It is fair to say that comic book super hero movies have taken over Hollywood in the last two decades. Much of that is because of CGI and other innovations which can do them justice. Yet, back in the late 1970’s, probably the most famous super hero of them all was placed on the silver screen and without that happening, one suspects you wouldn’t have Marvel or the Dark Knight now.
Cannily, the Salkind brothers set aside the budget and production time for a sequel which enabled them to exploit the massive success of Superman. But while the first film set the scene and re-established the creation in the minds of the public, it was slow going and rather basic in plot and themes. Now with most sequels, the law of diminishing returns will apply; Indiana Jones & The Temple of Doom, Gremlins 2, Back To The Future II, Ghostbusters II…the list goes on.
However, there are a minority of famous exceptions; For A Few Dollars More, The Dark Knight, Empire Strikes Back, The Godfather II and Superman II.
From the very start, Superman II is a tightly knit ensemble piece, multi-layered and well-paced. It begins with the threat of General Zod (played perfectly by Terence Stamp), Non and Ursa back before Superman’s home world Krypton was destroyed. They are caught up to no good and imprisoned in the Phantom Zone which is memorably represented as a hinterland sheet floating in space akin to limbo or purgatory.
Meanwhile, back on Earth Superman (Christopher Reeve), as a demonstration of his global role as the hero as opposed to just being US based like he was in the first film, flies to Paris to intercept terrorists threatening to blow up the Eiffel Tower. Naturally the man of steel deals with the bomb and saves Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) who happens to be there. Unfortunately for Superman, he ejects the bomb into space where it detonates and breaks up the Phantom Zone which General Zod et al are freed from. Empowered just like Superman, they fly toward the Moon and all hell breaks loose as they bring the Earth to the brink of enslavement.
While they are creating havoc, Superman himself is wrestling with his own identity and feelings for Lois. This comes to a head as Clark Kent reveals who he really is to Lois and then pledges to become human by shedding his powers in his Fortress of Solitude which he brought with him from Krypton courtesy of his father Jor El. He quickly regrets the decision and reverses it using his Krypton crystals once he sees the threat that his natives pose having now moved in to take control of Washington.
Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) tries to exploit the situation by leading Zod to Superman in Metropolis by kidnapping Lane and soon enough a Battle Royale ensues as Superman, Zod, Non and Ursa wage war across the city. It’s one of many wonderful action sequences in the movie and, while perhaps creaking nearly forty years on, still stands up well.
Superman apparently flees the scene leaving the locals to protest powerlessly against Zod and the other two who then take Lane and Luthor to the Fortress of Solitude for the tight and imaginative climax. Maybe the hokum between Lane and Clark is daft by the end of the film, with it now fundamental that what has gone on between them during the film is wiped from Lane’s memory for the series to continue in the spirit of the comics. A sadness resonates for the pair of them as the ending seems somewhat unsatisfactory for their relationship, but it has to be.
The introduction of Zod, Non and Ursa is the film’s master stroke because they are Superman’s flip side; the power put to bad use. The main message of the film is that with power comes great responsibility and that is something which Superman seemingly underestimates as he casts it all off before realising he must be burdened with it once more. As Zod commands a man pretending to be the US President in the White House to kneel before him, he spots that the man is false because he doesn’t have the bearing of a man with true power.
The roles are beautifully portrayed by the cast; Reeve is achingly vulnerable when he waives his powers, Kidder is suitably outraged, bewildered and tenacious, Hackman moves the character of Luthor on a step, making him even more cynical and opportunistic while Stamp is arrogance and cruelty personified.
The script might be accused of being cheesy regarding the love story but it hits all the right notes in terms of the threat posed by General Zod and it stays the right side of acceptable with the humour which would spiral badly out of control in the next film. The plethora of action set pieces are highly enjoyable and inventive; actually so good that they rendered most of what would follow redundant as both Superman III and IV would struggle to get anywhere near them.
In short, Superman II is the finest Superman film of all of them, sequels or reboots. While the first film laid the ground work, the film makers – and there’s some confusion whether it was Richard Donner or Richard Lester who directed the film – certainly put down the foundations for the comic book super hero franchises as we know them.
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