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Director Bryan Singer has resurrected the Superman franchise to somewhat mixed results.  Picking up five years after Superman II, Superman Returns starts off slow and then builds and builds until the end where it falls apart.  Singer’s film is overly ambitious and while it works for 85% of the film, there is a good section that falls flat.  Fortunately, the relatively unknown Brandon Routh isn’t one of those reasons the film fails.  Same goes for the soundtrack.  Composer John Ottman brings the original themes from the original John Williams soundtrack but at times relies too heavily on them.

Since Singer borrowed liberally from the Donner films, it only makes sense that Ottman would borrow liberally from Williams score.  Hearing the John Williams’ trumpet blare out the again sends chills down a fans spine and leaves a big goofy grin across their face.  Ottman realizes how iconic the theme for Superman is and clings to that closely trotting out the theme whenever he needs a big moment. 

That’s not to say that Ottman’s score is completely dependent on the themes from the Williams’ score.  John Ottman creates a bold soundtrack that keeps the experience exciting.  Highlights are the rousing “Memories” which plays over the childhood memories of Clark growing up on the Kent farm.  “How Could You Leave Us?” beautifully flows from one moment to the next.  “So Long Superman” builds quickly with lots of tension and is my favorite number on the CD.

There is also a fairly decent amount of enhanced content.  First up are two Superman Returns trailers, which are great fun and make you want to see the movie all over again.  There is a quick ‘Behind-the-scenes: Superman Returns Score’ which gives you a brief look at the making of the score which will surely be on the DVD release.  Also included is a trailer for the “Look Up in the Sky: Amazing Story of Superman”.  Lastly there are some liner notes by John Ottman talking about what a dream it is to do the score for Superman.

Fans of the film will want to own this.  It works better having seen the film as you have some idea of how the music fits into the movie.  Ottman’s score plays off of the iconic moments from the film without becoming a shallow retread.  Ottman doesn’t have the same level of talent that Williams does, but he has created a score that is sure to please fans everywhere.

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