Film Review - Superman II (1980/2006)

Superman II is the continuation of the original Superman film from 1978 and this time around the Man of Steel's identity has been discovered by Lois Lane and the two soon fall in love, but while that is happening, Lex Luthor escapes from prison and the three Krypton villains his father sentenced are freed by an explosion in space, and also have the exact same powers as Superman.

Two versions of this film exist, one with the majority of footage directed by Richard Donner which was released in 2006 and the theatrical release with the majority of footage directed by Richard Lester, who was brought onto the project after the producers fired Donner, what follows is a separate review of each version with its own rating.

The Lester version relies too hard on slapstick comedy and sight gags to make the film work, which at times undercuts the tension of the film in regards to the villains, the film also goes on too long by extending scenes far more than needed, no doubt this was done so Lester could be given director's credit on the film.

But I can't say that I blame Lester for that, he was given a bad situation and told to make the best of it, but still his version gets only a 2 out of 5.

The Donner version restores much of the majesty and characterization that made the first Superman film a hit, the three villains are more threatening, Lois is more gutsy, Lex is more conniving and the film also restores the lost scenes featuring Marlon Brando as Jor-El who plays a big role in the story of the film, now it must be said that Donner only finished about 70-80% of the film but this shows what he had in mind and it's a sad shame that he was fired, as it would have been THE definitive superhero movie by which all others would be judged.

As for my rating, this gets a 4 out of 5, it's a better made film with more adult storytelling sensibilities as well as hinting at some exciting action and good humour, a shame it was never properly finished but what's here is well done.

Overall, Superman 2 is a film that works for the most part, despite my okay feelings towards the Lester version, this is mainly because of Terence Stamp as General Zod, who has the identical powers as Superman along with his two sidekicks, this puts Hackman's Luthor on the side bench which is fine by me as he never really felt like a proper threat in the first film, this film rectifies that and because of that, it becomes a stronger film.