With the release of “Batman Begins" in 2005, director Christopher Nolan reframed the series with a true-crime grit. A stark push away from the cartoon-like Batman & Robin, Nolan's take revisited the darker tones established by Tim Burton's 1989 film and its 1992 sequel, Batman Returns.
Perhaps where the film took the greatest departure from previous cinematic was in its music. Before Batman Begins, the franchise was marked by a grand overture created by composer Danny Elfman. His theme is a slow build of major and minor keys that give way to a melodic rush and was recycled multiple times throughout the first two “Batman" films and their animated brethren. Batman Begins instead saw a pairing of two composer heavyweights in Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, Rain Man) and James Newton Howard (Michael Clayton). The two shied away from giving Batman Begins a more traditional superhero theme, and instead went for a score that seemed to live in the shadows that the film set out to explore.
There were recurring notes heard when Batman was on the screen, but they were simple, and more rhythmic in nature. It was a sound that explored the tension in nighttime scenes rather than celebrated the arrival of the main character -- a brief flurry of strings that would appear and disappear just as fast as Batman.
Though that description may not make it sound like music to the ears, it's still immensely listenable. It plays out like something from a horror film, with many a shift in direction and a nod to “Psycho." But all of it is tied together by a striking blow of strings that keep it from falling apart, and Zimmer said it bears a punk influence.
Hans Zimmer Brings Punk Attitude to Batman
Zimmer and Howard discuss the opposing characters, and their approach to The Dark Knight
