5. The Music In The Trailer Feels More Appropriate
Oh, God: I'm pretty sure I'm going to get a paddlin' for this one, but here goes nothing. Don't get me wrong: Hans Zimmer is one of my all-time favourite composers, and though I'd agree that he can get a little samey sometimes and that he's guilty of self-plagiarism, there's no denying that the man has talent. In fact, I even felt like his
Man of Steel score contained some of his best ever compositions. There are some
great musical cues. In my opinion, though, his score here was far too bombastic for the movie it was attached to: for an origin story, and an introduction to this new world and take on Superman, I think Zimmer went a little overboard. Sure, the crashing horns and drums have since become his trademark, and we all knew it was coming having heard his recent work, but the movie itself felt like it was occasionally going to explode under the weight of his score. In the trailer, Craig Armstrong's stirring "Storm" feels better-suited to the concept of this movie as an origin story, and of Clark Kent
becoming Superman. I know it was written for another movie entirely, and was put in the trailer as placeholder until Zimmer's music was complete, but - in this instance - I prefer it. And "Elegy" by Lisa Gerrard, the vocal track you can hear at the beginning of the trailer, perfectly ingrains the trailer with an emotional resonance that Zimmer's score tries much too hard to implement. Which brings us to...