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After the work I did on Batman Forever (and before I forget, R.I.P. Val Kilmer), it was only a matter of time before I tackled another sequel in the original Batman lineup. This time around, I decided to work on the 1992 Tim Burton-directed sequel, Batman Returns.
Now, I like Batman Returns a lot more than Batman Forever. For that reason, this edit is gonna be a much more lightly cut endeavor than my previous work. However, there are certain things I did to try and improve it a little more.
As I gave the film a rewatch, it seemed to me like the crucial make-or-break element in the film was the Penguin. Whether you like the film or not depends on how you feel about his fate at the end. He’s like the rug in The Big Lebowski. He really ties the room together, man. And because of that, I decided to base a lot of my editing decisions on trying to improve Mr. Cobblepot, and to bring his tale to its most tragic effect. This meant cutting things out that were irrelevant to him, or placing certain scenes elsewhere to structure the film around him better, and finally, cutting out a scene or two that affected his character arc and/or storyline negatively.
Most of the changes I’ve made occur at the beginning of the film, but there are a few changes I’ve made in the middle that I feel make the more villainous aspects of the Penguin more gradual than sudden. For example, I wasn’t a huge fan of the scene where the Penguin bites off the nose of one of his mayoral staff members. I felt like that affected the goodwill that he had built up in the first half of the film, and it would make more sense if his character gradually turned evil instead of just “Oh, I was evil all along! Mwahaha!” I trimmed out the second half of that scene for that reason. I also cut out a couple exposition heavy scenes (after the lessons I learned from my Paradox edit), especially near the end, as we don’t need a thorough explanation about his plan to kidnap the firstborn. It’s more effective if he reveals it to the public after his attack on the ballroom instead of dumbing it down for the masses.
But the question I’m sure most people who saw my Batman Forever edit are asking is this: Did I play around with the color grading on this edit too?
And the answer to that question is: Yes I did. Yes I did.
This time around, I decided not to go with the yellow-cyan-magenta color palette of Forever because the look and aesthetic are completely different. This time around, I decided to keep the blues saturated with a slight desaturation on cyan and purple to give the color grading a little more personality. Otherwise, all of the warmer colors are designed to be as desaturated as possible, leaving mostly cold colors to be the most colorful moments of the edit, which is perfect. As Alfred himself says in this film, “It’s supposed to be cold.”
Anyway, that’s all I want to say about the edit for now. Time to go to work.
Changes List
– = Deleted
/ = Altered
++ = Added
–Cut out Alfred’s criticism of newspapers
–Removed Selina’s Corn Dog line
/Moved Selina realizing she forgot Shreck’s speech notes to before Shreck meets the crowd
++SFX: Added more applause sound effects during Shreck’s conversation with his son
++SFX: Added more applause sound effects during Shreck’s realization that Selina forgot his speech notes
–Taken out Bruce Wayne seeing the bat-signal
–Trimmed out Max Shreck’s reaction to the demon clown and running away
/Moved Shreck’s first meeting with the Penguin towards the middle of the battle instead of after for greater emphasis on the Penguin’s importance to the plot
–Trimmed out some of Batman’s disarming of the Red Triangle gang, including setting the demon guy on fire
–Removed Gordon’s congratulations towards Batman and the realization that they don’t know where Max Shreck is
–Cut out the “I am Catwoman, hear me roar” scene
–Trimmed out the second half of Penguin finding out he’s running for mayor. Includes his introduction to his associates, biting the associate’s nose, inappropriate comments towards a female, and discussion with Max Shreck
/Moved Catwoman’s vandalising of the Shreck store and meeting with the cops to the beginning of the Red Triangle attack sequence instead of the middle
–Cut Penguin’s creepy sexual innuendo to one of his female supporters
++SFX: Added applause sound effects in the transition between Penguin’s “Thank you” and his climbing up the stairs
–Trimmed out Penguin telling his gang how he’s going to kidnap the children and his killing of the dissenting clown
–Deleted Penguin telling Shreck his plan to kill the firstborn and him
I have altered Lucas’ visions. Pray I don’t alter them any further.