Cranked this one out over the course of the week. Superman Returns was one of the earliest edits I ever attempted in my cruder amateur days, and now with more experience and a burst of inspiration, I’ve come up with what I hope is a worthwhile edit that helps make the movie more of a highlight reel for the man of steel and what he stands for than some dreary deconstruction
Changes include
-Pre-titles sequence using the scene where Lex raids the fortress
-Scenes rearranged, which includes inserting the last scene of the movie into a much earlier point, meaning Clark is aware right from the outset that Jason is his son. Instead of learning who he is on the boat, we learn it from Clark as he watches Jason in bed at Lois’ home (yes, I retained Stalkerman for narrative purposes), and Lois and Kal’s first meeting is after he visits Jason’s bedroom.
-Superman’s return to public service occurs with taking out the bank robber
-Lois’ bitchier moments trimmed and lessened so she comes off as more emotionally conflicted…she’s not mad at Superman, just dissapointed, and often wrestles with publishing a new piece about why the world needs him, it was important to place the scene where she can’t type up that piece before she meets Clark outside her home to demonstrate how conflicted she is on her opinion.
-Lois and Richard laughing at Clark cut
-Lex reading the paper skips over the Superman headline for reasons that’ll become clear as you read this cut list
-Clark and Lois’ rooftop meeting trimmed so the tension is lessened, at least until the moment they almost kiss. Lois is accepting of Clarks’ presence and they go for a flyby.
-Clark’s conversation with Martha moved along to just before he heads over to the Fortress to find the crystals missing
-Film proceeds as normal until Clark is hospitalised. Lois visiting him cut because…
-After Clark awakens, we cut to the new ending…the shuttle rescue
-Flyby over the earth trimmed significantly to properly synchronise with the music after Clark takes off from the stadium. Lois fainting cut.
Trailer:
password to view: fanedit
Edit should be available sometime in the coming few days. Will update when it is.