Zanobard Reviews

Michael Giacchino delivers a surprisingly restrained new webslinger soundtrack for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, with a fragmented Spidey theme, several lighter new motifs and a rather atmospheric feel keeping this a quieter entry overall – and if I’m honest, a bit of a duller one.

I absolutely adore Michael Giacchino’s theme for Spider-Man. It’s delightfully catchy, and its instrumental style so perfectly encompasses Peter Parker as a character; light and playful in its use of sprightly percussion and strings, but bold and dramatic when it needs to be with thunderously heroic brass. It’s superb, and it’s been amazing to see the journey of both Parker and his theme across movies so far – Spider-Man: Homecoming, Far From Home and No Way Home – with bolder, more confident instrumentation incrementally highlighting his growing maturity and character with each film and soundtrack. Now we’re onto the fourth entry, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and with it we’ve had almost a complete stylistic switch-up; Destin Daniel Cretton has taken up the directorial role, with cinematography and story shifting sizeably as a result, and a much darker tone emerging with a more mentally taxed and strained Peter Parker in the lead after the events of the last film. As such, I was intrigued to hear what returning composer Michael Giacchino would do with the music; now was the time I felt to really switch things up, to revamp his established theme to fit this four-films-strong but darker, more broken Spider-Man.

Now the day is upon us and the score for Brand New Day is out, so I can safely say that Giacchino certainly did change things. Let’s start with “Suite New Day”, where a solemn piano reflects Peter’s newly downtrodden and lonely character as forlorn notes of Spider-Man’s theme echo. Intriguingly moody synthesizer notes then follow, evoking a serenely ’80s, rather Vangelis-styled ambience that then swirls atmospherically with the piano. As the cue continues, percussion and strings then start to build alongside the above to introduce a new idea, a solemn yet also somewhat hopeful one that intertwines with Spider-Man’s as both rise with increasing grandeur over the course of the suite’s first four minutes. After that though things change as a more optimistic mood arises, with Spider-Man’s theme simplifying into four repeating notes on upbeat electronics. A ferocious explosion of triumphantly upbeat synth and percussion then follows, leaping heroically to the forefront and surging the newly simplified Spider-Man theme to incredible grandiosity until fist-pumping brass and strings bring the now thunderous ensemble to a powerful crescendo finish, with echoing piano notes closing the track.

All-in, it’s an intriguing start. Giacchino has spun Spider-Man’s theme very differently this time – the four note simplification is a stark change, to represent “pulling away all the pieces of Peter’s life that he doesn’t have anymore“, apparently – and I have to say I did not expect the ’80s Vangelis synth either. I will say though, I am slightly wary of the theme’s new four note structure as it’s hard not to see it as a regression of character (i.e. he already earned his full Spidey theme in prior films, do we have to take it away and make him earn it again?). But anyway. A lonely piano rendition of Spidey’s theme then opens the album proper in “Web Letter Days”, with solemn strings seguing into a similarly downtrodden take on both the love theme – from Far From Home – and loss (or responsibility) theme from No Way Home. Action then leaps into frame for the spectacular “A Good Day To Dive”, with the fragmented four note take on Spidey’s theme leading a brassily boisterous and particularly triumphant orchestra in the opening minute. Tense drums then start to overtake from here alongside anxious interspersions of Spidey’s theme, with a new and dramatically resolute motif for the Punisher also surging in – why Giacchino decided not to use Tyler Bates’ excellent established theme for the character is a shame, but oh well…

The subsequent “Possession Is Nine-Tenths Of The Brawl” then continues the action but with a darker, much more foreboding sound in centre stage as flurrying strings and dread-inducing brass encircle pounding drums for much of the four minute cue, debuting a rather sinister motif of sorts overall for Sadie Sink’s character (who I’ll name later in the review for context, so future SPOILER WARNING). A sterner, more professional tone then occupies “The Metzger Set” before the serenely piano-focused Spidey theme returns for the brief “Ned Man Walking” as well as the lengthier subsequent “Quick As A Flashback” with melancholic strings also playing centrally. After a plucked strings and moody brass ambience ripples through “Peter’s Walk Of Shame”, action returns to the forefront with “Settling Old Scorpions” as a brassily in-your-face motif for Scorpion does explosive percussive battle with anxious bursts of Spidey’s theme until finally hitting a ferocious crescendo. A gentle hint towards romance then sparks in the short “Come Fly With Me” before blossoming in the first minute of “Kiss Of The Spider-Man” as heartfelt piano and strings flourish hints toward Spidey’s theme alongside a rather longing new love theme.

At the ninety second mark however the mood then shifts, with repeating two-note flares of high-pitched strings once again evoking the unnerving sound of Sadie Sink’s villainous – for now, anyway – Jean Grey. It’s an eerie and rather menacing style overall, similar in fact to the slinking atmosphere that Danny Elfman established for Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman in his music for Batman Returns. But I place emphasis on the word atmosphere there as unlike Elfman’s theme, this Jean Grey sound doesn’t have much of an actual motif at all – more ambience and ominous tone really, which is a bit of a shame. Speaking of themes, Punisher’s ever-gritty one then returns in dramatically determined form for “Always Hulking About”, growling on intense brass as anxious action builds on pounding drums and frenetic strings. The tension also continues into the lengthy “Damage Control To Major Bomb” up next, with flurrying strings and brass building to a deafening crescendo in the first minute. Angry bursts of brass and percussion then thunder along until Spidey’s theme practically crashes into frame, with the orchestral ensemble then slowly fading to an uneasy close. Gentle piano hints towards the new love theme then surface through “Mask Me No More Questions”, with quiet string plucks echoing wistfully until the two minute cue fades out.

A grandly determined Spidey theme leads a brief charge in “Big Sister Energy” before solemn strings settle on stage. The sombre melancholy they evoke doesn’t last for long though as intensely horror-like strings spiral into thunderous action for the subsequent “A Brave Neural World” alongside rapid renditions of both the Punisher and Spidey themes on loudly anxious brass. Ominous action then continues in “To The V-Max” with the material for Jean reaching several increasingly malevolent crescendos, until frantic percussion overtakes for the thrilling “Fight The Hand That Bleeds You” with Jean’s motif thudding aggressively alongside. A standout moment then arrives for “I Spider With My Little Eye” as full orchestra practically roars with the full Spidey theme charging heroically on blaring brass – my only complaint is I wish this lasted longer, especially considering how fragmented and sparingly the theme has played so far. The Loss motif from No Way Home then reprises on sombre piano and strings for “Mi Cabeza, Su Cabeza” alongside further material for Jean, with Spidey’s theme also playing in similarly solemn form for “Say Hero To My Little Friend” on piano and Vangelis-styled synth. The score then fades to a gentle close in “Better Off Ned”, with a full reprisal of Spidey’s theme swelling on peaceful strings.

Overall, Michael Giacchino’s score for Spider-Man: Brand New Day is a curiously restrained entry in the webslinger’s musical franchise, and while I do like it, I’m hard pressed to say I love it.

The musical style is very different this time around, being much more melancholic and withdrawn with a forlorn and fragmented Spider-Man theme as its piano-focused core. Simplified to four notes for much of the album, the theme dances through many a dramatically anxious action high (“A Good Day To Dive”) as well as powerfully emotional lows (“Quick As A Flashback”), with the Loss motif from No Way Home and love theme from Far From Home also accompanying it albeit sparingly. In terms of new themes, the most notable are a boisterous piece for the Punisher (“A Brave Neural World”), some eerily slinking material for Jean Grey (“The Speed Of Thought”), and a swelling new air of romance in “Kiss Of The Spider-Man”. Unusually for Giacchino however, the latter ideas in particular are more atmosphere than tangible motifs and are used quite sparingly too, which combined with the fragmented and unusually sombre Spidey theme results in a score overall that’s sadly much more… anonymous than prior entries.

Indeed, I wouldn’t mind the melancholy too much if there were some really memorable new themes to hold it up here, but there aren’t (as the above ones are rather underutilised). Instead the score relies heavily on ambience and the four note simplification of the Spidey theme with the full version used quite sparingly, a shame considering how good a theme it is (seriously, it badly needed a big and boisterous rendition at the end). But positives at least; the orchestrations here are excellent and the tense action cues are quite good too – the thunderous “A Good Day To Dive” for example is phenomenal in its percussive and brassy aggression, as are “Possession Is Nine-Tenths Of The Brawl” and “Settling Old Scorpions”. I do also really enjoy “Suite New Day”, though it’s unfortunate that the Vangelis-styled ’80s synth doesn’t appear more on the full album.

All-in then, while the darker tone of the film itself does call for a warier and restrained sound, I do wish it had gotten a more impactful and memorable one. I enjoy the action and the orchestra, but it’s hard to escape the feeling that this Spider-Man soundtrack could have been stronger.

Perhaps it’ll grow on me.

Score: 7.5/10

Standout Cues: Suite New Day, A Good Day To Dive

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