The Sound of Music

Comic books haven't been known for their sounds. We all recognize the written effects of "Snikt" or "Thwip", but since these are books there isn't exactly a soundtrack to what we are reading. That's one of the great things about comic books films, they can have terrific scores to compliment the characters. Captain America, Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man have had awesome scores crafted by musical geniuses. But lately there has been a trend of using established songs in these films. Today we're going to look at the use of music in two very different films. Guardians of The Galaxy. Suicide Squad. What's The Difference!?

When Marvel Studios announced they were doing a film on The Guardians of The Galaxy, even I-El Panel Biter-lifted by arms to the side and asked "Who". One Google trip and recollection of forgotten memories later I recalled The Guardians and their overall importance to Marvel's cosmic events. But if it wasn't the style, the fun, or the action of Guardians of The Galaxy that boosted it to B-List, it was the music. A collection of classic hits from the 1980's and earlier that weren't only fun to listen to, but they made sense. Every song was used for the right moments. Songs for fun, songs for romance, songs for togetherness, the overall soundtrack for Guardians was just as appealing as the characters. All of these songs-mind you-were on a tape called "Awesome Mix-Tape" which was made by Peter Quill/Star-Lord's mom and it is the only thing Peter held on to while he was growing up in space. The music is reflective of the love and chipper spirit he shared with his mother and every time a song plays it plays because he puts it on! It's natural, it makes sense, and it justifies why a Marvel movie would use known songs rather than a big orchestral score. By the time of this post the teaser for "Guardians of The Galaxy Vol. 2" is out and doesn't feature any new music, and we know that "Awesome Mix-Tape #2" exists at the end of the first film so there will be more music in the sequel. But by using a song from the last film they don't distract the viewer from what's happening in the teaser. And that's very important because Guardians uses their music in a way that you can still get the full effect of what's happening on screen. And as we're about to learn you don't want to distract the audience with music.

Suicide Squad was franchise suicide for Warner Bros. David Ayer had a concept for what he wanted the film to be, but after the negative response of "You v. Who" Warner went and told Ayer to make changes. Cut scenes, put in jokes, make it less dark. That's what the people want, right? More jokes. It can't have anything to do with the writers, editors, or-I don't know-that idiot we keep getting to direct these films! But I digress. Suicide Squad had quite the line-up of songs. It's hard not to notice. But unlike Guardians, Suicide Squad's playlist wasn't catered to one era of music or even one or two genres. No, Suicide Squad had modern, classic, rock and roll, rap, and dubstep. All the stuff the kids like, right? Just to match their Hot Topic style, Suicide Squad chose an array of music people like to hear and smashed them into the film. And I stress the word "smashed". None of the music is natural in the film, there isn't even a clever story element that justifies the soundtrack. There are moments were you think a character has a specific theme song, but then-CUT-a new song plays when another character shows up, completely cutting off the other song like pressing skip on an iPod. And without a real reason, we can only assume these songs were chosen simply because Warner Bros knows people like the songs. Then again, paying a composer and paying royalties to music artists probably equal out. Actually, you'd be spending less of the films budget if you just got one composer instead of passing cash out to modern day artists. So financially it was a bad move, but practically it was too! Suicide Squad uses it's robust soundtrack to distract you. To take your attention away from the poor edits and cuts to the film, and make you think it was "an okay film" because you liked the music. Maybe not on purpose, but you were subliminally numbed to the stupidity of that film by music. Music that actually took talent, time, and experience. Unlike Suicide Squad. When a film studio insists on spreading well-known songs over their film-in every damn scene-it is the equivalent to smearing peanut butter on a piece of toast as dark and solid as a hockey puck. Unless you're one of those weirdos who likes burnt toast.

So in the future, try to be wary of music you hear in comic book movies. Sometimes they fit into the story, sometimes they are used to cover mistakes. As long as you recognize the difference between a film and a two hour music video collaboration, maybe film makers will too someday!

Thanks for reading!

What's your favorite song? Comment below!