Batman Returns

Review by Thomas Glorieux:

While Tim Burton's dark super hero and town didn't majestically improve in the sequel, I still consider this movie way better than say the next two, simply because it contained the strong elements of the first. It had Tim Burton at the wheel, Danny Elfman on throne and Michael Keaton in the saddle, making at least the movie respectable and fairly entertaining. Now considering the score, what would the fans receive if you have one of the biggest dark action scores of that decade? Fair to say that indeed Batman Returns doesn't have the class nor the brilliance of the first but still, I'm wondering why it receives such criticism. It is at times difficult to listen to but all what you hear is such cleverly used as tones and sound effects that worked so well during the movie. It at least shows that Elfman's music makes the point during it. However on album it at times bores or irritates you and the massive length of the score isn't helping either. Still, the moments that are great and resemble the pride of the first are welcomed with open arms after all those other minutes, and these make the score at least great during it.

First of all, what would Batman be without its illustrious man theme? Nothing but surprisingly it doesn't open the score with it. However the dark tension, mood and tone is immediately making a link towards it and it opens 'The Birth of a Penguin' (at least the second track because it seems the most tracks are named the same, consider them long suites). All the tricks are here like the organ, the choir, the shrieking violins for the cat like nature of Michelle Pheiffer and the same for the use of child like tones for the Penguin (played by Danny DeVito). They all make numerous occasions during it. This of course to the annoyance of some and even if I don't like them fully, they make the impact during it and give the villains a great sense of deviousness. One of the better moments is the great Batman fanfare in 'Batman vs. the Circus', followed by directly (you've guessed it) circus tones and for the rest each track has a nice fanfare at offer. Still, most of the action tracks including 9 and 13/14 are not bad but don't resemble the class of the original. The one that gets the closest is 'The Final Confrontation' which has great pace before the equally named sequel has fantastic dark fanfares for the end of the movie.

And so we end the score with the great finale 'End Credits' which recapitulates the themes of the movie. The song at the end 'Face to Face' isn't a favorite of mine but has a good opening that really links itself with the movie music of Elfman, keeping a direct link to the appropriateness (not a surprise since Danny himself co composed the music). It wasn't hard to consider that Batman Returns couldn't live up to the original since that is the case with most sequels. However calling this score bad isn't giving it any slack, since the score works perfectly with the visuals (that once again shows the true art of Tim Burton's vision of Gotham City). So, if people have any indication of the score, they should know that the highlights are good to great (but not excelling those in Batman). The other moments vary between normal to sometimes a bit boring (mainly to do with the length of this score). In the end Batman Returns isn't bad, and offers me some moments to listen to again and again, but still makes clear that the original and first score is still the best Batman score there is. And as long as the Batman signal is shown at the sky, I want that score to follow the dark hero of Gotham City.

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Tracks

Single Disc

1: The Birth Of A Penguin (2.28)

2. The Birth Of A Penguin (3.09) Excellent Track

3. The Lair (0.57)

4. The Lair (4.49)

5. Selina Transforms (1.11)

6. Selina Transforms (4.15)

7. The Cemetery (2.54)

8. Cat Suite (5.42)

9. Batman Vs. The Circus (2.34)

10. The Rise And Fall From Grace (1.41)

11. The Rise And Fall From Grace (4.08)

12. Sore Spots (2.15)

13. Rooftops / Wild Ride (4.19)

14. Rooftops / Wild Ride (3.34)

15. The Children's Hour (1.47)

16. The Final Confrontation (5.12) Excellent Track

17. The Final Confrontation (4.53) Excellent Track

18. The Finale (2.40)

19. The Finale (2.19)

20. End Credits (4.41) Excellent Track

21. Face To Face: The Siouxsie And The Banshees (4.17)

Total Length: 70.00

The use of artwork or photos is posted for non profitable reasons

=== Link to Composer Site: Danny Elfman ===