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With The Fantastic Four: First Steps, composer Michael Giacchino reaffirms his status as the most prolific composer in the history of Marvel Cinematic Universe. Having done three Spider-Man films, plus a Doctor Strange and Thor movie for good measure, in addition to the company’s current logo theme music (not to mention directing and composing the Werewolf by Night TV special), Giacchino is everywhere in this multimedia saga. Some younger moviegoers may even just associate him with his work in these comic book adaptations.
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Of course, that’s very much not so. Giacchino has been composing all forms of media (theme parks, TV shows, video games, etc.) for decades. His exploits in film have ranged across every genre imaginable and consistently deploy such impressive imagination, especially in the instruments they utilize. In honor of First Steps, let’s look at Giacchino’s five best scores as a film composer and the immense artistic virtues that make them such all-time classics.
1) Spider-Man: No Way Home
A chief complaint about MCU film scores is that they rarely utilize pre-existing themes for characters in movies like Captain America: Civil War. Giacchino’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is a spry assemblage of tracks that makes no bones about upending that norm. Since this film calls upon two decades of Spider-Man movie history, No Way Home’s score similarly gets some crowdpleasing fun out of exploiting pre-existing themes carved out by composers like Christopher Young, James Horner, and Danny Elfman. Giacchino even returns to his own Doctor Strange leitmotifs for the production.
Not only is it fun to hear an MCU score with a multitude of musical influences, but they all help to solidify this score, reflecting a teenage Peter Parker dwarfed by other imposing worlds. Giacchino’s work here builds on the past to create a terrific new soundtrack.
2) Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Though Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol was Giacchino’s second go-around in this franchise (following 2006’s Mission: Impossible III), it was his first time working with his frequent collaborator director Brad Bird in the world of Ethan Hunt. Bringing these two together always produces cinematic magic and Giacchino’s lively, energetic Ghost Protocol tracks were no exception.
Impressively, some of this composer’s greatest accomplishments on Ghost Protocol were in his restrained tendencies. “Love the Glove,” most notably, set Hunt’s ascent up the Burj Khalifa to a track that often relied on softer instruments (namely, a playful flute). In the process, the score subverted expectations for how an action movie could sound and let the towering imagery do the talking.
3) The Batman
Many of Giacchino’s best scores have been for lighter, bouncier movies like The Incredibles, Star Trek, or Super 8. He might not sound like the ideal person on paper to do the score for the grittier mystery movie The Batman.
In execution, though, Giacchino’s Batman score was an absolutely masterful marvel. Tracks like “Highway to the Anger Zone” rumbled with real vicious verve and angst, while other pieces nicely accentuated the ominousness of The Batman’s most tense, ominous set pieces. Even after Elfman and Hans Zimmer set the bar so high for Batman movie scores, Giacchino’s The Batman work was exceptional.
4) Speed Racer
Speed Racer is an old-school movie that makes no bones about its exciting, straightforward impulses. Michael Giacchino’s score is all too happy to back up those ambitions with a delightful collection of music full of bold, maximalist orchestral sounds.
Lengthy third-act track “Grand Ol’ Prix,” for instance, bolts and dashes through so many musical influences (including click-clacking espionage melodies to big, brash sonic reflections of emotional distress) in just over six minutes. Even the opening track, “I Am Speed,” is an eclectic number quickly running through whimsical sounds before ending on some triumphant horns. It’s all just the kind of ambitious, fun, and memorable score that a movie like Speed Racer needed.
5) Up
This entire list could’ve just been Giacchino’s Pixar scores. After he broke through as a film composer with The Incredibles, Giacchino has been a reliably excellent musician for Pixar in films like Ratatouille, Inside Out, Coco, and others. Up, though, is his magnum opus as a composer, Pixar-centric works or otherwise. That entire dialogue-free prologue that’s become so iconic for its poignancy gets so much power out of Giacchino’s “Married Life” track.
Director Pete Docter often jettisons dialogue for key Up scenes, allowing the animator and Giacchino’s animation to really step into the spotlight. It’s a smart maneuver that informs some of the film’s most effective tearjerker moments. Giacchino’s Up score is also a delight when it’s channeling old-school adventure movie influences. However, it’s in the pathos department that Giacchino’s Up work really finds its voice.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is in theaters now.
What’s your favorite Giacchino score? Let us know in the comments below!
