Part two in a series of pieces examining the various soundtracks that have accompanied the live-action Batman films from 1989-2008.
BATMAN RETURNS
by Danny Elfman
After the phenomenal success of Batman, Tim Burton spun one of his most personal and creative yarns in Edward Scissorhands before returning to the superhero. His follow-up, Batman Returns, was far darker than its predecessor, a grim tragedy enlivened by its offbeat humor with only occasional flashes of heroism. Its heart rests in the romance between Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, beautifully capturing two lonely souls finding each other before tearing them apart through their secret lives as Batman and Catwoman. It's a rich yarn, enhanced by wonderful performances by Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfieffer. Its plot rests largely with the film’s other primary villain, the Penguin, a hideously deformed man abandoned by his parents and raised by Penguins in the sewers of Gotham. It’s an ugly (and funny) portrait of loneliness itself. These powerful personal stories are set amidst a backdrop of fantastic atmosphere and stunning visual design that make it a unique and fascinating production.
But for all the film’s success in characterization and thematic depth, it fails in many ways when it comes to the superheroic elements. In Batman, the sheer energy of the film overcame the somewhat clumsy staging of fights and chases, but the more restrained Returns can’t pull that off, and the action sequences are rather lame. It’s also an awfully grisly, gloomy, sensuous, and very adult tale for a PG-13 flick about a guy dressing up like a bat to beat up criminals. Audiences at the time had understandably mixed reactions, with parents decrying its MPAA rating as a joke. Comic-book fans praise its dark complexity to the high heavens (deservedly), while others are left cold by its poor action, not to mention the sheer weirdness of the film (understandably). It’s a strange and uneven film with moments of cinematic brilliance.
Danny Elfman’s score is equally uneven. In its best moments, it’s a remarkable companion piece to Batman; in others, it’s almost unbearably whacked-out.
The opening track starts with the lonely trumpet beginning the Batman theme before turning to Elfman's gloomy Penguin theme. Like before, the instrumentation is very creative, with a brief but spectacular pipe organ solo and haunting vocals reminiscent of the (much brighter) chorals in Edward Scissorhands. In fact, the entire opening feels in many ways like the dark side of that score. It's a terrific piece, alternately brooding and fantastic before finally starting up the still-rousing Batman theme a few minutes in.
There's something missing in the performance, though. For the original, Shirley Walker directed the London Symphony Orchestra; here, Elfman conducted an LA-based orchestra. The original performances of the theme were deep and powerful, full of fire and passion. The London Symph poured their hearts and souls into their performances, and Walker directed them magnificently, and the passion comes through. In Returns, though, it sounds professional but somehow empty; there's none of the sonic depth or fiery performance of the old recording. Still, it's good to hear the old themes.
After the opening, the score descends into mostly murky gloom, punctuated by occasional comic beats. It's weird and unsettling, and while it's appropriate for the penguin, the lack of drive and energy is tiring. It's also not terribly emotional outside of the first and last passages of the score; just sort of interesting. The dismal atmosphere and comic outbursts don't mesh -- which, to be fair, is often true of the film, too, which uneasily brews black comedy, tragic romance, and clumsy fight scenes; the setting is almost always steeped in shadow and German expressionisms, but then throws in a giant motorized rubber ducky for the Penguin to ride around in. It's really strange, and the score reflects this accurately to its own detriment. When the score finally gets around to Catwoman's theme, it's refreshing just to hear something different.
Catwoman's theme uses high-pitched violin screeches to suggest the sounds that cats make, underlaied with gloomy undertones. It nails the concept, and really does sound like a musical recreation of a woman expressing pure feline instincts. It also sounds extraordinarily like a cat's meow.
Now let me be clear about something: a cat's meow is not a pleasant sound. It's a high-pitched squeal with only a single meaning. When dogs bark, it can be scary, but it can just as often be a joyful exclamation. Barks can show a full range of emotion, and it's elating hearing a happy bark. A meow, on the other hand, always means precisely one thing: "You're not paying enough attention to My Lordship." It's as grating as nails on a chalkboard and even more malevolent. The cat wants nothing more than to make everything, including you, smell like him, and you can hear it in his voice. So when I say that Elfman captures this concept perfectly, I mean to say that it's a brilliant achievement that works its purpose nicely in both the film and on the CD, but more than about two minutes of it is almost unbearable.
There's something like twenty minutes of it on the soundtrack. The portions of the score devoted to her get downright painful despite the remarkable creativity. Where it works beautifully is in the climax of the film, where it's mixed with other tones and used sparingly to heartbreaking effect. If only it hadn't been so difficult to get to that wonderful finale.
Every now and then, there's an action cue, but somehow these are never as exciting as they should be. The brass has none of the power it should, and often sounds rather muted. In the otherwise dismal mid-sections of the score, these should be a highlight, but they fall oddly flat.
Inexplicably, the score is missing a theme (or really even an acknowledgement) of the romance. Elfman is capable of heartrending compositions, but didn't even attempt to give the love story its own life.
Whatever the scores many problems, though, the final tracks are well worthwhile. "The Children's Hour" starts with a gorgeous music-box rendition of the Penguin score before finally revving up some real action cues. They're not on the level of Batman's "Charge of the Batmobile" or similar pieces, but they have the excitement the previous such bits lacked. The following two-part "Final Confrontation" is a wild ride of very Elfmanish wackiness -- thrillingly eerie, exciting, and fascinating. "The Finale Part I" at last delivers the full force of tragedy that the Penguin's music has been hinting at throughout, and "The Finale Part II" is a devastating conclusion to Catwoman's tale. Near the end, it transitions to a quiet, haunting statement of Batman's theme before returning to the tragedy.
And then, as the film's final, surprising image comes up, it at last crescendoes into the exhilerating Batman theme in "End Credits." The rest of the track is a suite of the other two primary themes, beautiful and fascinating.
Afterwards, there is the pop song "Face to Face", and interesting oddity Elfman co-wrote for the ballroom scene. It's interesting (and works wonderfully in the context of the film), but doesn't really match the rest of the score. Perhaps if Elfman had used part of the song for a love theme, it would have felt less awkward on the album. Still, it's here for completion's sake.
So, for all its faults, the score does deliver a strong if inferior sequel score in its first 5 and last 20 minutes and has a very interesting albeit off-putting theme for Catwoman in the mid-section. It's a slog getting from the opening to closing, and unlike the previous album, which is a must-buy, this one is really only for Elfman fans and genre completists. Definitely an interesting score, whatever the case.
RATING: * * 1/2
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