Music Composed by John Ottman
Rating: ***

John Ottman took his fair share of knocks over his score for the first Fantastic Four movie. A movie so dreadful it managed to make even Jessica Alba, with her blue contact lenses and chintz strawberry blonde wig, look good from far but far from good. Ottman’s score was no help. It was formless, hyperactive and in the end, completely uninteresting. Yet something miraculous has occured: the sequel score manages to improve upon (or blow away) the original, and, anchored by his stunning new “Silver Surfer Theme”, makes a completely satisfying listening experience.

Ottman to this point has proven reliably solid, even if his scores have sometimes dabbled in the derivative — an unfortunate side-effect of his self-proclaimed fanatic worship of film music. Ottman’s major problem is that he’s usually saddled with sad-sack films so dull (Superman Returns) or ridiculously inept (Fantastic Four) that they feel like hand-me-downs. Working in the comic book genre, chasing after trail-blazer Danny Elfman, Ottman has found himself trying to make flat moments feel vibrant, exciting and just possibly palette-able. Away from the movie, however, his Silver Surfer score manages to do all these things as just pure music. There’s a cohesive feeling here that was sorely lacking in Ottman’s previous Fantastic Four effort. It all comes back to that great “Silver Surfer Theme” , but Ottman also brings back and clarifies his strident original Four theme (”Pursuing Doom”), which strangely enough reminds me of Goldsmith’s “Bail Out” theme from Congo.

John Ottman

The action material here feels meatier, and actually feels like we’re hearing a clear musical idea from point A to B to C (”A Little Persuasion”, “Four In Once”). Take “Pursuing Doom” for example; there’s a manipulation of thematic material interpolated with genuinely thrilling action devices - brass runs, overpowering snares. This clear and straight forward writing continues to serve Ottman with “Chasing The Surfer”, where he deftly mixes his main Four theme with a contagious drum loop, punctuated brass and (admittedly pomopous!) chorus. Here he almost out-Powell’s John Powell! Despite this brief moment of Powell-ishness, the spirit of Goldsmith is very much alive in this score. Look no further than the Planet of The Apes-like rythms in “Camp Testosterone”, “Botched Heroics” (shades of Elfman here), the glowering brass figures in “Meeting The Surfer” and the myriad of quick percussion effects in “Springing The Surfer” (a disc highlight) which Goldsmith employed throughout his incredible career.

Never letting his major asset drift too far, Ottman brings back the Surfer theme again in “Someone I Once Knew”, this time slowing it down and churning it for maximum dramatic weight. It appears as though the theme is punctuated with an electronic blaster beam effect, appropriate considering the Goldsmith influences and that the Surfer character arrives from space (cue echo). There is a richness to the orchestrations here that I have not heard from Ottman previously. Yet, there is a certain amount of transparency as well, because the orchestra never sounds like a wave of sound, rather it sounds layered — each set of instruments can be clearly heard.

There are a few moments of comedic cuteness that do nothing if not keep the mood light. “Wedding Day Jitters” and “Sibling Switch” don’t ad much to this album’s oomph, but since the disc runs a perfect fifty-minutes, they don’t bloat things up either.

The album finishes strongly with “Silver Savior / Aftermath”, as a solid rendition of the Surfer theme and a final push from the brass and chorus give way to the warm “Gunshot Wedding”. A choral end tag “Noren Radd”, brings the album to it’s final close.

Sony’s package unfortunately does not include notes from the composer. In the past Ottman has shared his thoughts on each project both in liner notes and on his website. The recording and mixing is exceptional (and ahem, almost completely devoid of reverb), with the Hollywood union musicians sounding as good as they always do.

If there was any reason at all to make a second Fantastic Four movie I have to believe it was so that John Ottman could write this score. It certainly wasn’t because 18-34s were burning up Michael Chiklis discussion forums. Ottman’s score is, quite simply, too good for any Fantastic Four movie. In respect to his career, perhaps Ottman is right where he wants to be. As not only is he creatively channeling the spirit of Jerry Goldsmith, but just like Jerry once did, Ottman is scoring terrible movies.

Music Composed and Produced by John Ottman; Orcehstrated by John Ottman, damon Intrabartolo, Frank Macchia, Rick Giovinazzo, John Ashton Thomas and Sean McMahon; Conducted by Damon Intrabartolo; Recorded and Mixed by Casey Stone; Label: Sony Classical, (10888-2); Availability: In-print; U.S. Release Date: June 19, 2007.

01. Silver Surfer Theme (4:21)
02. Galactus Destroys / Opening (1:53)
03. Pursuing Doom (3:12)
04. Wedding Day Jitters (1:21)
05. Chasing The Surfer (2:32)
06. Camp Testosterone / Meeting The Surfer (3:35)
07. A Little Persuasion (2:07)
08. Botched Heroics (4:36)
09. Someone I Once Knew (2:24)
10. The Future / Doom’s Deal (2:58)
11. Sibling Switch (1:41)
12. Outside Help (2:38)
13. Springing The Surfer (1:57)
14. Doom’s Double Cross (2:41)
15. Mr. Sherman / Under The Radar (1:55)
16. Four In Once (3:04)
17. Silver Savior / Aftermath (5:55)
18. Gunshot Wedding (1:18)
19. Noren Radd (0:49)

Total Playing Time: 50:57