Adaptations of DC Comics have a bad reputation at the moment. After a string of critical and box office failures really going back to Superman 3, with only a couple of exceptions, DC Comic heroes have not done very well with the public. From Catwoman to Batman and Robin to Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, the protectors of Gotham City and Metropolis have made people want to go elsewhere for their superheroes. Only four films featuring DC heroes have really been successful. The first pictures of two franchises, Superman and Batman, were runaway hits so sequels were undoubtedly expected.
Now with the upward trend in comic book films after the success that Marvel Comics properties like Spiderman and Xmen, DC will hopefully turn this alarming trend around, but the first superhero sequel to screens was a tremendous success in its day. Audiences craving more action from the Man Of Steel were given exactly what they wanted in Superman II.
Superman II Starring Christopher Reeve and Terrance Stamp. Directed by Richard Lester
The action begins with an art lost in sequels today; a recap of the entire first film including a lengthy reintroduction to the villains imprisoned in the phantom zone at the beginning of Superman’s first epic, General Zod, Ursa and Non. The story then moves to Paris, where Lois is investigating a group of terrorists who are threatening to blow up the Eiffel Tower with a hydrogen bomb. This attempt is of course thwarted by Big Blue, but in getting rid of the bomb, Superman allows the Kryptonian villains to escape.
Meanwhile, Lois has convinced herself that Superman and Clark Kent are the same man. She decides to test her theory even if it actually puts her in great danger, but Lois is eventually convinced that Clark and the Man of Steel are two different people. This is then immediately undone as Clark reveals his secret to her in a fit of clumsiness. Superman then takes Lois north to his Fortress of Solitude.
The Kryptonians’ tyranny continues as they land in a backwater town and destruction follows them wherever they go. Even the Army is helpless to stop the villains as townsfolk and soldiers alike are killed at whim by the might of Zod and his henchmen. This is followed by the desecration of the White House and Zod assuming power of the entire world.
Superman remains unaware of these goings on as he spends time with Lois in his artic hideaway. Knowing the only way he could truly be with Lois is to lose his powers, Superman undergoes a Kryptonian procedure to release him of his powers. Kent learns too late that Zod has conquered the rest of the known world and so Clark returns to the Fortress to try and revive his powers.
The deck gets stacked even higher against Supes as Lex Luthor joins the villain’s side in order to bring down his arch enemy. The diabolical villain takes the trio of Kryptonians to the Daily Planet where they wreak havoc and threaten the life of all of Superman’s friends. This sets up the climax as Superman and the Villains do battle in the streets of Metropolis and then the Fortress of Solitude.
Superman II does exactly what a good sequel should do. Getting Superman’s origin out of the way in the first film, the second movie concentrates on building upon the first film’s success and creating an exciting action packed Superman story. The only real criticism of the first picture is that Superman doesn’t actually fight any supervillains in hand to hand combat. Superman II takes care of this in spades as Superman goes toe to toe with the Kryptonians while protecting the onlookers of Metropolis. The sequence is an incredible mix of comedy and action and lives up to its reputation.
Christopher Reeve is once again excellent as the Man of Steel. His work as both Clark Kent and Superman is equally as good in this installment as it is throughout the entire series. He is appropriately buffoonish as Clark and brings the right sense of invincibility as Superman without making him arrogant. The problem with playing a character like this is that he is so powerful that much of the drama that would make an audience identify with him can really be taken out of him. But Reeve’s performance brings home everything about Supes that makes people aspire to be a hero. A very good scene in the film involves the hero after the loss of his powers. He is helpless to stop a man as he is beaten up and Lois is attacked. Reeve brings out such pathos in that scene that the audience screams for him to get his power back. Reeve was the real deal and made people believe in Superman.
Terrance Stamp is a villain on the Shakespearean level as General Zod. Zod wields his power with reckless abandon, making all he surveys his domain. Yet it is revenge for crushing the son of the man who imprisoned him that truly drives this villain. Zod becomes consumed with Superman’s destruction and will do anything to bring it about. Sarah Douglas as Ursa is really the most menacing of the villains from Krypton. Being female, Ursa’s petite frame seems unimposing until she breaks you in half. Jack O’Halloran as Non is really the least of the Phantom Zone villains. His imposing size makes him formidable, but the character himself is mute and therefore has no clever lines or character development, he seems to exist only for slapstick comedy.
Hackman’s Lex Luthor is once again the funnyman megalomaniac. Luthor goes through great pains in this film to escape from prison, in a very funny air-balloon sequence, and then to discover the location of the Fortress of Solitude. Luthor’s deal with the Kryptonians proves to be a blessing and a curse as they are the only ones who can provide him with the power he craves and yet the trio will surely kill Luthor when he is of no more use to them. This is a very humorous device used in the film as Luthor actually seems elated to see his arch enemy as Superman appears to take on the evildoers jailed by his father. Ned Beatty’s Otis and Valerie Perrine as Miss Teschmacher also make humorous cameos, but neither is able to really stretch their comic legs in the film.
The special effects in the film are as good as they were in the first. With Superman fighting three super-powered bad guys, poor effects could have really hampered the film when it needed to hold its audience more than ever. The fight scenes are epic in scope as Supes throws Zod and company into the Empire State Building and a huge Times Square Coca Cola sign. The result was an exciting showcase of action as Superman pounds his villains and does his best to keep bystanders from getting hurt.
There is still much controversy about the film’s release as the Producer of the film, Alexander Salkind had many creative disputes with director Richard Donner. Donner initially shot Superman II with its predecessor simultaneously. After many disagreements about budget and creative control, Donner was fired from the project. Director Richard Lester was brought in to re-shoot the picture. Lester had worked with Salkind previously on the successful adaptations of the The Three Musketeers and its sequel The Four Musketeers which were also shot simultaneously.
Problems then arose from the previous picture’s two biggest stars, Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman. Brando demanded five million dollars in to appear in the sequel to the 1978 blockbuster. This was absolutely refused by film makers, who then worked around it in the film. Parental advice was then given by Susannah York who played Lara, Kal-El’s mother. Script changes made Lara the keeper of the archives of Krypton and allowed her to take Brando’s place. A similar workaround was needed for Gene Hackman who refused to work with another director. Any scene with Hackman in the film is actually directed by Richard Donner, with any inserts and long shots done with a body double and voice actor.
Superman II ended up being a very successful film in the end with good critical praise. Diehard fans were the biggest critics of the piece as they loved the fights and action of the picture, but winced as continuity was broken on some occasions with Superman’s powers as well as Zod’s threesome. Kryptonians in the film had the ability to levitate other people and Superman has the ability to throw a giant “S” off of his uniform. This is a complete fabrication in the film and met with consternation from avid followers of the Man of Steel. Also Richard Lester’s slapstick comedy style is a bit overused in the film in inappropriate places. Lastly, the film’s tone is very mean spirited at times. Making the Phantom Zone villains nasty is one thing, Killing everything in sight just for the fun of it (and I mean EVERYTHING in sight) is quite another. But any squabbles over the movie were let go after the experience of the film’s overall effect.
Superman II is a wonderful piece of entertainment and an action spectacular. The film’s performances bring the film to a place of real prominence as the best sequel to any DC Comics property. Two more sequels followed this one with minimal success. Without the grandeur, but serious tone that Richard Donner brought to the series, the series languished until it finally dropped dead. Now Warner Brothers and DC Comics hope to give Big Blue another shot at the big screen with an adaptation that brings the Man of Steel back to the forefront of superheroes. But no Superman will be able to give the character the treatment he deserved, and received, from Christopher Reeve. The legacy he left will go on and on (especially with this writer) and one only hopes that the new film is as inspiring as the first films in this series that were brought to the screen.
