Superman II (1980)
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Superman II Movie Review
Superman II is a 1980 superhero film directed by Richard Lester and starring Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder and Terence Stamp. It’s such a good, fun sequel.
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“Come to me, son of Jor-El,
kneel before Zod!“
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Superman foils the plot of terrorists by hurtling their nuclear device into outer space, but the bomb’s shock waves free the Kryptonian villain General and his henchmen Ursa and Non from their imprisonment. Traveling to Earth, they threaten the planet with destruction at the same time that Superman decides to renounce his superpowers in order to live a normal life as Clark Kent with his new love, Lois Lane.
First and foremost, this movie is just as silly as the original was both to its detriment and also strength surprisingly enough. Yes, some of the action was again ludicrous, and again not because of the dated effects, but because of what they represented themselves. However, the film is at other times quite charming in those silly elements and it all added to a very fun blockbuster.
Being very much a story that ‘Man of Steel’ would do decades later, Zod and Ursa are here and they are a whole lot of fun. These villains are incredibly entertaining how campy and over-the-top they are. I loved them, and all of their scenes are very fun. Non, however, felt too ridiculous even for the high camp standards of this movie.
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So the movie shines when the villains terrorize the town and its residents, but it also excels in the romance. Yes, I absolutely loved the relationship between Superman and Lois Lane here. Thankfully, she realizes who Clark is in this installment, and she does that through a couple of highly endearing scenes.
Again, both actors are wonderful, especially together as their chemistry is top-notch and very evident throughout. Some have accused the movie for having too much romance, but I wholeheartedly disagree as that is easily its biggest strength. Those scenes are wonderfully reminiscent of 80s romances, but in a good way. Reeve is again terrific in both sides of his personality whereas Kidder is both believable and very charming.
Lex Luthor is better here than he was before admittedly, but still Gene Hackman is very silly in this role and the fact that he got top billing again only goes to show that great, important actors always got top billing no matter the role back in this day and age.
Superman II has just as dated special effects as the original, but for this period, they were excellent. I personally found the light stuff the most dated of course, but otherwise the designs of the ships and space parts are good. The costumes are campy, but a lot of fun.
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And that is this movie in a nutshell – campy, but a lot of fun. It flies by how amusing it is, and it never lags whatsoever. The pacing is solid, and the direction is also fine. The dialogue is also theatrical, but very memorable throughout. The action is bad, but at least the majority of the film doesn’t have a lot of action. The beginning felt overly repetitive as they repeated throughout the credits the whole first movie unnecessarily so, but everything after it was engaging to follow.
Superman II still has its very silly elements, but most of its campy scenes are fun and charming instead of annoying. The action is definitely very weak for the most part, but the villains are a lot of fun, and the romance is fantastic as all of the scenes with Superman and Lois Lane are very endearing and romantic. Consequently, this sequel is very much an improvement upon its predecessor.
