Review of Superman II (1980) by Todd A — 05 Jul 2012

Superman 2 might not meet the standards set by the original, as it suffers from poor directional choices by both its makers. Where Superman 1 had a story to tell Superman 2 is just a big dumb action flick, but a fun one.

100 Days of Superheroes.

Day 6: Superman 2.

"You see there is only one Superman but three super villains....or four if you count him twice!".

Superman ended up becoming the first financial and major critical hit for the superhero genre. This just meant that it was time to cash in on those positive reviews and put out a sequel.

Originally this film was meant to be shot back to back with the original but postproduction complications and reshoots of the original delayed the production of the second. In the end Richard Donner, the mind behind the 1978 film, only managed to complete around 50% of the footage for Superman 2. After a falling out with the studio, he was replaced by Richard Lester. In order to gain directors credit Lester had to have at least 70% of the footage be his own, resulting in a cutting of 20% of Donners footage and lots of reshoots.

Why mention this? Because the separate footage led to two releases of the film with over a 20% footage difference. The Theatrical Release (Lester director credit) and the Richard Donner Cut (Donner director credit). In order to get a real solid take on the film I decided to review both films.

Though they have their unique qualities the same basic plot is depicted in both versions. Superman while preventing some disaster accidentally releases four Krypton survivors who were placed in a prison called the "Phantom Zone" by Superman's father (Portrayed by Marlon Brando in the Donner Cut). The three villains make the inconvenient decision to invade earth just as Supes decides to hang up his cape for good, ridding himself of his god-like powers.

Reeves reprises his role as the Man of Steel and Margot Kidder returns as Lois Lane, who this time around is dedicated to figuring out who Superman really is (because she's was too stupid too put it together the first time around). Here Superman is suffering with his clashing Krypton and Human identities that lead him to discard the former. He has a lot more going on internally, almost to the films fault as some parts are not played so convincingly and are rushed.

The evil Krypton villains, led by General Zod (Terrance Stamp) are all played by the same actors that were shown in the opening sequence of the first movie. Even with three villains, the film still throws in a forth one with Gene Hackman returning as the heroes arch nemesis Lex Luthor. He is just as humorous as in the original and his presence is welcomed as a more cunning villain to balance out the prowess of the others as he helps them to hunt down Superman.

But Terrance Stamp plays the leading villain of General Zod. He would later return to the Superman mythos in the TV show Smallville, portraying Jor-El, Superman's father. His first time around though he plays the strategically strong armed general who can't wait to conquer worlds and beat people up. Unlike Superman 1 he works as a great physical threat, able to beat up Superman without the help of a sparkly green rock. His acting may be a little hammy at time, but it works.

Superman 2 fortunately has the same greatly written characters and chemistry between them, unfortunately it falls apart in terms of the special effects. Superman 1 limited the effects to prevent it from becoming like the corny TV shows. Here Lester was feeling much more ambitious and the technology just wasn't there yet. As a result Superman 2, though it was released later, looks more dated than the original did.

Speaking of ambitious, the script also is a bit more heavy. It has less goofy moments and tries to be taken more serious. As a result the film again becomes just more unwieldy. Superman was just to weird and absurd to take in that light. Both the Donner and Lester versions suffered from this.

As for which film is better, Richard Donner Cut or Theatrical? They are both about the same. There are some things I really liked about Donner's version and some things I liked more in the Lester vision. Donners suffers from more incomplete effects and some tacked together scenes due to missing/incomplete footage while Lester likes to make up new powers on the spot. Yet both of them stand on their own well enough and I cannot recommend one over the other.

Overall Superman 2 does not even begin to meet the standards of the original, brought down by effects and poor directional choices by both creators. It is still good entertainment though and a fun follow-up that doesn't embarrass the makers. Unlike the smart Superman 1 which felt like it had something to say, Superman 2 really is a just big dump action flick, but a well made, if dated one.