John Williams is a master! No ifs, ands, or buts about it. He has written more music that you instantly recognize than anyone else on the planet. He is a modern day Mozart, no "foolin'" (Def Leppard, 1983). I have recently been buying all the John Williams soundtracks I can find (for those interested, you can find them "here" and "here"). I have found that iTunes has a great selection of Williams' music. The other day I got the soundtrack to "Superman: The Movie". The Superman theme from that film is easily known worldwide by billions of fans. It is synonymous with the red and blue tights and the huge "S" symbol on the "Man of Tomorrow's" chest. To me, there will never be another theme for Superman. Bryan Singer knew this when he made his movie and Zack Snyder should know it now (oh, he knows, but he can only do so much). You see, the powers on high at Warner Bros. have a case of the "Dark Knights". They have decided that every DC Comics movie has to be "Dark" and "Edgy", or people won't come to see it and, consequently, they won't make a gazillion dollars off of it (because ya know, the Avengers didn't just make over a billion smackers and counting). So, what better way to do that than to chunk everything from the previous films and go with a Batmanification (my own word) to the entire world of Superman. Well, if Siegel and Shuster haven't already turned over in their graves they might as well get to turning and digging so they can get to China before they completely decompose, because that's a "STUPID IDEA"!! Superman is the opposite of Batman, that's why they are both the perfect friends and the perfect enemies. If you screw that up, you got two Batmans and one of them will kill the other (because there can be only one... Sorry).
So, it is with no small amount of dislike, that I hear a certain bit of news about the "Man of Steel". Hans Zimmer (he of "Begins" and "Dark Knight" ear splitting, "one notes all I got", scores) had flatly turned the job down saying, "My heart belongs to Batman." He also stated that, "I wouldn't even know how to go and give voice to it." Good, go away then. But noooooooooooo!! Today, Variety is reporting that he has now excepted the job to turn Superman into Batman! Great, that's just great! Hey, Warner Bros. you screw up Green Lantern (hard to do) and now you're screwing up Superman (extremely hard to do), what have you got to say for yourself (I don't expect an answer, but you can leave me a comment explaining your ridiculous decision below)? This goes to show you that no matter how successful a comic to movie adaptation that sticks closely to the original version is (Avengers), some idiot in a board room somewhere insists that he is right and the original creators were wrong (even though their characters have been beloved by millions for 70+ years as is). I don't usually go on a rant like this, because I believe creators should be able to make their vision however they like. This has just made me mad. Even Christopher Nolan's Batman is true to the spirit of the comics, it's not trying to be something it's not. Superman needs to be Superman, not what's "hip" or "happening" right now. Certainly, Superman shouldn't be dark and brooding. He shouldn't be bleak and edgy. Even Grant Morrison knows that, get with the program people!!
I'll leave you with one more quote from Hans (can I drop him out a window like Bruce Willis in Die Hard?) and you can discuss why he changed his mind below. Comment till your hearts are content.
"[It] happens to be one of his greatest themes," Zimmer said, calling Williams "the greatest living composer." "So no. And I’m not thinking of rewriting Beethoven’s ninth either. It just sounds like a thankless task, you know? So that’s unequivocally a no."
Hans, you are right. You are no John Williams! Go back to your Bat Cave!
Todd "Jimmy Olsen" B.
[Comingsoon.net and The Hollywood Reporter]
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