Review of Superman II (1980) by Billie P — 03 Aug 2013

Several events are happening in Superman II (1980/1981?) that could have been saved for other movies or cut altogether, and although they do not all quite fit together well, this sequel makes for a fun movie, way more thrilling than the first film even.

In this film, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) develops a contraption to find Superman's (Christopher Reeve) Fortress of Solitude, three space-punks from Superman's home planet visit Earth (first mistaken for the planet Houston), and Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) suspects Superman and Clark Kent are one and the same.

Wooh! The most suspenseful story line involves the space-punks, led by General Zod (Terence Stamp), and their attempt to take over the world and manipulate the Earthlings to get at Superman. Audiences will find themselves titillated by the beauty of the female space-punk Ursa (Sarah Douglas) who by far is the most attractive woman in the film.

A couple of oddities worth mentioning about the film are its preoccupation with issues related to status symbols and authority. For instance, the space-punks are fascinated by patches, badges, insignias on rugs, any mark that bears status.

From the four-star generals' stripes to the American eagle presidential seal, Zod and the gang want to know what kinds of loyalty these indicate and why the people think the symbols are so important.

Furthermore, re authority, the President (not the real one, of course) appears in the film, the people's strong dependence is highlighted, and the name Zod for the space-punk general is non-accidental, as indicated in a scene with the President kneeling before Zod (President: "My God"; Zod: "No, Zod").

I couldn't help think, however, that since Superman has no aspirations to rule, only to help, and Zod wants to rule but only asks complete submission to him, would the world be better off if Superman didn't fight Zod and let him rule the world? Judge for yourself.