Movie Review – “Superman II”

I have a four-day weekend this weekend, so I hope to get
reviews of (at least) Superman III,
Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, and
Supergirl up by Wednesday.

Cast, Crew, and Other Info

Christopher Reeve as Superman / Clark Kent

Margot Kidder as Lois Lane

Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor

Terence Stamp as Zod

Sarah Douglas as Ursa

Jack O’Halloran as Non

Directing credit was given to Richard Lester, who finished
a film that
Richard Donner had half completed. Screenplay credit
went once again
to Mario Puzo, David Newman and Leslie Newman, even
though “creative
consultant” Tom Mankeweicz had significant input. (His
wasn’t the
last word, however. Compare the Lois Lane screen tests
on the DVD for
the first movie to the corresponding scene in this movie,
and notice
the significant and detrimental changes.)

Complete cast and crew listings can be found here.

Premise

Three evil Kryptonians find their way to Earth, and decide
to rule.

High Point

“Dear God.” “Zod.”

Low Point

How did the “irreversible” process get reversed? That’s
what’s always
bugged me the most, even more than Superman’s
development of random
new powers, or the ability to hold a conversation on the
moon without
the help of radio technology.

The Scores

It’s a sequel that was obviously designed before the first
film was
released, so there’s a limit to its potential
originality
score. They did do things with Superman that I don’t
remember seeing
before, particularly in the storyline that led to the Low
Point. I
give it 4 out of 6.

The effects were pretty cheesy in places, such
as the
detonation that kicks things off, the first change into
costume, and
the wrapping of Non under the S-shield. Other places had
some quality
work. I give it 4 out of 6.

The story was well planned, but poorly
executed. It had its
great moments, but it also had some pretty nonsensical
ones. I give
it 4 out of 6.

The acting was primarily one-dimensional.
Only Reeve and
Kidder had the chance to be more than the flat, boring
characters
we’ve grown accustomted to, and they weren’t entirely
impressive.
I give it 4 out of 6.

The emotional response this produces is
sometimes very good,
and at other times rather weak. It’s really a mishmash that
kicks of
the downward spiral of the series. I give it 4 out of 6.

The production was just as uneven as the rest
of it. It’s
hard to change directors mid-filming and still get a
consistent,
coherent film out of it. The softening filter used on the
close-ups
of Margot Kidder was strong enough to get annoying, too.
I give it 4
out of 6.

Overall, it’s not a bad movie, but it’s not the
landmark the
original was. I give it 4 out of 6.

In total, Superman 2 receives 28 out of 42.

2 replies on “Movie Review – “Superman II””

  1. Blooperman

    And we’ll all pretend we don’t notice that Kryptonians (the villains and the Fortress of Solitude-generated VR Els) speak fluent English. Still, this was not bad, even if they once again did stupid things with the ending.

    The saga pretty much races downhill from here.

    • Re: Blooperman

      And we’ll all pretend we don’t notice that Kryptonians (the villains
      and the Fortress of Solitude-generated VR Els) speak fluent
      English.

      All aliens do.

      Or at least a badly dubbed-over version of french, or spanish, etc ;-)

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