Before Krypton exploded and Jor-El (Marlon Brando) put his baby son, Kal-El, in a rocket ship to Earth, the benevolent ruler was forced to banish three irredeemable criminals to another dimension called The Phantom Zone. The trio's leader, General Zod (Terence Stamp), vowed revenge. Later, of course, Kal-El grew up to become Superman (Christopher Reeve), Earth's mighty champion. A battle with the criminal mastermind, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman), ends with Superman hurling a nuclear warhead into space where it explodes, but not harmlessly. Instead, it frees the Kryptonian threesome from their other-dimensional prison. They soon discover they have almost unlimited power (the same powers, in fact, as Superman), which they use to take over the Earth. Meanwhile, the intrepid reporter, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), learns that her bumbling colleague, Clark Kent, is really Superman, a revelation that leads to him bringing her to his frozen Fortress of Solitude and renouncing his powers in order to make love to her. It is only when Superman and Lois return to civilization that they learn of the three Kryptonians and how Lex Luthor has joined forces with them. Now, Superman must reverse the irreversible and regain his powers in order to save mankind.
In 1980, Richard Donner was replaced with Richard Lester as director of "Superman II." It wasn't until 2006 that Donner's version was, more or less, pieced back together and released on DVD. This version includes rediscovered footage that was cut from the original release and even material that was recovered only from screen tests.
I haven't seen the Lester version, but this one is entertaining enough. The implausibilities stack up a little too high, even for a superhero movie. The humor is laid on with a trowel. Lex Luthor, in particular, is presented as an irritating buffoon: his pomposity is in full view but his supposed genius is nowhere in sight. The special effects scenes, which include a lot of buildings, weapons and vehicles getting thrown about and destroyed, are mainly a bore.
What I really liked, though, was how the relationship between Superman and Lois was explored. In one marvelous scene, Lois throws herself out of the window of a tall building in front of Clark in order to prove that he is Superman. These scenes were very enjoyable for me and made the movie worth seeing. The rest of it ranges from mildly amusing to mildly irritating.
In 1980, Richard Donner was replaced with Richard Lester as director of "Superman II." It wasn't until 2006 that Donner's version was, more or less, pieced back together and released on DVD. This version includes rediscovered footage that was cut from the original release and even material that was recovered only from screen tests.
I haven't seen the Lester version, but this one is entertaining enough. The implausibilities stack up a little too high, even for a superhero movie. The humor is laid on with a trowel. Lex Luthor, in particular, is presented as an irritating buffoon: his pomposity is in full view but his supposed genius is nowhere in sight. The special effects scenes, which include a lot of buildings, weapons and vehicles getting thrown about and destroyed, are mainly a bore.
What I really liked, though, was how the relationship between Superman and Lois was explored. In one marvelous scene, Lois throws herself out of the window of a tall building in front of Clark in order to prove that he is Superman. These scenes were very enjoyable for me and made the movie worth seeing. The rest of it ranges from mildly amusing to mildly irritating.