Word: supermans
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...Superman," whispers the little kid sitting next to you as popcorn butter drips from his chin to his dungarees. But on the screen, the Man of Steel is neither stopping a runaway train, nor punching out bank robbers. He's in bed with a gorgeous woman, worrying about things that have nothing to do with truth, justice, or the American way. Superman II is more than just another adventure for our favorite hero. In addition to saving the planet, and perhaps the universe, he confronts his own past, throws a dinner party for two at his North Pole bungalow...
Meantime, there is Superman II to consider, and a pleasant prospect it is. For it is that rarity of rarities, a sequel that readily surpasses the original. This is not, perhaps, a task requiring Kryptonic levels of wit and wisdom, because the initial effort was more than a little crude. The film makers suffered from a deep insecurity about what to take seriously, what they could afford to kid around with in updating the pop legend. Whether in derision or in a desperate desire to get laughs, the picture seemed to be running around with its tongue stuck...
...Krypton compressed to the proportions of a flat rock and sent skimming over the ocean of space at the beginning of the first film. Accidentally released from bondage, they make their way to earth with intent to take over the territory. Since each has powers equal to those of Superman, their ambition does not seem unreasonable-particularly since, under Kryptonic law, Superman has been forced to abandon his unearthly strength in order to pursue his dalliance with Earthling Lois...
...make their destructive way to the White House and takeover. They are always doing things like catching bazooka shells in their bare hands and blowing tanks out of their path with about as much breath power as an ordinary mortal uses to douse a candle. The final confrontation with Superman is a barroom brawl on a delightfully gigantic scale. Instead of heaving furniture at one another, they toss a bus back and forth. And when one of the combatants gets thrown, the trajectory is measured in city blocks. In short, there is wit, even a sort of weird plausibility...
...dialogue in this kind of movie, and the brisk inventiveness of the plotting helps too. Decent acting in movies of this sort is, of course, merely an extra added attraction-a sort of dish night for the sobersides. But Christopher Reeve makes his transitions from Clark Kent to Superman something more than a matter of fluffing up his cape; the man has a quiet sense of irony about him. Margot Kidder is a perfect Lois Lane. She makes one believe that inside that ambitious reporter there just may be a lady who reads lyric poetry on her nights...