Director Bryan Singer and composer
John Ottman's take on the world's most recognizable superhero is one of deep reverence. Like Steven Spielberg and
John Williams, the two have found their muse in each other, especially after their success with the second installment of the X-Men series, but what sets them apart from other iconic director/composer pairings is
Ottman's co-role as an editor -- he showed his musicality in the editing room on X2 with an exhilarating opening ballet of violence set to
Mozart's Requiem.
Ottman and Singer are well aware that
Williams' original score for Richard Donner's 1978 depiction of the man of steel is as etched into the character's mythology as the "S" on his chest, so they built the new score around it. The new themes are deep and resonant with a
Copland-esque tinge of sepia-toned Americana that never descends into unnecessary melodrama -- think
Michael Kamen's Band of Brothers theme -- and a brooding sense of wonder and weight that echoes
Danny Elfman's choral work on the Spider Man films. This Superman feels a lot more like a conflicted defender of the world than a bespectacled reporter relying on pratfalls and phone booths for audience chuckles, and
Ottman fills his Metropolis with a perfect balance of dread and wonder, while allowing
Williams' majestic and iconic theme to soar when it should. ~ James Christopher Monger