Soundtrack Review: Fantastic Four

By Mark Sung Jul 23, 2005, 22:23 GMT

As with any superhero movie there are certain expectations for the score, and John Ottman certainly delivers a memorable heroic theme for the movie, as introduced to us in the opening track ‘Main Titles.’ When you first hear it, the theme isn’t what you’d naturally expect for a superhero theme, but it still works well. With strong brass notes accompanied by a militaristic percussion, Ottman provides an action based theme that is very energetic and busy. Half way through, the theme is segmented by a piece led by strings and adult choral voices that help give it a more human touch.

With his use of a large orchestra and adult choral voices Ottman achieves moments of grandeur and awe in his themes and motifs. The track ‘Cosmic Storm’ begins with a piece that captures the wonder and excitement of the characters as they experience the views from the space station.  A heartbeat like percussion follows before choral voices and a busy string led perscusion rhythm emerge to convey the chaos of the disaster which eventually leads to the characters gaining their superpowers.

Following this is the track ‘Superheroes,’ which underscored the action scene on the bridge. This track also marks the first time the audience is introduced to the main theme during the movie, when the Fantastic Four work together to save the people on the bridge. The track ends in a solemn string motif to reflect the moment when Ben Grimm’s fiancée leaves him and when Reed makes his promise to help his friend return to normal.

The villain of the movie Dr. Doom also has his own motif, which is a variation of the main theme, dominated by a dramatic use of low choral voices which helps to convey the character’s power and threatening nature.  This motif can be heard during tracks such as ‘Battling Doom,’ ‘Bye Bye Ned’ and ‘Bon Voyage.’ It might have been nice to have heard a bit more development of the theme but then again the character of Dr. Doom hardly appears in the movie. After all, the first time the Fantastic Four actually fight Dr. Doom is also the last time.

The sound of the Fantastic Four score has a good level of grandeur provided by Ottman’s use of the orchestra and adult choral voices. John Ottman also provides a bold recognizable theme that works well during the heroic and triumphant scenes in the movie. Whilst some people might argue that there isn’t much else memorable apart from the main theme, considering how short and low on content the movie was, John Ottman has still managed to create a fitting superhero score that is enjoyable to listen to.