Kneel before Zod!

SUPERMAN II (1981)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Some sequels never equal or surpass their original counterparts because they often seem like rehashes. "Superman II" is that rarity - a sequel that both equals and, at times, surpasses the original 1978 classic. That is saying a lot considering how terrific the original "Superman" was, but I was surprised by how much more I liked number 2.

Christopher Reeve is back as the mild-mannered reporter, Clark Kent, and the superhero with X-ray vision and a red cape and bright red boots, known of course as Superman. In this film, Clark expresses some jealousy over Lois Lane's (Margot Kidder) infatuation with Supe Baby. After all, Superman saves her butt from being blown to kingdom come at the Eiffel Tower where some hydrogen bomb is about to detonate! Lois Lane is in love with Superman...but she senses that Clark bears some resemblance to the famous superhero. There is the Niagara Falls sequence where Clark and Lois pretend to be newlyweds, all in the service of a story for the Daily Planet. Clark fogs his glasses while being near the Falls and Lois removes them only to discover those blue eyes! After a daring child rescue by Superman where Clark is nowhere to be found in sight, Lois decides to trick Clark into saving her. She foolishly attempts to drown herself in a raging river! These scenes are superb in comic timing and pratfalls that accentuate Lois's recklessness and Clark's ability to avoid changing into Superman. I do have one question though: wouldn't heat rays through glasses cause the lenses to burn? Or maybe he lowered his glasses a bit to avoid burning them? Who cares - he is Superman after all.

The main story deals with three villains from Krypton, the leader Zod (Terence Stamp), the man-hater Ursa (Sarah Douglas), and the childlike, humongous Non (Jack O'Halloran). If you recall in the original film, the three villains were banished into the Phantom Zone by Jor-El, Superman's father. Thanks to the hydrogen bomb hurled into outer space by Superman, it explodes causing the triad to break free of their glass-shielded prison. They all discover they have superhuman powers beyond reason, can walk on the moon without a spacesuit, walk on water, deflect missiles and bullets, use their breath to create heavy winds, and, in short, rule the planet Houston, otherwise known as Earth. They can also deface Mount Rushmore by replacing former Presidents' faces with their own. So now the White House has been sieged, the President is forced to kneel before Zod, and hell on Earth has arrived. And returnee Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) decides to provide assistance to the new leaders of the world. But where is Superman? Well, he is busy wooing Lois Lane who, in a highly emotional scene, discovers Clark Kent is Superman! This means that if Superman wishes to wed and bed Lois, he must become mortal. Good timing Supe baby.

"Superman II" has one great, humorous, dramatic, dazzling sequence after another. It is great fun watching the Phantom Zone prisoners using their super powers to destroy half of New York City (though it may be politically incorrect to say such things in this post-9/11 climate, the effects are still superb). What we get is the stuff we always wanted to see from a live-action Superman film: we see Superman and villains engaged in heavy battle using heat-ray vision, utilizing their super cool breath to freeze objects, and basically punching and beating each other on city streets without hurting any of the human pedestrians. They use pothole covers, hurl each other into cultural landmark billboards or neon signs (Superman and Coca-Cola do fit together since they are both cultural landmarks), crash into the antenna at the Empire State Building, burst through office windows, and basically create havoc and destruction. A bus full of people is even used as a weapon!

But special-effects mean nothing unless they are central to the story. What director Richard Donner accomplished in the first Superman film was to recognize the human relationships in the story - we had to believe that Clark Kent and Superman had a human dimension. Ditto Lois Lane, which is what made the original so charming. This sequel ups the ante on Lois and Superman's relationship, and their love scenes are as heart-rending and poignant as they could be, given that this is essentially a comic-book story come to life. Although Donner had filmed some scenes of part II (a whole alternate version of this sequel is in existence), director Richard Lester deserves some credit for making the continuity believable since he took over after Donner was replaced (purportedly by the Salkind producers). The heart of "Superman II" is the love story between Clark and Lois - if it did not work, the movie would have been fun yet dramatically soulless.

In addition to Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder's remarkable performances, there are rich acting roles from Jackie Coogan, back again as Daily Planet editor, Perry White, E.G. Marshall as the President of the United States with an obvious toupee, Clifton James as a small-town sheriff who is dumbfounded by Zod and his cohorts, Ned Beatty's briefly hysterical turn as Otis, Lex's bumbling partner, Valerie Perrine in her extremely short return as Miss Tesmacher, and the glorious Susanah York as Superman's mother who warns Superman of losing his immortality.

"Superman II" is vibrant, smoothly paced, and exquisitely made - it is clearly a phenomenally entertaining super sequel. It expands on the characters by showing more depth, has three great villains (including the smooth wickedness of Terence Stamp), super heroic feats and battles, and a rousing ending that will make audiences cheer. More importantly, you still believe that a man can fly. The Man of Steel never had it this good.