Review

After the prologue, the film begins with Lois jumping out the window to bait Clark into giving away his secret - while improbable, it's a bold way to start the film. It seems to be saying, "forget about the origin story; let's jump right into the action", however this isn't followed with enough of a storyline for the two of them. She and Reeve have just over 13 total minutes of screen time (I counted) by the time they are in bed together. We don't get to see their romance bloom at Niagra Falls. The blank bullets scene is the only other moment they really have. It's too quick to digest for the audience. They're our main characters and simply said, we need much more of 'em.

Marlon Brando has one of the films' two epic scenes when he gives up his "life" to restore his son's powers. It's a very moving scene and also a great character building moment for Superman. He learns his selfish needs denied him a life of giving and sharing his special gifts with the world. Some have complained that Reeve didn't act as well in this version - I disagree. The original intention of Superman's character in this film was to focus on his immaturity, selfishness and need for personal gratification. Reeve acts this way because in Part One he was initially trying to become a man. Here, he gives into his personal wants and needs. However, his decision is a mistake and he has to suffer losing his father as a result. This is powerful stuff and Reeve acts the character out in this story arc and is excellent.

Gene Hackman gets top billing and is interesting and humorous, but there isn't much weight to him as a villain and luckily General Zod, Ursa and Non are there to provide the muscle and madness that make Superman realize what a mistake he has made. If there is a weakness in the supervillains it's that they aren't given enough to do. The battle in Metropolis is the other epic scene and the lack of humor and the constant action make it the most exciting part of the movie.

However, the ending of Superman turning back time is an incomprehensible mistake by any standard. It begs the question, "Why didn't Superman just turn back time to get rid of Zod once Jor-El restored his powers?" The fact that this ending was used in part one only makes it worse. The idea that Superman can always turn back time is a poor one that makes the character too good to be true. He cannot have such unbelievable power; it takes away from the drama and conflict of him understanding a better way to use his power to save people.

Good moments - the villains destroying the Washington monument on their way to the White house. There's a nice, eerie moment when Superman is about to give up his powers when he flies in his civilian clothes for the only time. The Statue of Liberty getting crashed into during the Metropolis battle is a great iconic moment. A big film needs big icons like Lady Liberty in it. Ursa gets a great moment in the White House where she gets to enjoy her fatal kick of a White House guard, teasing him before she delivers the deed. It's another great icy moment for the "Queen of the Runway" as Perry White calls her. Zod also has some great lines such as an old-west type of line when he gets to the fortress, yelling, "Show yourself, coward!" And despite her lack of screen time, Margot Kidder gets a wonderful ending atop her penthouse when, in tears, she tells Superman, "Your secret's safe with me."

Some poor moments include Ms. Teshmacher flushing a toilet in the fortress of Solitude. This is simply ugly and stupid. The music score is a mess. There is no way John Williams would approve of his Superman: The Movie score being used in such a choppy and repetitive way. The score seems like what it is – about 20-30 minutes of original music being spread over 110 minutes. The color holographic image of Jor-El that Lex sees, should have been in black and white as it was in the first film. The initial use of a color image of Jor-El should have been saved for when he walks up and touches his son for the only time as this would have added to the dramatic impact of the re-powering scene. Superman should have gone to bed with Lois after de-powering. It seems like he gives up his powers for nothing. And there is an inexcusable audio blip when Superman tells Zod in an extremely high-pitched munchkin voice, "I'm not a coward Zod."

Overall at one hour fifty - ten minutes of which are flashbacks - this is just too short for the epic story this was supposed to be. It needs to be around a half hour longer to build character for Ursa, Zod, Lois and Superman. Lex, if anything, has too much screen time and too much repetitive humor. I know the film was made with restraints and was never intended to be perfect, so it gives us an idea of what a 1979 Richard Donner- directed Superman II would have looked like. I honestly think about 50% of what we see here would have been changed had he finished the film in '79 such as much more footage shot of the developing romance between Lois and Clark, more development and certainly more destruction from Zod and Ursa, and without a doubt – a completely different ending than we see here. We'll never know, but seeing Brando's and Reeve's work now that they are no longer with us is special and it's satisfying even if just for that emotional re-powering scene between them.