Review of Superman II (1980) by Xgary X — 21 Jan 2011

Lois Lane puts two and two together and (finally!) works out that Clark and Superman are one and the same, leading to his renouncing his powers to live his life as an ordinary man not counting on the appearance of three Kryptonian super-criminals.

Even as a teenager, I always prefered my superheroes with a darker streak meaning that the whiter than white Superman never really appealed to me. This story written by Mario (The Godfather) Puzo has some intriguing ideas but it all falls apart somewhat in the execution.

Terence Stamp makes an amusingly camp supervillain and it's nice to see Superman meet his match which means that mercifully there is no mention of the ubiquitous Kryptonite in the story at all. Gene Hackman is also as reliable as always as Lex Luthor, but the rest of the supporting cast are character less and dull and the attempts at humour that are not delivered by Stamp or Hackman are weak and immature.

Director Richard Lester is also far more comfortable with the period slapstick of the Musketeers than this type of action sci-fi, which combined with some very poor visual effects make for some uninspired and unexciting set pieces.

I loved this film as a kid, but its bad moments outnumber the good and as a whole it has not dated very well at all.