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Superhero films, where's all the music???

MadeIndescribable

MadeIndescribable

Fleet Captain
Fleet Captain
I went to see Wonder Woman yesterday, and something's been gnawing at me. I loved the film, it was great to see not just a female superhero lead, but also the change of pace that came with it, fighting to end war, etc. But it's not perfect and it does suffer from the same kinds of things as most superhero films these days, both Marvel and DC, chiefly the lack of any specific theme music.

My childhood was awash with the heroic and memorable themes like John Williams's Superman score and the X-Men cartoon intro, but I honestly can't think of any modern superhero film that even has anything close to being a recognisable theme, let alone being iconic.

Wonder Woman had that guitar riff which was quite cool in the trailer but is really just one riff, and The Avengers have their sort of fanfare thing going on, but I honestly can't remember any other music from any other film. Which considering how many superhero films there are these days, is a real shame.
 
Agreed. The soundtrack was pretty bland. I can't really think of a superhero soundtrack that really "popped" since Zimmer's Batman work, then he went on to do Man of Steel which was ok but no match for Williams.
 
I was going to try to argue with you, but then I realized that I couldn't really come up with any great standout scores from recent superhero movies. I don't think any of them have really been bad, but there's nothing even close to the level of John William's Superman theme.
 
To be fair, it's not just superhero films. Back in the day there were also scores like Star Wars and Indiana Jones which stood out, but these days I can't think of any decent action film that's had a proper iconic theme since Pirates of the Carribean, which has to be over 10 years ago now?
 
Pacific Rim has a great score, but that's the last movie I can think of that has a singable theme. It seems like Marvel movies are intentionally designed to have forgettable background music.
 
I tend to agree. The only memorable scores in the MCU are in Captain America: The First Avenger, and the first Avengers, both scored by Alan Silvestri.
 
MadeIndescribable said:
these days I can't think of any decent action film that's had a proper iconic theme since Pirates of the Carribean, which has to be over 10 years ago now?
Click to expand...

Shore's Lord of the Rings was probably the last true (non-Williams) old-school epic score:

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JD said:
I was going to try to argue with you, but then I realized that I couldn't really come up with any great standout scores from recent superhero movies. I don't think any of them have really been bad, but there's nothing even close to the level of John William's Superman theme.
Click to expand...

The problem is I'm not sure there are many composers doing soundtrack work who can match John Williams.
 
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Personally I care about Superhero themes, but not as much about the entire scores. Looking at it from that PoV, I love Wonder Woman's theme (at least how it's used in BvS - WW isn't open here yet).

I would also point to Ant-Man and Man of Steel as superhero movies with fantastic themes that perfectly fit their movies. And to Captain America TFA and Guardians of the Galaxy as having reasonably memorable themes, though not in the same league.
 
I adored the music to Thor, and thought the theme worked well when it was used for heroics, and slowed down for the quieter moments. I really missed the theme when the 2nd movie came.

It's a perfect theme for walking down to accept your award I think, too!
 
X-Men has a pretty recognizable main theme. And the score to First Class is rather brilliant on it's own.
 
The problem isn't so much super-hero movies as the whole nature of film scoring has changed since the turn of the century -- directors want inconspicuous music, and they cut their films to temp scores that their scores then need to emulate.

This AV Club article goes into details, complete with a video.
 
Micheal Giacchino is my favorite current score composer, but even though his stuff is good it's still not at the level of the great old epic scores.
 
I quite like the Days of Future Past score, but otherwise, I agree that superhero scores have been rather lacking since the Nolan trilogy.
 
I think it's true to some extent, I can hear the main themes of many films in my head but not many of them are that recent i.e in the last decade or so.
 
By far the best and musically most electric moment in WW is when her theme kicks in:
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The last two soundtracks I liked (and bought) were Nocturnal Animals and Arrival.
 
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