CD Review: Batman Begins

Okay, I've read enough reviews for this score to know what to do. First, I blantly gush about how good this movie. (Seriously, it is really good.) Then, I mention Messrs. Elfman and Goldenthal, and that this score is nothing like their work and that Elfman's theme will always be associated with Batman, and while Goldenthal's scores were more over the top they too kicked butt. (I also should be mentioning all the fan boys sad that there's no more Elfman theme, but that's too silly.)

Anyway, onto the review: First of all, it isn't a question of if the score is good. I've seen the movie. Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard wrote a score that fits this movie like a glove. It's dark, moody, scary, heroic, and a touch romantic all when it needs to be.

But I'm not reviewing the movie (yet). I'm reviewing the soundtrack which is a different story all together. All the tracks are named after different species of bats, which Zimmer and Howard must have thought was clever clever. Unfortunately, when you're listening to six plus minutes of quiet, ambient cues with no real thematic tug, a real title might help the listener picture what scene the cues supposed to be from.

But it's rather hard to do that, even after seeing the movie, because all the cues are cut up and placed together in a general mish mash. Only a few cues, like Myotis and Molossus, sound like they're intact. Zimmer and Howard created a few good themes for this movie including the Batman theme (heard at the end of Vespertilio and mostly through Molossus), the Wayne theme heard at the beginning of Macrotus, and Ducard has his own Eastern motif that snuck onto the end of Artibeus.

These themes are all rather cool to hear, but the soundtrack disappoints in the most vital way that every superhero soundtrack must deliver: a dashing, heroic version of the hero's theme. In the movie, it's everywhere. On the soundtrack, it's almost nonexistent. It's present in such tracks like Myotis and of course Molossus, but it should also be on a lot of other tracks too. The beginning of Artibeus is the cue for batman's first appearance but the music is cut off before it comes to the grand protrayal of the Batman theme. The same could be said for Antrozous.

In summary, it's the sad case of a good score getting a bad presentation on the soundtrack, much like The Last Crusade and X2, or at least having a vengeful editor.

Favorite Tracks:
1. Vespertilio
3. Myotis
10. Molossus
11. Corynorhinus

Music in the movie: A- Music on the CD: C