Monday, June 17, 2013

Superman II (1980) (theatrical)

Director: Richard Lester

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Ned Beatty, Jackie Cooper, Sarah Douglas, Margo Kidder, Jack O'Halloran, Valeri Perrine, Susannah York, Clifton James, E.G. Marshall, Marc McClure, Terence Stamp, John Ratzenberger, Shane Rimmer

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The three outlaws from Krypton descend to Earth to confront the Man of Steel in a cosmic battle for world supremacy.

Plot: Picking up where "Superman: The Movie" left off, three criminals from the planet Krypton are released from the Phantom Zone by a nuclear explosion in space. They descend upon Earth where they could finally rule. Superman, meanwhile, is in love with Lois Lane, who finds out who he really is. Lex Luthor escapes from prison and is determined to destroy Superman by joining forces with the three criminals.


My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again? I think I'll be watching the Donner cut from now on.

I haven't seen this in 30 years and boy is it painful sometimes.  It's way more comic book-y than SUPERMAN (1978) and it feels like it goes on forever.  Some of the gags work and some don't.  The Otis stuff in prison was way too over the top.  Fortunately, for us and Lex Luthor, he's left there and doesn't reappear.  The opening credit sequence lasts forever, too, and it gives us way too much of the first movie to watch so that we can be caught up to speed on what's going to happen in this picture.  There are plot holes aplenty but it really doesn't matter.  It's still a reasonable fun movie despite its flaws.  So did Superman kiss Lois in the final scene because he didn't think she could handle the responsibility of knowing?  Hmmm.  The payoff joke with the trucker in the diner was nice but unnecessary. It was funny, though.  Yeah, the special effects don't hold up well but you do get lots of John Williams music recycled from the first picture (Ken Thorne did a fine job with that).  It's fun but not as good as the Richard Donner cut that I watched after this one.



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