Superman II – ABC Film Challenge – Comic Book Movies – Z (General Zod) – Superman 2 – Movie Review
Director: Richard Lester
Writer: Mario Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman (Screenplay)
Writer: Jerry Sigel, Joe Shuster (Characters)
Cast
- Christopher Reeve (Village of the Damned)
- Gene Hackman (The French Connection)
- Terence Stamp (Last Night in Soho)
- Margot Kidder (Black Christmas)
- Ned Beatty (Network)
Plot: Superman agrees to sacrifice his powers to start a relationship with Lois Lane, unaware that three Kryptonian criminals he inadvertently released are conquering Earth.
Runtime: 2 Hours 7 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Story: Superman II starts as Clark Kent (Reeve) has continued to keep his secret identity from the world. However, Lois Lane (Kidder) is starting to believe he is Superman. Elsewhere, Kryptonian criminal General Zod (Stamp) and his sidekicks have escaped and set their sights on conquering Earth. Meanwhile, Lux Luthor (Hackman) also escape prison and learns of General Zod and looks to be their connection.
As General Zod starts to make a bigger impact with his presence on Earth. Superman is left with a difficult decision, give up his powers to be with Lois or not. With Clark giving up his powers, he is left to navigate the world as a mortal, with General Zod’s presence causing problems for his future.
Verdict on Superman II
Superman II is the bigger sequel with new enemies. It sees Superman dealing with his own decisions, wanting to be with Lois and asking whether to give away his powers. However, he needs them to fight back against the latest threat heading to Earth.
This does bring the popular hero back and gets to focus a lot more on his human problems in life. It has a new threat coming to Earth and Superman needs to face consequences if he changes himself. The action does look pretty weak throughout, but the human aspect of the film turns everything around.
Final Thoughts – Superman II is a solid sequel that brings back the popular hero.
