Review
I listened to the track “The Batman” as soon as it was released ahead of the film and the full score. I was instantly intrigued; it certainly felt like a unique and cool new take on a Batman theme. The score certainly has, I’ll say, Batman’s fingerprint on it, as Michael Giacchino uses deep brass and strings in a fashion that is unique to the various Batman themes over the years. What stands out to me, however, is how the themes in this score are a slower burn than other iterations of Batman scores; certainly not in a bad way. The film, more of a “detective Batman” take on the character, is not as high octane as its predecessors, and the score reflects that well. It is a patient score, building slowly, but satisfyingly. Giacchino spoke in an interview that he “felt total freedom” with this Batman score, and compared hearing the new score to picking up a new and unexpected comic book run. He composed the main theme very early on in the process, before production began, so the theme was featured in much of the film’s promotion. In fact, Giacchino said that Matt Reeves, the director of the film, used the suite that Giacchino composed in prep meetings at Warner Bros when presenting costume designs, etc. The score is foreboding, neo noir, and even hopeful at times. Not only is Batman’s theme memorable, but Catwoman’s and the Riddler’s also hold up very well. Catwoman’s theme has a femme fatale vibe to it, fitting right in with the noir/detective undertones. The Riddler’s theme is eerie, and uses a slowed-down version of the melody in Franz Schubert’s hymn “Ave Maria” as the base for the eerie vocals. In my opinion, this soundtrack is up there with Danny Elfman’s and Hans Zimmer’s iconic Batman scores. I highly recommend it. I have already listened to it quite a lot, and it’s certainly one of my go-to soundtracks to listen to while writing.
Review by Michael.