The Amazing Spider Man 2 (soundtrack)

Release and promotion

Marc Webb, director of the film, revealed on July 20, 2013 that Zimmer would compose the music for the film, following James Horner, who composed the music for the first film. It was later revealed that they would be forming a supergroup with Pharrell Williams to compose the film's music. Zimmer revealed the film's main theme on April 4, 2014, saying that the film's score would be different from his previous work. The soundtrack was released on April 22 in two different versions. The standard version includes a single disc with fourteen tracks of score from the film and six songs by other artists that were both used in and inspired by the film. The deluxe edition features two discs, with the first containing only the score, but with six additional tracks (several score tracks also present in the standard edition are notably longer in the deluxe edition). The second disc includes four bonus score tracks, two of them character suites, as well as all of the non-score songs from the standard version, with two additional songs.

The soundtrack features two songs called "It's On Again" performed by Alicia Keys featuring Kendrick Lamar and a trap remix version of "You Know You Like It" performed by AlunaGeorge and DJ Snake which both serve as one of the film's main themes, as well as playing in the end credits.

Critical response

Reviews of the score were mostly positive, while still attracting criticism. AllMusic gave the score four stars out of five, saying "the soundtrack for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 echoes the sequel's frenetic, slick, and streamlined action, offering up 14 instrumental pieces and six non-score-related songs that dutifully reflect the measured and meticulous, corporate tie-in sensibilities of the traditional summer blockbuster while still managing to march to the beat of their own very loud drum."

Movie Wave gave the score four stars, writing "If you'd said to me while I was first listening to The Amazing Spider-Man back in 2012 (and writing about how much I hoped it might mark a return to a more traditional approach in general to these films) that two years later the sequel would come out and be scored by Hans Zimmer with dubstep, I'd probably have punched you in the face (well, if I weren't the world's most mild-mannered individual, anyway). I guess others will feel the same way. But open your mind to it: it's dazzling stuff." However, Filmtracks gave it one star out of five, heavily criticizing Zimmer's approach, judging "it is painful to hear a composer strive to innovate and yet miss the mark so badly on something so basic as the heart of the primary character." He compared the score with the predecessors in the Spider-Man franchise, writing that Danny Elfman's and James Horner's scores better "enunciate[d] the main character's emotions" with "highly effective themes for the title character and wrapped them in a tasteful blend of symphonic heart and synthetic intrigue", while the soundtrack of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is yet another score with the typical "'Zimmeresque' sensibilities, including brooding basslines, minor-third perpetuity, electronic elements in front of symphonic ones, simple thematic statements without counterpoint, limited shifts to the major key, lower choral depth, and long lines of ambient background sounds. In other words, yet another superhero comes to Zimmer rather than Zimmer addressing the actual character needs of the superhero."

KidzWorld gave it four stars out of five, opining "The Amazing Spider-Man had a soundtrack jam-packed full of gorgeous symphonic style melodies, so expectations were high for many Marvel fans when it came to the soundtrack for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Composer Hans Zimmer [has] created an incredibly different musical landscape for the movie, and it is just as surprising and interesting as the first soundtrack." Soundtrack Geeks gave the soundtrack 7 1/2 stars out of ten, feeling "All is not totally new territory for Zimmer. There's strong hints of earlier scores like Inception in cues like 'I Need To Know', but it is Zimmer after all, and rarely do we hear a score from him that's totally void of earlier Zimmerisms. I absolutely love this cue. 'You’re That Spider Guy' must be the ending theme or something because it feels like that kind of cue. It's got a little bit of everything and a new way to do the main Spidey theme."

Songs not included on the album