Superman II Movie Review - Starring Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder

By David Terr

"Superman II", the sequel to "Superman", stars many of the same actors as the original film in their original roles. The film is as entertaining and adventurous as the original. The acting is quite good, particularly that of the three arch-villains from Krypton (Terence Stamp as General Zod, Sarah Douglas as Ursa, and Jack O'Halleran as Non).

"Superman II" begins shortly after the original film left off. Perry White, chief editor of the Daily Planet, sends Lois Lane to Paris to investigate a terrorist plot to set of a hydrogen bomb from the Eiffel Tower. When Superman (disguised as Clark Kent) learns of this, he quickly removes his disguise and flies off to save her and send the bomb off into space. The bomb explodes a safe distance from Earth, but the explosion causes the Phantom Zone, in which the three arch-villains General Zod, Ursa, and Non have been captured and flying through space, to break, releasing them near the moon.

The three villains go to the moon, where they encounter a group of astronauts on a lunar mission. They quickly kill the astronauts and destroy the mission, learning of their new superpowers in the process. They then head to Earth to wreak more havoc.

Lois and Clark are sent to Niagra Falls posed as newlyweds to investigate a hotel scam. Superman saves a boy who accidentally falls off a rail above the falls. Lois suspects that Clark Kent is Superman, since as usual, he disappears as soon as Superman appears. In order to try to prove that he's Superman, she throws herself into the river, hoping Clark will remove his disguise and save her. Instead, he uses his heat vision to burn off a large branch from a tree, telling her to grab onto it. He then jumps in and rescues her without the need to use his powers.

Back in the hotel room, Clark stumbles and his hand accidentally ends up in the fire in the fireplace. However, when he removes his hand with no evidence of it having burned, Lois learns that he really is Superman. She professes her love for him and he falls in love with her as well. Superman flies off with her to his fortress on the North Pole, where they enjoy a nice, romantic dinner. Superman then receives a message from his long-deceased mother, telling him that in order to be with Lois, he must give up his powers, which he agrees to do.

Meanwhile, the arch-villains cause more trouble. After destroying a small town in Idaho, they fly off to Washington DC, break through the roof, and demand that the president step down and let General Zod take over the world. Reluctantly the president agrees, but tells him that Superman will not let him remain in power.

General Zod and his associates want to find Superman so they can challenge him. Lex Luthor shows up, having escaped from prison and learned of the villains' whereabouts. In exchange for Australia, he tells them to kidnap Lois Lane in order to lure Superman.

On their way back home from the North Pole, Lois and Clark wander into a diner. A big brute makes a pass at Lois. Clark tries to stop him but turns out to be no match for him. Lois manages to get away from him, however. Afterward, they watch TV and learn of the arch-villains' world takeover. Clark then insists on going back to the North Pole to try to get his powers back.

Shortly after Lois returns to the Daily Planet, the villains come along with Lex and kidnap her. Having regained his powers, Superman arrives to save her. The villains go after him, resulting in a big superbattle throughout Metropolis. In the end, however, Superman loses the battle and flies off to his fortress.

Only Lex knows of the location of the fortress, so he tells the villains how to get there. They take him and Lois there. Superman then battles it out with them again, but they grab Lois and threaten to kill her unless he backs off. Superman then secretly teams up with Lex and tells him to try to get the villains into a chamber, which will make them lose their powers. Lex betrays Superman, however, and tells the villains to make Superman go in their instead, which he does. Thinking he's lost his powers, General Zod then makes Superman kneel before him, grabbing his hand. However, in reality, Superman had retained his powers in the chamber and the villains had lost theirs. Thus, Superman crushes the general's hand and throws him off a tall cliff. Non tries to fly to stop Superman, but falls himself. Finally, Lois delivers a good punch to Ursa, which makes her fall to her death as well. Since Lex had betrayed Superman, which is in fact what he'd been counting on, Superman leaves him stranded in the fortress and flies back to Metropolis with Lois.

Back home, in order to keep his powers, Superman must end his romantic relationship with Lois, which he does with a kiss, which makes her forget about it and that Clark is Superman. Disguised as Clark, he goes back to the diner and teaches the thug who'd beaten him up earlier a lesson. Finally, Superman flies back to the White House, puts the roof back on, and apologizes to the president for having let him down.

Superman II - Dave's Top Movies

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