The Dark Knight

A gritty take on the legend of comic hero Batman requires an equally dark musical backdrop. Accordingly, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s score for the 2008 Christopher Nolan film is aggressive and ominous, akin to orchestrated industrial music, with racing tempos and apocalyptic undertones. Zimmer purposely uses just two notes as a recurring motif to convey tension, while the score periodically revisits the galloping theme “Molossus”, which had originated on the previous film in the series, Batman Begins, to create on-edge continuity between movies. In “Why So Serious?”, the theme song for the diabolical Joker character, Zimmer conveys creepiness by dragging razor blades across strings, warped sonics that pair well with uneasy electric cello, guitars and a string section. Yet The Dark Knight also boasts enough shades of grey that the soundtrack offers surprises. “Like a Dog Chasing Cars” alternates periods of near-silence with majestic orchestral passages to evoke a sense of dread, while Newton Howard’s almost tranquil “Harvey Two-Face” pairs surging brass and placid strings to capture the character’s personality.