Review of Superman II (1980) by Xcv V — 05 Apr 2011

Superman 2 is a great sequel in the Superman franchise, that in some area's succeed over the first movie.

General Zod is portrayed by Terrance Stamp, Stamp's performance seems to lack the emotion of what you'd think of a power hungry Tyrant, He does a good job nevertheless but personally I MYSELF would have wanted a bit more of an enthusiastic performance.

I love that there's is also alot more of a fight in this movie, it's not spectacular and half the time it feels like a giant advertisement, Superman get's smacked into a Marlboro cigarette's truck, Zod is hilariously chucked into a giant neon lit CocaCola Ad, it knows what it is and has fun with it, I can respect that in a film.

But by far the weirdest part is where Superman decided to become Human... Why? I know it's a sign of love and loyalty towards Lois but as we see later in the movie he needs it, it's part of his own instinct HIS OWN NATURE!!!, just don't use it.

Either way Richard Lester did a very good job with this movie, it obviously continues the story strongly and Christopher along with everyone else is as wonderful as ever. But the big question is why was Richard Lester asked to do this?

When Richard Donner directed the first one he had completed over 81% of photography for the second one, however tensions rose over creative control and the studio got Richard lester to direct the second film (Even though Lester widely regards Superman is and always will be Donner's story) Lester shot 51% of the movie along with rewrites of Donner's work which they both worked on, Richard Lester's version was very well recieved. However in 2006 Warner Bros. released "Superman 2: The Richard Donner Cut" restoring 80% of Donner's footage...

And of course would you believe it Donner's movie has been obviously regarded as the superior film, I've yet to see it personally but I thought i'd just bring that knowledge to those who are fans of the series...

Final Verdict: After saying everything that needs to be said, Both versions of this film have made a successful sequel nonetheless, I enjoyed it and personally cannot wait to see the director's cut and see how Donner originally intended this great sequel to be...