Rakesh's movie talk
Superman II (1980)
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Rakesh's movie talk
Superman II (1980)
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I must have mentioned in Superman review that some of this movies scenes were shot simultaneously during the first
movie. The original director Richard Donner shot them and left after the completion of the first movie, due to differences
with the producer. Richard Lester came in and shot the rest, though it took some time before the second movie hit the screen. I have got a mixed feeling about this movie. It is actually a continuation of the first. The Superman/Clark Kent/Lois Lane
love thingy carries on and is as interesting as before. Lex Luthor escapes but instead of being the main bad guy, he becomes
the mediator for the three new ones. Who, you ask? You mean you never seen this movie? How old are you, by the way. Okay,
if you are below 15, I forgive you. You are probably familiar with Batman. What? You haven't seen Batman?
Don't get me started here, young man. Here's a paragraph from one of my favourite critics, James Berardinelli, which will give you an idea of the making of this
movie: According to the original plan, Superman II was intended to be released six months after the original Superman (in
fact, the end credits for Superman contain the following statement: "Coming Next Summer: Superman II"). The idea had been
to film the two movies back-to-back; however, before work was completed on Superman II, director Richard Donner had a falling
out with Alexander and Ilya Salkind, and was removed from the project. So, while another filmmaker was being recruited to
take the reins, things hovered in limbo, unfinished and unreleased. The summer of 1979 passed with no word about Superman
II, as did the summer of 1980. In the meantime, Geoffrey Unsworth, who had photographed Superman and the Donner-directed segments
of Superman II, died, so a new cinematographer had to be found as well. Finally, Richard Lester (best known for directing
The Three Musketeers, The Four Musketeers, and A Hard Day's Night) was hired to helm the troubled production, and Rob Paynter
was brought on as director of photography. Production resumed, and the final cut of the movie contains material by both Donner
and Lester. Perhaps surprisingly, it's almost impossible to tell where one man's work ends and the other's begins. The film's
editors (Stuart Baird and John Victor-Smith) deserve a lion's share of the credit for keeping the film's tone reasonably stable.
Got the picture, mates? No pun intended. It might perhaps explain the slightly muddled-up quality in the film, despite
what Berardinelli claims as good editing job. What's missing? I don't know, maybe its the internal conflict between the film
buff and a lover of comic book fantasies. In the first film, a great emphasis was made of cinematography (Unsworth is a big
name, brother) and it was a movie based on comic character. Superman II is a complete translation of comic book caper
on screen. Being a movie buff first, I found it hard to swallow. The long scenes of battle between Supes and the three Kyrptonian
criminals (ultimate comic book bad guys) are long and sleep inducing. But it doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy the movie. I bear in mind that 90 percent of the time, sequels cannot match up
to the original and the first movie had 'origin' elements that made us know and care a great deal about Superman and Clark
Kent. Superman II's lack of quality, or whatever it is, is excusable. It is still fun. Reeves is excellent as usual. Margot Kidder gets more screen time as Lois Lane and it is very useful in
character development. Hackman provides most of the humour in the film and its helps to settle the complete lack of one amongst
the bad guys. Superman gets to show his usual feats, though the special effects doesn't look that good. Ken Thorne does the music this time, and he does not wander far from John Williams' Theme. I read elsewhere that there
wasn't enough budget for music, and it shows in Thorne's work. It still sounds okay, anyway. If you like the original, you will also like this one. If you saw this first, you will absolutely love the original. And
who gave you the right to watch this first, anyway?
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