“Not Everyone Can Have X-Ray Vision.” “Do I Detect a Note of Jealousy?”
In my quest to watch the Christopher Reeves Superman movies, I had recorded the second when it was on cable. As much as I had issues with the original, Superman II had its own issues.
After a bit more of the prologue with General Zod (Terence Stamp) and his two hence people on Krypton before it explodes, we get the opening credits, which also act as a refresher of what happened in the original movie. Pretty clever, at least in my opinion.
When we are off to Paris where Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) is trying to cover some terrorists who have set up a hydrogen bomb in the Eiffel Tower. When Superman (Christopher Reeve) takes it to space to it can explode without causing any damage, he accidentally frees General Zod and the other two prisoners from the Phantom Zone where they’ve been held prisoner all this time.
While the trio make their way to Earth with the intent to taking it over, Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve, obviously), and Lois grow closer, leading to Clark making a choice with huge implications. Oh, and Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) manages to escape from prison thanks to help from Eve Teschmacher (Valerie Perrine). What havoc will he cause?
Obviously, with the backstory out of the way, this movie can get off to a faster start, and the opening act is fun and thrilling. We know how it is going to end, but it’s still fun getting there.
It’s the second act where the movie struggles. We get General Zod’s trio working on taking over the planet while Superman and Lois are out of touch (the wonders of life in the pre-cell phone days). For me, it dragged. Couldn’t Superman have learned about the threat earlier? Because we knew where it was going to go, and I wish the movie had taken less time getting there.
Then comes the third act, which is what we have all been waiting for. And it was worth it. I enjoyed the fight. Yes, we got lots of special effects, but the fight was still contained enough that we could follow what we going on. Modern superhero movies could learn from it.
Other issues with the film? I watched the original theatrical cut, and it had a huge plot hole in it. I had to go back to the internet to figure out exactly what happened. Yeah, my theory was right, but really? A line of dialog would have resolved it. Also, what point did Lex Luthor have in this film? I get that it’s Lex, but we really didn’t need his character. They could have accomplished the little bit he did in other ways.
None of what I just said is a slam on the actors. They are all great at bringing their characters to life. It’s the fault of the screen play.
The effects are dated; we can definitely tell when a green screen is being used. But it’s a movie from 1980, so that’s no surprise. As long as you keep that in mind, you’ll be fine.
I know that the next two sequels aren’t as well regarded as the first two movies, which makes me curious to watch them and see what I think. I’m also curious to rewatch Superman Returns, which I haven’t seen since it was in the theaters almost twenty years ago.
While Superman II is by no means a bad movie, it isn’t a classic for me, either. I think nostalgia plays a large part is how much people enjoy it. For me, that was lacking.
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