The Dark Knight Rises

If you're like me (a die hard Hans Zimmer fan) then you were definitely waiting quite awhile for this score’s release with eager anticipation. For me it was 2012’s most anticipated score. Yes, even more than The Hobbit. You probably accessed it the day it was published which I did; being one of the few scores I listened to before seeing the motion picture. After Batman Begins, and its groundbreaking sequel The Dark Knight, I must say, it had a lot to live up to. The question of whether or not it did remains a question. 

Zimmer established some of the core Dark Knight Trilogy cues right in the opening titles Vespertilio of the first installment of the trilogy. The rather repetitive, dark, and yet effective approach to batman distanced himself from Danny Elfman’s approach 20 years earlier. The main action theme, Molossus, carried the action of the movie so far forward that Elfman has been forgotten. The point is that Hans did something new with Batman Begins; a score that at least I can say I've never heard before. With The Dark Knight, he expanded on those themes making them clearer, darker, and more complete. The Joker theme, while eerie, effectively accompanied The Dark Knight’s nemesis through the second installment  Hans Zimmer did something creative and new. He didn't just write a sequel score, but a whole new work of art entirely. 

But of course, this isn't a Batman Begins or Dark Knight review so on to Hans Zimmer’s third installment The Dark Knight Rises. My feelings “off the bat”: I’m disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, this is a decent score. The score effectively moves this movie along, but I have come to expect more than just that from the best film music composer of the early 21st century (in my opinion). The score is muddied, too repetitive of previous cues, and lacks clarity. Most of all, it misses James Newton Howard sorely. 

James Newton and Hans worked together for the previous two installments. In a nutshell, Howard brought tenderness and emotion to the first two films through songs like Corynorhinus and Harvey Dent Two-Face. The soft solo piano theme surrounding Bruce’s past and his decisions are the key elements that propel the films into more than just normal super hero flicks. There are real emotions and real issues here, and Howard was key to helping the audience see that.

For the Dark Knight Rises, Howard leaves, and what we have left is a very Zimmer score. Howard’s theme is seen once in Nothing Out There, but that’s it. It’s never expanded on, changed, or used to the same impact. Here is where I was most disappointed. To me, what made the first two scores great was the integrated fast paced, electronic/orchestrated, minimalistic action-themed cues with strong and yet simple emotional themes interwoven with the sequences of the film.

Now on to the score itself. I won’t review every song, just the ones that stuck out to me.

Gotham’s Reckoning reveals Bane’s theme to its fullest extent. It features a chorus of chanting, which is steadily repeated over and over again. This is the main new theme that Zimmer created for this film. To one extent I liked it, but to another extent I didn't  To start off, it gave The Dark Knight Rises’ villain a sense of scale. Bane is the people rising up against the rich governing elite class and the dark chanting chorus successfully represents, in a sense, Bane’s plurality.  Bane is not the villain. His ideas are. War against law, order, and institutional justice. The chant communicates that it isn't just Bane who brings war, but the people as well. The problem is the theme never went anywhere. It’s repeated over and over again throughout the score, but it never changes. A true theme magnifies as characters change and stories unravel. It grows more clear and most importantly more bold. I would have been at least more satisfied hearing the same thing in a different way, but no. Overall the theme fulfills its purpose, but doesn't go beyond.

With the addition of the new female lead, Selina Kyle, a new theme is needed for Batman’s complex friend/foe.  Mind if I Cut In?’s light, high-pitched, fluttery piano perfectly matches the essence of the Catwoman. Cat burglars aren't supposed to be heard. Zimmer’s piano theme lightly jumps around thoroughly emphasizing Kyle’s sleekness. We hear the theme again in the latter part of Fear Will Find You, but just like Bane’s theme, we don’t see change, build up, or resolution. While I grant Bane never changes in the film, so his theme going unchanged is acceptable, I believe Zimmer really missed it with Kyle’s theme. Being one of the more interesting characters of the film, Kyle dramatically changes from the start to end; first believing that theft is justified because of social injustice and that the powerful rich class are the cause of misfortune, she changes later as she sees the cause and effect of her ideas played out. Because of this, I would liked to have seen her theme intensified and blown up, so we can more clearly see her transition.

Finally, Why Do We Fall?, which, simply put, is the best song of the score. Emotionally gripping, fast paced, and grand; bringing scale and pulse to the film. The song magnificently builds and builds in a clear and concise manner. One of Zimmer’s highlights for the trilogy.

Despair deserves a brief mention. Taking one of the main cues, it draws it out quite a bit in a loud brassy tone ending rather triumphantly. Epic song. I love the change.

While some will be horrified, the main action themes The Fire Rises, Imagine the Fire, No Stone Unturned, and Risen From Darkness all run together for me. I wasn't impressed one bit. If you listen, you’ll see that they’re rather muddied, unclear, and repetitive; a mish-mash. One theme would start developing and then it would cut short. I found the electronic throbbing noises irritating. The themes used were the same as previous films. When the Bane theme was heard it never changed in a way that’s appropriate for an effective action sequence.


At last, Rise. I must say, I was super psyched when I saw the title to this song. My hope was that Zimmer was going to knock it out of the park with just about the most epic conclusion song ever. It was epic, but not new. 1m - 1m 30sec is a direct cut from Barbastella, while the rest is a near cut from A Dark Knight besides being slowed up a bit. So while it is an epic song, we have nothing truly new. The End is simply a remixed version of Rise played in the credits.

"Fell short in many ways 
to effectively go beyond 
simply accompanying the film"

In the end, I grant this score 2.5 stars. A good score which did its purpose, had a couple memorable moments, but fell short in many ways to effectively go beyond simply accompanying the film. I do want to make one last note: I appreciated that Water-Tower Music released a much larger portion of the complete score than is usual for Zimmer scores. You’ll hear my rant about incomplete scores when I review The Prince of Egypt, Batman Begins, and The Village.