Batman Returns

Track Listing

01 - Birth of a Penguin (2:27)

02 - Birth of a Penguin (3:09)

03 - The Lair (0:57)

04 - The Lair (4:49)

05 - Selina Transforms (1:11)

06 - Selina Transforms (4:16)

07 - The Cemetery (2:54)

08 - Cat Suite (5:41)

09 - Batman Vs. The Circus (2:34)

10 - The Rise and Fall From Grace (1:41)

11 - The Rise and Fall From Grace (4:08)

12 - Sore Spots (2:15)

13 - Rooftops (4:19)

14 - Wild Ride (3:34)

15 - The Children's Hour (1:47)

16 - The Final Confrontation (5:12)

17 - The Final Confrontation (4:54)

18 - The Finale (2:40)

19 - The Finale (2:19)

20 - End Credits (4:44)

21 - Face to Face (4:17)

Orchestrated by Steve Bartek

Conducted by Jonathan Sheffer

Produced by Danny Elfman, Steve Bartek, Steven Hague,

Tim Burton, and Gary Le Mel

Released by Warner Bros. Records on June 23rd, 1992

Total Running Time: 68:58

After the success of the first Batman movie, Tim Burton, Danny Elfman, and Michael Keaton all returned to their respective positions for the inevitable sequel. With the next installment, the Batman franchise took a decidedly darker turn that turned some off to the film. It's not that Batman Returns is a bad movie. Even though it is inferior in many ways to the original (though some would disagree), it is definitely a lot better than the two sequels that Joel Schumacher vomited out. It still could have done with a bit more tweaking to the script, however.

With the change of tone in the film, Danny Elfman's score also slightly departs from the formula of the original score. Probably the most apparent change is the Batman theme which all but disappears in this score. It's not particularly Elfman's fault as Batman had less screen time in this film and some of the cues that would have balanced this out were left off the CD release. Still, aside from the opening fanfare, the theme doesn't appear until track seven. Even then, the theme never achieves the power that it had in the first score. The themes for the Penguin and Catwoman are the most dominant here. Of those two, the Penguin's is the most melodic and mournfully beautiful, and Elfman pretty much drives the score with it. Again, the nature of the film pretty much demanded this, but a lot of fans were disappointed with this change in direction.

The most interesting aspect of the score is the whole "Christmas" sound that Elfman embellishes in the music. It has a decidedly Edward Scissorhands type feel to it, and this really helps to lift the score to a level it would not have achieved otherwise. Given the dark tone of the film, this allows Elfman to delve into some Herrmann-esque string sequences that work beautifully (just witness the opening of "End Credits"). It also allows him to compose some really nice choral moments that figure far more proximately in this score then they did in the original, which is a great improvement. The chorus work is featured in what are some of the best tracks on the CD.

To be sure, this score does have its less-than-stimulating sections. After the opening titles, the cues skip straight ahead to the scenes detailing Selina Kyle's transformation into Catwoman. Given that Catwoman's theme (and thus the subsequent cues) are comprised of off-kilter orchestrations with sections that attempt to emulate cat noises, these tracks can get irritating. Even more so considering some of the better cues left off the soundtrack release.

Thankfully, by the ninth track things start to pick up, but still, with the Penguin's theme becoming the focal point, some may not consider this to be the case. Elfman twists the theme around in a lot of good ways and there are a lot of good cues that take this into account ("The Rise and Fall From Grace" sequence being one of the best), but the power of what was present in the first score doesn't become apparent until track 16. And does it ever become present. This is easily the best track on the CD and for me it's almost worth the cost alone. Elfman raps things up nicely with the "Finale" and the end credits sequence closes things out again with a reprise of the Batman theme.

This is actually a more complex score than the first one, but this is exactly why it split fans down the middle. It is quite a good score, but it falls just short of achieving the overall quality of its predecessor.