Michael Giacchino stole the 'Super 8' spotlight

Posted Monday, June 13, 2011 at 4:47 PM Central

by John Couture

Yes, I saw Super 8 this weekend. And no, this won't be yet another in a long list of glowing reviews of the Abrams/Spielberg collaboration.

Mainly because we really don't spend a lot of time on this site reviewing theatrical movies. Sure, we mention them from time to time, but we just don't have the man power or resources to do an adequate job reviewing theatrical films.

Instead, I'll be using the thrust of this article to highlight the person that really stole the show in Super 8. That would be none other than composer Michael Giacchino.

When you think of movies, you never start with the composer. Usually, you start with the stars, those actors and actresses that will be moving you with the mastery that they have achieved in their craft. Oftentimes, you will follow and go to see films solely based on the director or writer of a movie.

I know that I've been guilty of going to watch movies simply because Kevin Smith was involved in it or it was the latest Coen Brothers film.

But there's very few composers that would generate much of a buzz simply by their involvement with a project. In fact, I can think of only one composer whose movie scores would compel audiences to the megaplexes simply to see, nay hear, his latest creation.

That composer, of course, would be John Williams who is, bar none, at the top of his field. He is the undisputed "Gretzky" and there's no one even close.

How iconic is his work? Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jaws, E.T., Harry Potter and so on and so on. If there was a movie whose score really reached out and pulled you into the movie, there's a good bet that John Williams was involved.

Over the years, John has been a frequent collaborator with Steven Spielberg and I'm willing to go onto a limb and proclaim that a very fair amount of Spielberg's success is due to John Williams' mastery of simple melodies.

He is the master snake charmer and we are but simple serpents willing to follow him anywhere.

So, I was a bit surprised when I learned that Williams wouldn't be involved with Super 8, but I wasn't surprised to see Michael Giacchino's name there instead.

Many people are making the comparison between Super 8 director J.J. Abrams and a young Spielberg. They are even calling Super 8 the "passing of the baton" from one amazing director to his younger counterpart and that might be true, but the real story here is the emergence of Giacchino.

Much like the Spielberg/Williams partnership, Giacchino has worked with Abrams in practically every endeavor that J.J. has undertaken. I know for me personally Michael Giacchino became a household name for me through his work on Lost.

But, Michael hasn't just relied upon J.J. Abrams for work. He has undertaken work scoring movies and video games across a wide spectrum, covering just about every conceivable genre. In particular, he has had great success composing the scores for a slew of Pixar movies, including Up, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score.

There's no questioning the magic though when Abrams and Giacchino team up together. Much like Spielberg/Williams, they are a team that works well together and is almost unstoppable. I'm pretty sure that I'd watch an J.J. Abrams movie about paint drying as long as Michael Giacchino provided the score.

This belief finds even more indisputable proof in Super 8. Even before the Paramount logo fills the screen, Michael's haunting score sucked me right in. Much as he did in Lost, Michael is able to punctuate the climactic and action scenes by subtly nudging the audience's emotions without them even being aware of it.

In one fine example from Super 8, Giacchino is able to conjure up even the briefest moment of sorrow for Noah Emmerich's Colonel Nelec, who has been up until that fateful moment the movie's biggest baddie.

While John Williams has long been the undisputed king of composing for films, it seems that the competition is starting to close the gap a bit with such wonderful work in the last few years from the likes of Trent Reznor (The Social Network) and Hans Zimmer (Inception). Along with Michael Giacchino, these young and up and coming composers are insuring that films will continue to not only be an unparalleled visual experience, but also an auditory experience without match.

It remains to be seen if Michael Giacchino will ever reach the upper echelons that have until now been reserved for one John Williams, but if I were a betting man, I know where I'd lay down my money.