In a cosmic coincidence, the Phantom Zone prison of Ursa (Sarah Douglas), Non (Jack OāHalloran), and General Zod (Terence Stamp) happens to drift by Earth right when Superman (Christopher Reeve) has tossed a nuclear bomb into space. Now freed, the three Kryptonians move to conquer Earth. Meanwhile, Lois (Margot Kidder) has discovered Clark is Superman and he has given up his powers so he can marry her.
Superman II has Christopher Reeve as the perfect Superman. It has Margot Kidder being adorable and quirky. It has the John Williams score. And it adds in General Zod and Ursa, two of the most memorable screen villains.
What it doesnāt have is a good story. Itās hard to figure how much of that is the fault of a poor original script, and how much came in the mess of firing director Richard Donner. Lex Luther shouldnāt be in the film at all, but then Gene Hackman refused to return once Donner was dumped. Perhaps he could have been made relevant by un-shot scenes.Ā A central plot point, the big sacrifice of Supermanās power for love, is a cheat. Heās told it canāt be undone, and then it is undone with ease and almost immediately after it was done (powerless Superman only exists for one horrible, bullying scene).
A lot of little things donāt work. Some of those can be laid at Lesterās feet. He inserted childish jokes in scene after scene. So we get Non failing to use his heat vision and a smarmy honeymoon hotel bellboy.
There is also the infamous kiss and Superman getting revenge on a bully. And Iām not fan of the civic duty over love theme.
Still, I canāt dislike this film. Reeve, Kidder, Douglas, and Stamp are too memorable.
Superman II (The Richard Donner Cut)
There is no Richard Donner Cut. Donner did not shoot enough film to create a finished product. He shot SupermanĀ and somewhere around half ofĀ Superman II when he was fired by the Salkinds. They hired Richard Lester, who was more amiable to their desire for a light, childrenās film, the full flower of which can be seen in the disaster that was Superman III. Lester didnāt just finish the film, but reshot some of the scenes Donner had finished as well as oversaw changes to the story.
The so called Richard Donner Cut returns a majority of the footage that Lester had replaced, and splices in some test footage and even a bit from the first film to try to approach what Donner would have done. Thereās still a good deal of material shot by Lester and some of what Donner would have done was never shot in any form, so remains missing.
The most notable changes from the theatrical cut are:
- The re-insertion of Marlon Brando (Brando had also had problems with the Salkinds, leading to the shots being replaced by ones of Susannah York as Supermanās mother),
- The elimination of the Eiffel Tower terrorists (the evil trio are released from the Phantom Zone by the nuke launched by Lex Luthor at the end of the first movie)
- Lois leaping out the window of the Daily Planet to prove Clark is Superman
- Different scenes at Niagara Falls
- No amnesia kiss. Instead the time-reversal ending from the first film is used. The original plan had been to use the reversal in the second film, but problems with the production of the first film caused them to tack it on to it when the original ending fell apart.
The āRichard Donnerā cut has the same major flaws as the theatrical version. It still has the cheat of Superman giving up his powers and getting them right back. It still has Lex feeling like an unnecessary add-on. It also has the same positives: Reeve, Kidder, Douglas, Stamp. and the score. But if I am being picky, this is the better version, if for no other reason than how adorable Lois looks wearing only Supermanās T-shirt (instead of a long white nightgown). The loss of some juvenile humor is also a plus, as are the “new” relationship scenes between Lois and Clark. Only two changes are not an improvement. One is the time-reversal. It was terrible in Superman and it is terrible here. However, so was the amnesia kiss, so Iāll call it a draw. The other is Jor-Elās speech by Brando when Superman is asking about having a love life. The father is a self-righteous ass, and considering he was married and had a child, itās hard to see it as natural to the character.
The new cut also introduces inconsistencies, but thatās to be expected with what amounts to a rough cut.
The other films in the series are Superman, Superman III,Ā Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, and semi-sequel Superman Returns. The character was rebooted by Zack Snyder for Man of Steel and Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice.