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SUPERMAN II

As shooting on their Superman project dragged on, producers Ilya and Alexander Salkind put more and more pressure on director Richard Donner to speed up production, knowing that they could bring in their old pal Richard Lester, who had directed their THREE MUSKETEERS movies, to finish up if Donner quit. However, Donner stuck it out long enough to complete the first film. Many believe that if SUPERMAN had been a flop, the Salkinds would have forced Donner to complete his contract and finish the sequel. As it was, the first film was a staggering success, and Donner was immediately fired from the project. American Richard Lester, who built a career specializing in British comedies, came on in his place.

The sequel starts by filling in the details of the capture of three traitorous criminals during the final days of the planet Krypton, as they are sentenced to spend eternity in the limbo-like Phantom Zone. The notable exclusion in these scenes is Marlon Brando as Jor-El - the more affordable Susanna York fills in as Lara for the rest of the series.

The recap of the entire first film continues over the opening credits, with the story picking up when terrorists take hostages on the Eiffel Tower and threaten to explode a hydrogen bomb. Superman arrives in time to dispose of the bomb by tossing it into space. Unfortunately, it happens to explode at a point which opens an escape hatch in the Phantom Zone, allowing the three super-villains to get free. This is one of many such coincidences shoehorned into the script.

There follows a genuinely chilling sequence in which the trio - General Zod (Terence Stamp), Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Non (Jack O'Halloran) - now equally as powerful as Superman, kill a team of astronauts on the Moon, in the process learning more about their situation.

Before the villains can reach Earth, reporters Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) and Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) are sent by their editor Perry White (Jackie Cooper) to do an undercover expose on honeymoon scams at Niagara Falls. What at first appears as a prime opportunity for romantic comedy develops into genuine plot advancement when Clark 'accidentally' confirms Lois' suspicions and reveals his secret identity. The pair take off to awkwardly explore their relationship in the privacy of Superman's Fortress of Solitude. There they learn that the Kryptonian can only mate with a human after having his super powers removed by a red kryptonite projector. The lonely alien wastes no time in going through with the process.

Meanwhile, the Phantom Zone villains have invaded Earth and pretty much taken over everything. The one thing they lack is offered to them by Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman), who has been busy escaping from prison and hunting down the secrets of the son of General Zod's jailer, Jor-El. Everyone is wondering: Where is Superman?

Superman is losing his virginity while the whole world suffers. After their brief honeymoon, Clark Kent spends his first non-super day learning what it's really like to be mortal - by getting his ass kicked by a surly truck driver. As if this isn't enough to tell him that he's made a big mistake, a TV news report fills him in on what's been happening. With this he turns tail and heads back to the Fortress to try to get super again.

Luthor leads Zod and his stooges to the Daily Planet, where they can threaten Superman's friends in person. Superman himself arrives in time to meet the challenge. With the lengthy exposition out of the way, SUPERMAN II gets down to the real fun: a full scale superpowered slugfest in downtown Metropolis.

Like the Salkinds, Warners has decided to go cheap for the sequel DVD, presenting the widescreen feature with only a trailer and a skimpy bio section. Considering the wealth of extras on the SUPERMAN DVD, this isn't such a great sin, especially since so much of the sequel was shot concurrently. However, the real sin committed is that the soundtrack mix isn't as expansive as that of the original, making the film sound flat in comparison, denying Ken Thorne's orchestrations of John Williams' themes a chance to shine. Also, a commentrak would have been welcome, if only to settle the old discussion over what was shot by which director.

Most of this is easy to settle logically. Since Hackman was only available a short time, all of his scenes are directed by Donner. In addition, all scenes shot on sets seen in both films - the Daily Planet, Krypton, the Fortress, Lois' apartment - would have been shot first. And any shot that has wacky, out-of-place sight gags are most likely shot by Lester. That means that at least 50% of the principal photography was shot by Donner. Considering how many units were also shooting footage back in 1977, this leaves just enough Lester footage added to give the film a slightly off-kilter rhythm.

Donner went on to produce and direct a highly successful series of films with star Mel Gibson, direct the underrated ASSASSINS and THE GOONIES, and executive produce X-MEN, ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, and TALES FROM THE CRYPT. Lester would go on to direct the wildly unpopular SUPERMAN III on his own.