness."  The use of 1 or 2 instruments creates void and longing for more, while the melodies and progressions create a sense of warmth and comfort of somebody by your side.  This duality seems paradoxical, but I think Arcade Fire has managed to blend them together - especially in the two songs that Samantha "composes": "Photograph" and "Song on the Beach." Maybe I'm reading too much into it; maybe I'm saying it's there because I want it to be there.  But if they have achieved what I think they have achieved --- WOW!

I will say, however, that I didn’t feel this score had a memorable musical progression.  Anyone who has read enough of my posts probably knows that I’m a big fan of memorable themes.  And although I will remember the score of Her for all of the reasons I mentioned above, I won’t really remember the music.  A track like "We're All Leaving" is a great track which contains all of the elements required of it, but the piano riff is somewhat cliche.  It just didn’t go the extra mile for me the way some other scores have.  I know: Spike should have called me to confer before putting this movie out.  I’m also perplexed as to why he didn’t.

Ultimately, I thoroughly enjoyed the Her score.  And evidently I’m not the only one, as it’s nominated for Oscars for both Best Original Score and Best Original Song (“The Moon Song” by Karen O).  But I don’t think it will win.  If not for the slight flaw I mentioned above, it will be because it is going against some better ones.  I personally LOVED the score for Gravity, though some might call me shallow.  But I think the frontrunner here is Thomas Newman’s score for Saving Mr. Banks.  I haven’t seen it yet, but you can expect a post about that one upcoming.

Notable Tracks:

Milk & Honey - futuristic feel, great fusion on synth and strings

Dimensions - just freakin awesome

Song On The Beach - do I hear a little theme in here?

Some Other Place - halfway through, the buildup begins

We're All Leaving - pretty classic, but really nice

Supersymmetry - really cool song.  I believe it's on their album Reflektor

The link to the entire score can be found HERE