I own the score on it's own, and while it makes for a good listen, and it's starting to paint the picture of "Batman" in my head when I hear the theme, I still think they made a mistake by teaming up two huge composers (and epic composers nonetheless) to complete this project.
This was in effect an "Indy" film... it needed an indy composer.... and though my love for Elfman and his work in '89 and '92 runs strongly in my veins, I can definately picture something outside of his/Burton's world. I'd of liked to have seen Mychael Danna do this score for his use of unique instruments and independant style... or even Trevor Rabin... yes, a little more epic as oppose to indy, but he wouldn'tve overdone it -- not that I'm accusing Zimmer/Howard of "overdoing" it, but their combined "indy" style came off sounding forced instead of natural.
Nevermind all that though, the score itself is weak because of having so much deadweight on the tracks. That being said, when it kicks up a notch, it's amazing... although it can get repetitive... and this is where I think developing a main theme would've helped them... even if it was building the entire film just to be released in a small dose at the end. It felt as if it got nowhere.... which in a timeline sense I guess it worked in harmony with the movie. After all, this wasn't exactly a "progessional" story. From the beginning to the end, Bruce had already suffered his loss and found what he wanted to do within the first hour. The second hour was merely following through on this. A theme however could've developed during the first hour and be hinted at right on down until the end.
The epic moments of the score are indeed fantastic and underwhelming... I love it... but it comes down to two major portions. 1) what I'll dub as the "Batman/Justice" theme, and 2). a reflection/childhood theme. The childhood theme is spectacular and works well in hand with the Justice/Batman theme. If they had defined these themes however, they could've done so much more. My guess is they didn't want to do more as it could seem overwhelming, and I can understand that to an extent, but the overall problem is that you leave the theater not having anything to hum and think of Batman with. It hasn't established itself musically, which is of great importance with a movie of this magnitude.
Please note -- I am not one of those guys who sees a movie and complains there is no main theme, or I can't hum along, or remember the theme... my complaint more points towards the fact that this was an independant score done by epic composers, and it seems wrong. It's as if you asked a proffessional builder to build a home in Zulu. Sure, he's talented and probably the best at his craft... but you're putting him in a situation where he is not at his element, and a couple of locals could probably do the job much better.
My vote for Bats 6 -- get rid of Zimmer and let Howard take what he's developed thus far and build a true score instead of elements of themes.
All in all, I own the CD, and it's not bad... but it just seems like a missed opportunity and poorly presented with alot of dead weight added to pad it out.
