Soundtrack – Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016)
Composer – Hans Zimmer/Junkie XL
Check it out – https://open.spotify.com/album/4PAHIwIasrswKSU5KDzROJ
Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice is a 2016 Superhero film, directed by Zack Snyder of 300, Watchmen and Man Of Steel fame. The film features Henry Cavill returning as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor. BvS carries on from the destructive events of Man Of Steel, Batman coming to loggerheads with Superman, resulting in a battle comic book fans have been waiting for for years … however could this all be the evil construction of mastermind Lex Luthor. BvS has become one of the most polarising films ive seen in years, critics hating it, fans of the hero’s loving it or really wanting to love it. I won’t be reviewing the film, I will simply be looking at the score by Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL.
Hans Zimmer composed the music for the last round of Batman films, most notably The Dark Knight, in which he experimented sonically, trying to match the tension of the film with his music. Batman v Superman for Hans Zimmer is just a balls to the wall large scale action film, so therefore he hasn’t really needed to experiment, just match the epic set pieces Snyder has created with a dramatic, fast paced, action orientated score. As with many character focused movies Zimmer has composed themes for each major character (themes being important for superheros also). Luthor is introduced with this dissonant odd sounding piano melody, Batman has an intense testosterone filled orchestral piece, superman arrives with the softer uplifting heroic pieces, whilst Wonder Womans theme is just insane, containing orchestral elements, electric guitars, synth, this all around face melting sound to say “Here’s Wonder Woman, coming to kick some ass”. This score is composed expertly, with some interesting decisions, however I feel it is a bit relentless in its energy, a bit like the film itself constantly on with explosions, fights, nightmares etc, there’s very little time to calm down and think about what’s just happened.
I think the movie itself definitely has flaws, it isn’t the acting/plot focused masterpiece that The Dark Knight was and it isn’t the fun romp that most of the Marvel films are, however I think it’s one of the best representations of a comic book on film. The music follows this ethos, it isn’t super clever or innovative, but it is huge, explosive and action packed, which is what this type of movie required and maybe anything else would’ve sounded wrong behind this film.
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