“Hans Zimmer returns for more Batman and Superman, this time he brings help.”
One of the most anticipated films of the year has finally came. Ever since word of the film came about, fans and the film industry as a whole united in “jumping for joy”. For the first time in history, the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight would be appearing in the same film together. Not only do we see that for the first time, but why not throw in Wonder Woman as well? Still not satisfied? How about we give you the holy trinity at its finest…for the first time in history.
This film in every way was a HUGE step in DC Comics film properties. However, we won’t be talking about the film itself here. Today, we will dive into the film score.
Hans Zimmer returns once again to help out on the musical aspects of the film. After tackling Superman in “Man of Steel”, he comes back to try a new take on Batman. Hans seems to have put himself into a very tricky spot on this film. Previously he was daunted with the task of renewing Superman after John Williams iconic theme still stuck in many fans heads as THE Superman theme. Then he comes and was able to re-invent the character. To be honest…it worked. Now, here he is again. This time with yet another challenge. Multiple, in fact. First he has to do yet another Batman theme. How do you follow up and create a brand new theme for a character that you have already created a theme for in the past (and to be honest, 10 years of your lifes work) without risking a chance that you copy what you’ve already done? Easy, you have someone else do it.
Hans brought in Junkie XL, who you may know from the Deadpool and the Mad Max scores. He has a very different sound from Hans. While Hans likes to use big drums and booming brasses, Junkie XL likes to incorporate various electronic music styles into his scores. It’s a nice trade off between the two. I won’t be going into detail on every track, but will highlight a few aspects. Let’s dive in.
The score begins with a powerful theme in the track “Beautiful Lie”, hinting at the new Batman theme, right off the…bat. You begin to sense this will indeed be a dark movie. As you progress through the first track you hear hints of some emotional themes that will occur throughout the score. The track “Their War Here” shows the power and energy of the action set pieces that will take place. Fast drums and string lines play throughout with some slower moments to let you breath from the action. Which brings us to our next track.
“The Red Capes Are Coming”. This is, by far, some of the albums better work. This is where you hear Lex Luthors theme. Playing on how the character interacts with others in the film, it’s a suiting theme. Strong piano themes and a quirky yet, classical composition style. Almost chaotic in nature but still with structure.
“Day of the Dead” is where you will hear the inevitable Superman theme we know from “Man of Steel”. Soft piano, bringing in the heroic theme. The theme gradually turns into a more darker version of itself, until it overall brings in a new theme.
There’s also a track that focuses heavily on sound design. “New Rules” brings in many of those elements that will straight up frighten you (similar to the Joker theme from The Dark Knight).
“Do You Bleed?” is the epic fight music between The Last Son of Krypton and The Bat of Gotham. This track has all the action elements you would need in any super hero film.
“This Is My World” calls back to those classical compositions once again, but this screams with heart. There’s so many emotions running through this piece. From soft strings and a solo vocalist. You can almost feel what is happening in the scene, without even seeing the what’s going on onscreen.
“Men Are Still Good (Batman Suite)”. This is pure meat. Everyone wanted to hear it. Everyone was surprised by how powerful it was. The new Batman theme is powerful and dark. It does, however, seem to mimic slightly that of the Nolan Batman films in style. The theme itself is only two chords played in a rhythm. Still, it’s a powerful theme and is worthy of the new direction of the Batman character.
And the last highlight I would like to point out, is probably my favorite of the entire score. It’s actually the Wonder Woman theme. I myself, was very curious as to how they would pull off the WW theme. Would they use more of a tribal type score to accent her Amazonian ways? Would it be drum heavy to help with the warrior aspects? What we in fact got was something of the two. Hans actually began writing a theme. Junkie XL literally picked up a guitar, played a riff and there we have it. From the very first moment you hear the Wonder Woman theme, you know she is someone who can hold her own and let’s be honest, if you’ve seen the film, you know she was one of the BEST parts of it.
As a whole, the score really had to step out and cover a ton of ground. It had to bring back the Superman theme we all now know, but in the same run, it had to introduce new themes for Batman, Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor. That’s a tough challenge to do in one film. Somehow, the combined efforts of Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL pulled it off and what we end up with is a massive score full of action, emotion and a few surprises (a la: wonder woman theme).
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice [2016] (Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL)
Tracklisting:
- Beautiful Lie
- Their War Here
- The Red Capes Are Coming
- Day Of The Dead
- Must There Be A Superman?
- New Rules
- Do You Bleed?
- Problems Up Here
- Black And Blue
- Tuesday
- Is She With You? (Wonder Woman Theme)
- This Is My World
- Men Are Still Good (Batman Theme)
- Blood Of My Blood
- Vigilante
- May I Help You Mr. Wayne?
- They Were Hunters
- Fight Night
Favorite Tracks:
Is She With You? (Wonder Woman Theme)
This Is My World
Men Are Still Good (Batman Theme)
The Red Capes Are Coming
Least Favorite Tracks:
Must There Be A Superman?
Vigilante
Album Rating:
8.5 out of 10. Very good album. Highly recommended. It is your typical Hans Zimmer score, but the new themes and ups and downs will have you excited far beyond the film alone.
