Verdict
Summary
Justice League isn’t a terrible score and hearing the classic Batman and Superman Themes is a plus but it’s an odd choice and it’s a shame it sounds so tonally different from what’s come before.
Review: I haven’t reviewed a movie score for a long time but as I am Team DC and I’m excited for Justice League I was looking forward to seeing what we could expect in terms of the music.
Danny Elfman took over really at the last minute after Hans Zimmer and Junkie XL dropped out so this is very different sounding from any of the recent DC fare.
I actually really liked the BVS score and had grown to really enjoy the Man of Steel music too. None of that is on this score but we do get to hear Elfman’s classic Batman theme again which is definitely the highlight in an otherwise rather bland score.
John Williams’ Superman Theme and Elfman’s Batman are two of the greatest and most iconic superhero themes of all time and yet it seems odd to have them in Justice League after we have gotten used to the new music. It has a very different feel from other DCEU music and is very much an Elfman score with the high-pitched strings intermingled with Gothic choir. It’s still very heroic and the Heroes Theme has grown on me since I first heard it a few weeks ago.
We do at least get to hear a quick flash of Wonder Woman’s amazing theme but I hope we hear more of it in the movie itself; I also think they have not shown us much of Superman’s music until we see his resurrection on screen. You do hear a few moments mostly in Friends and Foes which is a darker version but I do hope we get to hear “What Will You Do When You’re Not Saving the World” which is more suited to this iteration of the character.
The stand out track is Final Battle which has the classic Batman Theme used to perfect effect and it shows up several times so this is more than just a nod to it.
There is also a cover of Leonard Coen’s classic Everybody Knows which is cool but not as good as the original and Come Together by Gary Clark which we’ve heard in all the trailers. I tend to skip these tracks and just want to hear the score.
Overall, Justice League isn’t a terrible score and hearing the classic Batman and Superman Themes is a plus but it’s an odd choice and it’s a shame it sounds so tonally different from what’s come before. I worry that the film will be a bit of a jumbled mess but I hold out hope that it will be awesome.