**T**_heme_- 6/10
**R**_ewatchibility_- 5/10
**A**_cting_- 8/10
**K**_inematography_- 6.5/10
**T**_ime_- 5.5/10
**Total** - 31/5 = ==6.2==

The Man of Steel is back, and better than ever!.. or is it? Maybe if I held any nostalgia for the Reeves' Superman movies I may feel differently, but this one really challenges that line of "good" movie for me. There are elements of the movie I liked. The third act I actually enjoyed more than the first (ignoring the whole 's' symbol thing completely) as it felt more Superman-esque and less convoluted and I stress 'less' as opposed to 'not'. The Clark/Superman & Lois relationship was the star plot point to me, but that was only one half of the overall plot and that's where the problem lies. Zod and company was missing something, charisma maybe. As much screen time as they were given you would probably want them to be captivating enough to not need the crutch of Hackman's Lex playing hype-man. It definitely felt more like a writing or directing problem as opposed to an acting one though. Much like the first film there are filmmaking choices that made it feel so off to me. There's a great movie in there I just wish it could have gotten there.

The Five Faces of **_Superman II_**

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:heart_eyes:

**Christopher Reeve** and **Margot Kidder** are still wonderful and impressive in their respective parts and it's great to see the natural chemistry between them develop and sparkle. The Clark/Lois relationship is greatly developed in this film and their scenes together form some of the best moments in the entire movie.

Some of the dialogue is genuinely warm, funny and witty; Reeve's spot on delivery helps land the jokes.

It is still impressive and awesome how well Reeve transitions from Clark Kent to Superman and nails both characters, and their contrasting personalities, perfectly.

Bigger and bolder action scenes form the bulk of the film. They're mostly well-written and performed and always entertaining.


:smiley:

This time we are introduced to the villains early on, in an ominous, albeit campy, sequence om Earth's moon.

_Superman II_ further extends the world and characters established in the first film, so the film feels bigger and more international in its depiction of Superman.

The climax with Superman battling Zod's squad is surprisingly creative and entertaining, but also unintentionally hilarious and very, very campy. Seriously, the lengthy showdown is one of the most memorable battles in all of superhero cinema.


:neutral_face:

There is a hastily and clumsily constructed recap at the beginning of the film - it's probably one of the worst and most unusable recaps I have ever seen - like a combo of a film trailer and a "previously on"-feature from a TV show. You could essentially skip the first movie and jump right to this one.

_Superman II_ feels like watching the first episode of a second season of a TV show in the way we are thrown into events. Since the first two movies were filmed back to back, the introductions and backstory are left to the first movie and this one focuses more on action and heroics, since we know the characters already.

Some sequences are so implausible or illogical that they stop making any sense. The film doesn't really try to hide that fact or explain those sequences.

New composer **Ken Thorne** samples **John Williams'** amazing score from the first film, but doesn't quite hit the right notes when it comes to producing his own emotional or memorable tunes.

General Zod and his squad are a mixed bag. While they make for some interesting villains and actual challenge for Superman, they remain very simple and superfluous as characters. **Terence Stamp** is iconic as Zod but less resound when compared to **Michael Shannon** in _Man of Steel_. There is an odd stiffness in his performance, far from the intensity presented by Shannon. **Sarah Douglas** is the most interesting of the trio, while **Jack O'Halloran** is just a stupid version of Jaws or Hodor, thrown in for comic relief.

At least Superman losing his powers creates some kind of tension - for 5 minutes. That could have been an interesting direction for a larger story arc, but becomes just a minor sidestep throughout the adventure.


:frowning2:

There are some visually demanding scenes, and unfortunately most of the wonky special effects look incredibly dated and a whole lot worse compared to _Superman_.

_Superman II_ is lighter in tone compared to the first film and a whole lot more campier. It feels like the filmmakers stopped taking themselves and their project seriously. Some of the campier parts are cringe-worthy and really hurt the overall enjoyment. This is particularly palpable in scenes involving Luthor and his bumbling sidekicks.

There are some problems with the story and pacing. It's mostly Clark and Lois globetrotting and being cute as well as three Kryptonian baddies walking around and causing mischief to unsuspecting people. The trouble is, the story really doesn't go anywhere, doesn't cook up trouble or create real tension. The script is highly predictable and not very original.

The villains in this film have even less of a motive to kill and destroy than Luthor did in the last film (apart from the stereotypical motive of world domination) and they suffer from the same God complex as Superman does.

I respect the talented **Gene Hackman** as Lex Luthor, but he really has no role to play in this film and could have been easily left out. There is really no point in him appearing in this movie at all. His dialogue is self-centered and he has no character development whatsoever.


:face_vomiting:

How on Earth do the characters manage to throw each other across great distances in perfect slow motion? Now that's a power to be jealous of!

And then we ONCE AGAIN get an ending that ruin everything that the movie built up throughout its run-time. It's an unnecessary twist that just ruins everything that came before.

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The Final Face: :neutral_face:

Fun packed and humanistic sequel is worthy alright.

Superman II stars Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve, Terence Stamp, Ned Beatty, Sarah Douglas, Margot Kidder, and Jack O'Halloran. It was to be a troubled shoot that saw two directors involved with the project. Richard Donner had completed about three quarters of the film before being taken off the project, so Richard Lester then came in to finish the film. Because of the back stage problems there are a host of writers credited on the film and both Robert Paynter & Geoffrey Unsworth were involved with the cinematography. Filmed using the Megasound system the score is a reworking of John Williams original score by Ken Thorne.

Something of a miracle in itself that Superman II, in spite of all the behind the scenes shenanigans, is a very fine sequel to the massively successful Superman from 78. Sure there's some odd tonal shifts, a couple of things don't quite add up (to be corrected later on down the line with the release of the Richard Donner cut), while the villains are badly under written, but this has enough comic book adaptation savvy to please most comic book lovers.

This time around sees Superman pitted against three villains who have been released from their prison due to Superman himself detonating a hydrogen bomb in space. The big kicker here being that the three convicts, General Zod, Ursa and Non, are from his home planet of Krypton and had been imprisoned by his father Jor-El. Now they are free they are hell bent on revenge against the son of Jor-El and the planet that worships him. If that was not enough for Superman to contend with, he also has affairs of the heart to deal with as his love for Lois Lane grows ever stronger by the day. While a certain Lex Luthor is plotting his escape from prison...

Pic nicely fuses a humanistic heart with exciting set pieces, to make Superman II a worthy sequel to the wonderful template that is the first film. Ultimately we should embrace both cuts of Superman II or it would go downhill from here... 7/10

_**Continues the super-story of the groundbreaking first film**_

Three Kryptonian criminals escape imprisonment in the Phantom Zone (Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran) to harass citizens of the United States, including the president (E.G. Marshall), while Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) schmoozes them. Meanwhile Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) suspects that Clark Kent is Superman (Christopher Reeve) during an assignment to Niagara Falls before flying off to fight the Kryptonians. Susannah York plays Kal-El’s mother while Jackie Cooper is on hand as Perry White.

"Superman II" (1980) was mostly shot simultaneously with the first film in 1977 wherein director Richard Donner had shot 75% of the film before focusing on finishing the first movie. When the flick went back into production in 1978 Donner was controversially fired and replaced with Richard Lester, who was already working on the project with Donner as second unit director. Marlon Brando’s scenes as Jor-El were cut (obviously because he wanted too much money, i.e. 11.75% of gross US box office earnings) and redone with Lara (York).

Despite the behind-the-scenes drama, this is a thoroughly entertaining sequel with some people even claiming it’s better. What makes the film work so well is that (1) the three Kryptonian villains are interesting and their superhuman exploits are engaging, (2) Luthor is likewise amusing, (3) the sci-fi ambiance and special effects are state-of-the-art for the late 70s and (4) the drama involving Clark/Supes and Lois (and Perry White) is consistently entertaining. On the downside, I could do without Otis’ goofy antics (Ned Beatty) and the movie is slightly overlong.

The film runs 2 hours, 7 minutes and was shot in Paris; Norway; Niagara Falls & Calgary, Canada; Pinewood Studios (the Metropolis scenes, etc.), Chobham Common, Surrey (the East Houston, Idaho, scenes), & London Underground, England; and St Lucia.

GRADE: A/A-

Still good but not as good as part one. In general too comedic and even stupid at times. And I noticed the dialogue was sometimes weird. Someone said something and then camera switches to another character and there's a slight pause beofore the reply. As if the editing was off.

The whole thing with Lois finding out Clark is Superman was weak. It was supposed to make him understand his ourpose I guess. And then a full one-eighty by having her memory wiped with a kiss ? How does this work?

And another huge whole: if he steps into the chamber it can't be reversed. And then he finds the green crystal and everthing's just fine. And the control panels where still burned down so he didn't re-create the Fortress. Since he gets his power from the yellow sun anyway it's all very sketchy. At least a little explanation would be nice.

I found Zod a bit overdone. Only thing missing was him twirling his mustache. And I always had problems when someone talks about himself in the 3rd person. I understand the purpose of making him look overconfident or even mentally unstable. But on the other hand he looks like a caricature not to be taken serious.

Well, probably too much analyzing on my side and it's still fun to watch overall.