Cult Movie Review: Superman II (1981)

Although the film suffered dramatic behind-the-scenes tumults, including a shift in the director’s chair from Richard Donner to Richard Lester, Superman II (released in America in 1981) certainly ranks on my short list of the best movie sequels ever made (along with The Empire Strikes Back [1980], The Road Warrior [1982], Aliens [1986], The Godfather II [1974], and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan [1982]).

To this sequel’s credit, Superman II assiduously continues Superman: The Movie’s (1978) religious underpinnings, comparing the Man of Steel to Jesus Christ himself.  Only here, it is not Superman’s origin that we witness, but rather his great “human” temptation, as well as an Armageddon-styled, End-of-Days-type battle.  As before, the carefully placed religious sub-text underlines many of the film’s key visuals, and layers the story with an additional veneer of meaning.

Additionally, Superman II deepens the Clark Kent/Lois Lane relationship significantly, and adds new shades to Superman’s personality.  There are moments here in which Superman is legitimately angry and even self-loathing. Yet despite his difficult trials, his ultimate goodness still shines through.  Even when things are at their worst -- and he is at his weakest -- this Superman is not a “dark hero” or a “brooder.” 

Finally, and perhaps most viscerally, Superman II delivers fully and explicitly on the action promise of the first film.

Superman: The Movie did a spectacular, even incomparable job of establishing the world of Superman with its epic three-part structure (Krypton/Smallville/Metropolis).  Yet there wasn’t a deep impression in that film that Superman had faced a devastating challenge; one that could ultimately destroy him or imperil all of mankind. Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) was a criminal menace and mastermind, certainly, but one with overt comedic overtones.  Even Lois Lane’s death -- the event that caused Superman to reverse time itself – was an unintentional side-effect rather than a direct result of Luthor’s malice.

Superman II’s creative dynamic is determinedly different, however. Here, we witness a frightening multiplication of on-screen danger as Superman faces three Kryptonian criminals who wreak incredible havoc on Earth.  The film’s climactic “Battle for Metropolis” still looks mighty impressive today, but in 1981 it carried an emotional punch too, a literal special effects wallop.   

Indeed, this sustained battle between Superman and the three super-villains might be described as a sort of Holy Grail for modern superhero movie fans: a city-wide battle scene wherein super foes duke it out, no holds-barred.  The only limits present are those of the imagination, and of the special effects technology. This is, largely, what modern audiences desired (and did not get) out of Singer’s Superman Returns (2006), apparently.

Today -- over thirty years later -- Superman II impresses most significantly as “The Last Temptation of Superman,” as I like to term it.  This is the (stirring) adventure in which Superman learns he will always stand apart from the world, and, in the end, comes to understand why he must embrace that (isolating) destiny.

“Is there no one on this planet to even challenge me?”

Superman (Christopher Reeve) rescues Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) from terrorists at the Eiffel Tower, and detonates a nuclear bomb in outer space (intended for Paris) at the last moment.  

The blast in deep space, however, shatters the Phantom Zone prison and releases three super-powered menaces, General Zod (Terence Stamp), his consort Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and the hulking Non (Jack O’Halloran).

Meanwhile, back on Earth, Lex Luthor (Hackman) escapes from prison, and discovers Superman’s Fortress of Solitude.

At roughly the same time, Lois and Clark visit Niagara Falls to investigate honeymoon rip-offs, and Lane begins to suspect that Kent and Superman are one in the same.  When she learns the truth, Superman takes the love of his life to his icy home in the north, and confers there with the image of his Kryptonian mother, Lara (Susannah York) about taking a human wife.  Lara instructs Superman that he most forsake all of his Kryptonian powers, and become a mere mortal. 

Clark undergoes the process, unaware of the danger the Earth faces from the three Kryptonian criminals.

With nobody to stop them, Zod and his cohorts take total control of the Earth, forcing the President of the U.S. to submit to their will.  After a day or so in charge, however, the criminals grow bored, at least until Lex Luthor shows up and informs Zod that he can deliver Superman -- Jor-El’s son -- to him.

When Superman – now with no powers -- learns what has happened in his absence, he takes a difficult trek back to the Fortress of Solitude in hopes of restoring his powers and reclaiming his heritage.

 “I see you are practiced in worshiping things that fly.”

In Superman: The Movie, we saw a God-like figure (Jor-El) in a Heaven-like setting (Krypton), vanquish evil insurrectionists (like Lucifer) to the Hell of the Phantom Zone.  We also saw that God-like figure deliver his only begotten son, Kal-El, to Earth…as a gift to mankind.

Superman II picks up on this religious aspect of the superhero’s journey and writes new chapters in his tale.  In particular, Superman II focuses on two specific aspects of Christ’s story, namely his temptation by the Devil, and secondly, the battle of Armageddon, the war leading to dawn of a New Age of Peace.

In the first instance, Clark reaches a crossroads in his relationship with Lois Lane. She learns his identity as Superman, and he decides to pursue a relationship with her.  This relationship -- though what Clark desires most deeply -- goes directly against his destiny as the Savior of Mankind. Clark cannot be the world’s savior and Lois’s husband simultaneously, but he chooses to be with her anyway.  In other words, he has given in to the temptations of the flesh and of the heart.   Clark renounces his powers for the love of a mortal soul, and then even lives as a mortal himself for a time. Only after giving up his God-like powers does Clark realize he has abdicated his destiny and his heritage.

At this point, Clark heads back into the Arctic desert to attempt to regain his powers, and these moments in the film function as an allusion to Christ’s forty-days wandering in the desert, as described in the Gospels.  If we count that time as the moment from which Clark becomes human to the time he becomes Superman again, we see that he, like, Jesus, is exposed to terrible dangers during this period, from vicious beatings (at the fist of a nasty trucker) to nearly freezing to death. 

Finally, Clark -- again like Jesus Christ -- is healed and ministered to by an otherworldly power.  Only here it’s the power of the green crystal (the power of Krypton) which he finds still intact in the Fortress of Solitude. In Scripture, it was the Angels who came to Jesus, but as we saw in Superman: The Movie, there is a case to be made that the Kryptonian society represents “Heaven,” so the analogy holds.

When Superman returns to Metropolis to fight the evil-doers from Krypton, the event plays out very much like the Biblical description of the End Times.  It is, in short, the precursor to the “Second Coming of Superman.”  Once Zod and the others are defeated, the victory heralds -- if not a thousand years of peace -- certainly a paradise-like kingdom with no crime or war, as directly promised in Scripture.  In this case, Superman has learned from his temptation and promises the President of the United States that he won’t make the same mistake again. He will be looking over the world – and protecting us – without selfish distraction.  The Son has taken his place as the Messiah, putting aside the desires we associate with the mortal world.

The temptation of mortal life.

The Trials: Wandering in the icy desert.

Restored by a Godly power.

The Second Coming of Superman

Restoration and a New Age of Peace.

In the film’s three Kryptonian villains, we get representations of the Anti-Christ, the Devil, or “false Gods,” but ones who nonetheless boast divine powers.  In fact, the God-like (Devil-like?) abilities of these bad guys are defined in the film in largely Christian terms.  When he comes to Earth, for example, the evil Zod walks on water.  And Ursa, almost immediately upon visiting Planet “Houston,” discovers a serpent in the grass (which she promptly kills).  Finally, all three of the villains are destroyed when they disappear or "fall" into an apparently bottomless pit, a dramatic plummet which mimics the fall of Lucifer.  These actions and symbols are all deliberately religious in nature so that we, as the viewers, can contextualize Superman II as Armageddon and Aftermath.  This is the long-destined battle between Good and Evil on Earth.

Walking on water.

The Serpent in the Garden.

The Fall.

At the heart of Superman II lurks the very question many ask regarding Jesus, actually.  Can the Son of God be both Man and God simultaneously?  And what does the man lose or give up by being divine?  The answer is very clearly stated in this film. Superman must surrender the Earthly love of Lois Lane, and commit to a destiny wherein he will always be alone, always be separated, in some sense, from the rest of humanity.  Outside of the special effects spectacle of the film, I admire Superman II because I feel that Superman’s existential crisis is right there, on the surface, for all of us to see.  He turned back time to bring Lois Lane back to life, but he still can’t actually be with her; can’t love her, can't grow old with her. 

I appreciate the fact that we get to see “the man” inside Superman in this sequel.  The one who gets angry when Lois discovers his secret.  The one who tastes his own blood for the first time, after forgetting he is no longer invincible.  The one who executes a perfect deception against Lex, Zod and the other criminals.  Even the one who -- just for once -- would like to be a little selfish.  

There’s a sense in this film of Superman as a much more well-developed character than we have seen previously.  In particular, Superman II's conclusion always impresses me.  After Superman realizes he cannot defeat the villains with brute force in the Battle of Metropolis, he defeats them with his mind – out-thinking and outmaneuvering them – in the Fortress of Solitude.  

This is, in some way, a comment to the audience that brute force – even on a super scale -- can be beaten by intelligence and ingenuity.  I must admit, watching Superman crush (the mortal) Zod’s hand is one of the great joys of this film. Being physically strong and being clever are two very different things.  Superman is both, but Zod is only the former.  We might intuit that Superman has learned from his time with human beings how to be clever, and I like that lesson.

I have very distinct memories of seeing this film in the theater in 1981, and being overwhelmed and highly-entertained by the Battle of Metropolis, a fifteen minute set-piece that involves the Empire State Building, a flying bus, heat vision, super “breath,” and other powers we associate with the Superman myth  It all comes together beautifully in this sustained set-piece, and I’ll never forget the rush of adrenaline I felt (and the cheers of the audience...) when Superman picks up Zod, spins him around, and hurls him away.  The bastard had it coming.

I attribute the thrill of that small (but delightful...) moment to the believable special effects, the strong audience investment in the Superman character at that point in the narrative (helped immensely by Reeve’s portrayal), and Stamp’s cold, ruthless screen presence as General Zod.  

In short, every element came together absolutely perfectly in the Battle of Metropolis, and Superman II had the audience right where it wanted it.  Great villains, a great sense of humor, a touching romance and a meaningful journey for its hero...what's not to love here?  I believe it says something about the quality of the writing, the acting, the directing and the hero himself that Superman faces three villains in this film, but is never overshadowed or sidelined.  Superman II never becomes a freak show (as some Batman films have become).

Alas, this would be the last time in the Superman movie franchise all the elements gelled perfectly.  After Superman II, it was all downhill…