First of all : What I'm asking you is to STOP mixing up your taste in terms of music with facts you can't prove.
Elfman is not able to write music for an action scene ?
Ok. I'm an editor and I write music for short films; of course, it doesn't mean that my point of view is more elaborate than yours but it means that I know what I talk about when it comes to rhythm in a film (though I still have many things to learn, let's stay modest !
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Let's take an example here from Spider-Man 2 : Doc Ock throwing the car in the restaurant and taking MJ as an hostage. I'm referring to the original music here, written by Elfman and not to what you can hear in the film, even though it is almost the same cue. I'll try to upload this to youtube to make my analysis more understandable.
It starts with very low strings in tremolo and col legno announcing the danger to come, in a very classic horror fashion. Then the "Action Theme" of Doc Ock, the one you're calling "circus music" kicks in in all its grandeur, the brass section literally screaming the notes. It's not a very melodic theme (Doc Ock main's theme is a much more elaborate musical sentence) but it is the point: it goes with Doc Ock's steps. It's not circus music; it's a march because it is the essential visual element of the villain. The theme can be analysed as an 8-notes modulation around their octaves; it is NO accident: 8 notes ("legs") for 4 octaves (Doctor Otto Octavius). So not only, Elfman finds the musical signature of the villain’s march but he even manages to actually represent the character in the musical writing. You can also note that the beginning of the musical sentences matches with the evil arms of Doc Ock touching the ground.
After this impressive establishment of the Action theme, we come to more quiet moments but fill with tension and mystery. First, there's a sort of aerial part as Doc Ock lands to the ground. Next, we get the the Main theme of the villain, the more melodic one. Basically, it's a very brief diminished motif followed by a dark, twisted sentence, mainly descending, an expression of the disorder in Octavius' mind. While the Action theme only works with the images of Doc Ock moving, the main theme can be modulated in many harmonics, getting heroic, dark, tragic, intense, weak, mysterious as much as Elfman wants to; as a matter of fact, the composer doesn't delivers this theme twice the same way, always changing the orchestration, the tempo or the harmonics.
After that, there's an "ending motif" that usually closes Doc Ock's musical world. Here it is played in a very dark way, like a representation of the Armageddon to come. Elfman is actually saying to us what is coming up in a very subconscious way. He also mislead us, letting us think that a Spider-Man theme will come up saving the situation... but the timpani kicks in, to bring us to a second statement of Doc Ock's Main theme by the brass section, very heroic and stable : this time, the villain is winning. Elfman brings back again the ending motif but the this time reverse it's original intention: it's not closing but opening to the second part of the cue, the escape of Doc Ock with MJ.
The strings are getting nervous, establishing the rhythm of Ock's plans. As they're getting more wild and aerial and as MJ screams, Elfman comes up with a variation of the Main Theme that goes with the moments where Doc Ock disappears in the immensity of the city (right after the hospital scene or after his little chat with Harry on the roof, etc.). Here, the brief initial motif is replaced by horns and trombones screaming two notes representing the plans of the villain coming to life and the wind blowing on his face while he escapes quickly through the buildings.
Finally, we come back to Peter stuck in the restaurant. As the camera flies close to ground, rushing to Peter, the strings accelerate, giving the movement of the camera more strength. Peter emerges and Elfman chooses, instead of quoting any Spider-Man theme or motifs, to quote for the last time Doc Ock's Main theme as a warning to Peter: you'd better act fast or everything will be lost.
When Peters comes out of the restaurant, he realises that he can see without his glasses. While he’s wondering what is going on, Elfman writes a very ethereal variation on the Peter Parker/Responsibility Theme. He does quote it at first with its usual orchestration (mainly horns and strings) but moves very quickly to a more undefined take, as Peter tries to figure out what is happening. Being totally able to see now, he understands that he’ll have to fight again and that he’s ready. The music slowly grows to that direction and while Peter let his glasses fall, Elfman proposes a very simple but effective variation of the ending of the Main Title (and not a direct quote of the “Revenge” cue from the first film; that’s Raimi playing with the temp track again). It’s a very logical choice: Elfman always summarize in his main titles the entire main plot, giving us hints of what we are going to experience. The ending of the main titles was, in the development of the cue, the hero’s birth, the moment where Parker, at the end of the first film becomes Spider-man (this idea is quite obvious in the main title of the second movie, where the visual and musical moment are linked by Elfman and Ross’ drawings). It is only logical that Elfman decide to use a variation around this musical ending for the end of the restaurant sequence: at that moment Parker IS Spider-man again.
And I could analyse every single sequence of the film the same way and also every other Elfman’s score. Besides, I’m not the only one doing that, you should check out Halfyard’s book “Danny Elfman’s Batman”. You’ll understand how complex Elfman’s writing is.
Do you understand now the difference between not liking Elfman’s style (which I understand perfectly) and saying that he can’t write film score without being repetitive or out of context ? Because, that’s just not true : not only he does write a huge variety of scores in many genres, always trying to fit the action (and that means sometimes underlining it, sometimes letting the images do their job because they’re good enough on their own) but he’s one of the best doing this job out there.
I don’t like Young’s music for the Harry/Peter chase but you won’t hear me say that he can’t compose or that he’s unable to follow what’s happening on screen because it’s not true. His music works; it just doesn’t represent to me what makes film music so exciting. A huge difference.
