SOUNDTRACK REVIEW: Batman Forever by Elliot Goldenthal

Batman Forever

Elliot Goldenthal.  Haven’t heard much of him after he won the Oscar for Frida.  He was on a roll in the 90s with such scores as Interview With the Vampire and other dark scores.  His popularity at the time made him the clear choice to carry on the score for the Batman franchise.  To the dismay of Batman fans like me, Goldenthal didn’t carry over Elfman’s beloved Batman Theme.  Even so, Elliot’s theme kept the gothic sense allowing it to pass as Batman’s new theme. 

The “Main Titles” includes the forgettable fanfare but closes with the weirdest percussion derived from Demolition Man.  If you’re not used to Elliot’s style then Batman Forever is a score to reject already.  His weird, electronic percussion has no consistency to it other than to annoy.  “Perpetuum Mobile” is less than a minute long but given its length you’d think it wouldn’t end.  The song has no logical flow to it and only introduces the listener to what is to come.  “The Perils of Gotham” spares the listener with its tense mood in a scene where Batman hangs from a helicopter and ends with a string variation of the Batman theme.

“Chase Noir” is not a chase track as the title suggest but rather a jazzy, noir theme for Nicole Kidman’s character.  This is the only time we hear this theme.  Another theme is introduced in “Nygma Variations.”  If you can survive this track all the more power to you.  This is by far more annoying than “Perpetuum Mobile.”  The track is chaos as is the scene it represents but Elliot uses his chaotic style beyond the limit here with the most horrid choice of electronics and instruments.  It’s a bunch of noise assembled together without thought as to what the finished product is supposed to be.  An eerie violin solo plays in the middle of all this chaos along with pizzicato!  In coherent to the max!  This is six minutes of ear-drum torture.

I’ve only described the first six tracks and there’s still twelve more to go!  “Victory” hosts the peril theme carried throughout the album occasionally as a prelude to the new Batman theme.  The track is made annoying by the awful horn shrills Elliot employs over and over again.  “Under the Top” is an absence from the chaos with its circus feel to it but not for long.  The rest of the album feels like it could have been cut down since its music we’ve heard before.

A couple of things crossed my mind when I listened to this score.  First, where did Elliot get some of those track names?  Second, why wasn’t there a reprise of Elfman’s Batman Theme?  The next Batman score – Batman and Robin – is an improvement over this one, but the music is so repetitive and occasionally annoying that it’s no wonder Batman and Robin wasn’t guaranteed a score release after Batman Forever. 

I know it’s almost contradictory for me to mention I am a Goldenthal fan since I was hard on him on this score. Well, truth is that I am.  His style and art, however, wasn’t bearable to me until it matured to Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Titus and Frida.  Now those are great Goldenthal works especially the epic score of Final Fantasy.  So for those who complain about the non-release of Batman and Robin, consider your selves spared

*Thinks “Gotham City Boogie” and shivers* 

My rating: 2 ½ stars