The Dark Knight Rises' Soundtrack thoughts.

by Luke Jones

I wasn’t initially the biggest fan of Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s work on Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan’s grounded reboot of the Batman film franchise. After the extravagance of Danny Elfman’s work on the Burton Batmans (Batman Returns in particular, coming so soon after Edward Scissorhands for the director and composer team, is a particular gothic favourite of mine) I felt the score was lacking an iconic theme for the caped crusader, and too often degenerated into generic action beats and melodramatic orchestral swellings. However The Dark Knight was a vast improvement, and the simple two note motif that has become ‘the Batman theme’ (you can almost sing Baaat-man! along with it) has grown on me over time. 

With Inception ranking as one of my favourite scores of the past few years, I’ve been eager to hear what Hans Zimmer would cook up for the last of the Nolan Bat-flicks. Here are some of my initial thoughts from my first listen of the soundtrack, which is up at empireonline.com now (click here to go there).

Note: I don’t think any of the track titles are particularly spoilery, but you may wish to avoid them if you want to remain completely virginal.

Track 1: A Storm is Coming - As with the previous two films we have that heartbeat sound that usually precedes a Batman appearance. A short track.

Track 2: On Thin Ice - Is that title a link back to Bruce Wayne’s training all the way back in Batman Begins? Either way this is a moody, string-heavy track that sets up a bleak tone early on.

Track 3: Gotham’s Reckoning - Here it seems we have the Bane suite. Already heard in snippets for most of the trailers released so far, Bane’s theme is all complex driving percussion in 5/4. It all builds up to a crescendo with chanting in what I assume is Russian, and some heavy strings. It’s a suitably aggressive and tribal sound for the new villain, and a nice contrast to the atonal sounds used for the Joker in the last film.

4: Mind If I Cut In? - If track 3 was the Bane suite then this sounds like the one for Selina Kyle / Catwoman. Slinky strings give way to a melody played out on piano, with strings and percussion keeping time underneath. 

5: Underground Army - This subdued track begins with a throbbing John Carpenter like synth bass line that reappears throughout the album. The two note Batman 'swell' appears a few times before a build up to the 'heartbeat' sound. 

6: Born in Darkness - The first big statement of the Batman theme that has been a big part of the previous films. Again the track diminishes before closing out. 

7. The Fire Rises - After a few subdued tracks this opens big, and is clearly a cue for a big action scene. Full of complex rhythms, the whole orchestra gets a work-out, with occasional statements of the Batman motif. After retreating back to low horns and synths,  a hint of nightmarish strings build into full blown orchestral bombast and the reappearance of the Bane chant. A stand-out track.

8: Nothing Out There - A return to the background synth work. Not that The Dark Knight was very different, but there’s a real elegiac feel to the background cues throughout. A piano statement of what I think of as the ‘nostalgic Batman theme’ merges into strings before the close. Beautiful queue. 

9: Despair - Opens with fast strings over the Batman heartbeat. After a big statement of the Batman motif the strings settle into a low driving rhythm. This track sounds very Batman Begins, complete with MASSIVE BATMAN MOTIF STATEMENT (definitely a hero shot in the film). More dissonant strings go into a short version of what I think of as the Batman Begins suite.

I also like how the strings sound a little Dr Who-like at the end.

10: Fear Will Find You - Big opening goes quickly into the percussive Bane theme. A definite action queue. A few statements of the Batman motif before we hear the Bane chant. Loving the angry tribal sense to all of the Bane stuff. Expect to hear this a lot on Top Gear / overblown sports montages in the coming months. 

Things quieten down to urgent strings and more quiet Batman motifs. 

11: Why Do We Fall? - I like the title for this track. Do we think Michael Caine might be dispensing some advice here? Driving orchestral build-up, very stirring. Some disguised statements of the Batman motif. Sounds like a turn-around moment in the film.

12: Death by Exile -A very short track that is mostly dissonant sounds. Reminds me of the Joker theme from Dark Knight (but definitely not the same theme before anyone starts getting excited).

13: Imagine the Fire - Back to action. Heavy percussion underlies video game style strings. The whole track has a boss fight feel to it. Hans Zimmer’s presence is definitely felt with the orchestral rhythms overlaid onto pulsing John Carpenter synths. 

Eventually develops a very deep growling brass theme that sounds like a car revving. Sensing some digital distortion somewhere along the line.

This is a long, exhausting track that builds into a bombastic horns and strings section with the Bane chant heard above, before ending with a death-toll (make what you will of that, Bat-speculators). 

14: Necessary Evil - Ominous dissonant strings and deep synth go into the Batman theme. Goes into sad Batman strings. 

Finishes up with quite an ethereal section with synthy pads. 

15: Rise - The big finale opens aggressively. Lots of complicated rhythms and Batman motifs go into the Batman theme. Fades to a mournful solo voice over deep synth that almost sounds like its about develop into John Williams’ Schindler's List theme. 

The nostalgic Batman theme rears its head before the tone begins to lift. Wasn't this what played at the end of The Dark Knight? Except this sounds a bit heavier on the strings. One more final determined statement of Batman theme before some lonely sounding synth pads close out the track. 

So final thoughts? Well there were no Inception-style braaahms, which is a little disappointing (I do love those braaahms) but otherwise it’s a suitably epic, violent score that offers few surprises but definitely ramps up the excitement. I like the work for Bane and Catwoman, and there are some very good action cues too. Now all I have to do is wait for the images to accompany the sounds on July 20th.