It's been somewhere in the neighborhood of twenty years since the last time I saw the theatrical version of Superman II, but after doing a bit of reading I think I have a pretty strong grasp of the differences between the two films. In some ways, the Donner cut is a big improvement, particularly in how it intertwines the sequel's story with that of the original. Marlon Brando was completely sliced out of the initial release, and while his performance is an egregious display of glum theatrical sleepwalking, his role actually adds several essential wrinkles to the story. General Zod and his envoy are also treated with more awe and respect, granting their eventual stare-down with big blue a more stern, serious slant. At the core of its being, though, this remains a thoroughly campy, semi-serious film with a ridiculously nonsensical plot and a pathetic recycled ending that might actually be worse than the reviled "amnesia kiss" of the original cut. Margot Kidder and Christopher Reeve efficiently play their parts, but aren't put in the position to recapture the magic of their date in the original Superman, while Gene Hackman underachieves badly once again as Lex Luthor, this time relegated to a second-fiddle bad guy. A marginal improvement over the horribly-aged initial release, it's packed full of grand logic holes and stiff, contrived moments of peril.