More comic in tone than the 1978 original, SUPERMAN II flies a bit, but for me, never soars like the original. I've always attributed the different feel of the movie to Director Richard Lester, who most famously brought the Beatles to the screen in the enjoyable blockbusters, "A Hard Day's Night" and "Help!". While I enjoy his hilarious touch in those films, he slips into slapstick a few too many times for me here.
The film opens up nearly where the original left off.
In Metropolis, Clark Kent/Superman is back on the job and still wonderfully played by Christopher Reeve. He manages to make that whole, "I'm an everyday dude with my glasses on and a multiverse hero when I take them off" gig really work.
Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) seems to be catching onto the act a bit, though.
One of the film's best sequences takes place early on, with terrorists taking over the Eiffel Tower and planting a nuke in the middle of Paris. It's an exciting set up and carries the weight of the original film perfectly. When that nuke goes off in space, it has unexpected consequences.
Our three intergalactic criminals, General Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa, (Sarah Douglas), and Non (Jack O' Halloran) from the planet Krypton are released from their floating triangle prison of Phantom Zone by the ripples of that nuke.
They head to earth to encounter some hicks in the south, the first destination for ANY alien encounters in the movies. Luckily, a southern Sheriff played by Clifton James is there to greet them. Any OO7 fan may wonder why that lawman's name isn't JW Pepper, but I digress...
Lois and Clark head off to Niagara Falls to cover a goofy story while Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) escapes from prison and resumes his mission to take down our man in the cape.
The film lumbers along a bit until it settles into its two main stories, one of which I didn't care for on first viewing and the second that was fun then and remains a blast.
The first story thread dominates to tale for far too long. Superman has the hots for Lois Lane and can't resist his urges so he talks to Krypton Mom Susannah York in her crystal pod. Assuming you roll with that, you'll be thrilled to hear that she tells him that if he sleeps with Lois, he will give up all his powers.
Huh?
I remember seeing this in 1980 in theaters opening weekend and thinking.....wait Superman is giving up all his powers, his ability to protect an entire planet and the human species, cause he's horny?
And even worse, the woman that he can't resist is.....Margot Kidder?
Yeah, I have some serious issues with Supe's priorities and taste.
If he had the hots for Valerie Perrine's Miss Teschmacher, okay. I get it.
But Kidder? Come on, man.
The whole thing is just stupid, turning Clark into a mousy weakling and unappealing hero. Even when this story thread is resolved, it's never really explained in any detail. Lester just throws in a couple physical comedy bits and Superman comes flying back onto the scene, powers fully restored. Huh?
Perrine disappears for the entire back half of the film, as she only worked with original director Richard Donner, who had returned from the original to direct this sequel, but was famously fired by the producers, The Salkinds.
The second story thread, with Hackman's Luthor teaming up with our trio of lethal superpower villains is a lot of fun from any angle.
It carries the back half of the film and frankly saves this first sequel from being a mess.
E.G. Marshall is great as The President and his scenes squaring off with Terrence Stamp as Zod deliver.
It's enjoyable and was a massive box office hit when released, but I was the grumbling voice among my friends (who all LOVED it) saying that it was a disappointment after the superb original.
I stand by that take these 44 years later, although I might have been more generous if I had known just how bad things would get when Director Lester would return three years later with a comedic superstar in tow for "Superman III".
SUPERMAN II has its moments, especially that terrific Paris sequence, so I'll give it a B-.
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