Before composing the score for The Batman, Michael Giacchino had scored Matt Reeves’ previous films Cloverfield, Let Me In, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and War for the Planet of the Apes, so he was probably a shoo-in for The Batman job no matter what. But Giacchino has a track record for producing memorable superhero themes in an era where they’re hard to come by. Whereas John Williams’ Superman theme and Danny Elfman’s Batman theme can be hummed on a moment’s notice, superhero fans are hard-pressed to remember how any recent comic book movie theme goes (except, at a push, Alan Silvestri’s Avengers theme).
In the past couple of decades, Giacchino has graced superhero cinema with two of its last remaining hummable themes: the theme from The Incredibles, which evokes the pulpy tone of classic superhero stories, and the theme from Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies, which revamps the theme from the old animated series with orchestral backing. So, whether he’d been a frequent collaborator of Reeves’ or not, Giacchino was the perfect composer for The Batman. Giacchino was so thrilled to work on a Batman movie that he completed the main theme within a few weeks of being hired.
With a four-note riff repeated over and over, gradually getting louder and louder, Giacchino’s captivating Batman theme builds to the Bat’s arrival like the shark approaching in Jaws. This Batman theme can’t be hummed as easily as Elfman’s, but it’s still memorable. Like Ludwig Göransson’s Mandalorian theme, Giacchino’s Batman theme is a subtle but distinctive melody that manages to be catchy without being easily replicated by the human voice – and it perfectly captures the brooding antihero it accompanies. But the theme is just the tip of the iceberg. The entirety of Giacchino’s The Batman score sets the perfect mood for the movie, and deserves a Best Original Score nomination (if not the award itself) at next year’s Oscars.
The Batman Has A Musical Identity Of Its Own
Most musical discussions of The Batman have been directed at Reeves’ use of familiar songs like “Ave Maria” to represent the Riddler’s reign of terror and Nirvana’s “Something in the Way” to convey Batman’s addiction to vengeance. These tracks are both used brilliantly as recurring motifs, but the real musical star of The Batman is Giacchino’s original score. These haunting compositions give the movie a musical identity of its own.
The Batman’s three-hour runtime flies by because it’s a truly immersive moviegoing experience. Viewers get swept up in Reeves’ sumptuous vision of Gotham City, go along for the extended ride, and before they know it, the end credits are rolling. There are many reasons the movie maintains the audience’s goodwill for so long – fast-paced storytelling, engaging performances, riveting action sequences – but a big part of it is that the music draws them to the edge of their seat with a palpable sense of dread.
All of Giacchino’s tracks pair perfectly with the on-screen action. The creepy tune of “Can’t Fight City Halloween” masterfully sets the grisly tone for the film. The booming orchestrations of “Highway to the Anger Zone” match the chaos and intensity of the Penguin car chase. In The Batman, Zoë Kravitz’s Catwoman isn’t a standard femme fatale; she’s a tragic figure who wants revenge against the mobster who fathered her, killed her mother, and eventually killed her roommate. Giacchino’s Catwoman theme beautifully captures the humanity and vulnerability of this take on the character.
Giacchino’s Music Creates Most Of The Atmosphere
Giacchino’s The Batman score clocks in at around two hours, meaning that his music plays over the majority of the movie. The British Film Resource quotes David Lynch as saying, “Films are 50% visual and 50% sound. Sometimes, sound even overplays the visual.” In The Batman, the sound of Giacchino’s music is responsible for at least 50% of the film’s mesmerizing atmosphere. When Mayor Mitchell is brutally murdered with a carpet tucker, the piercing strings of the Riddler’s theme evoke the iconic horror scores of composers like Bernard Herrmann. When the appearance of the Bat-Signal is striking fear into the criminals of Gotham, unsettling brass melodies ensure that the terror extends beyond the screen.
The Academy is still pretty trepidatious about nominating comic book blockbusters, but they’ve made exceptions for Batman movies in the past. Tim Burton’s first Batman film won Best Production Design and The Dark Knight won Best Sound Editing and, of course, a posthumous Best Supporting Actor award for Heath Ledger. While it might be a little ambitious to expect Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor nominations for The Batman – although a strong case could be made for each one – Giacchino could feasibly win his second Oscar (after his 2010 win for scoring Up) for his moving, atmospheric, deeply engaging work on the film’s music.