Movie Review: Superman 2 (1980)

Interestingly, there are two different versions of the movie available. Richard Donner shot two movies simultaneously with the intention of releasing them one after another. But, once the first movie was released, there was a reported fallout between Donner and the producers. Donner was replaced with Richard Lester, who completed this movie and the inferior sequel, Superman III.

This is a review of the theatrical (Richard Lester) version. The Richard Donner version has also been restored and is available on DVD.

The movie opens with footage we saw briefly in Superman: The Movie. General Zod (Terence Stamp) and his associates, Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Non (Jack O'Halloran) are banished to the Phantom Zone by Jor-El (Marlon Brando). Zod vows to take revenge on his jailor and his future heirs.

Back to the present in Earth, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) is off to Paris on one of her journalistic missions. As fans of DC comics are well aware, Lois and life threatening danger are never far apart, especially when she is away from the Daily Planet in Metropolis.

Some masked men have taken over the Eiffel Tower and are threatening to blow up Paris with a hydrogen bomb, unless they are paid a ransom. Lois, as is her wont, tries to reach these men atop the Tower, presumably to negotiate with them. In comes our saviour of the day, Supes (Christopher Reeve) and it is a good ending for Lois and not so much for the bad guys.

However, there is an unintended side-effect of this rescue. When Supes disposes off the bomb by throwing it off into space, the resulting explosion releases Zod and his fellow criminals from their prison.

The 3 Kryptonians head to Moon and start their evil shenanigans right away. After learning about Houston from the human astronauts, Zod starts his mission to take over "Planet Houston".

Clark and Lois, meanwhile are sent together to investigate the recent incidents involving honeymooning couples at Niagara Falls. Lois starts getting suspicious about Clark being Superman and tries her best to force Clark to reveal his identity. Clark proves to be too smart for such antics.

He does slip up later and is forced to disclose his true identity. Supes takes Lois to the Fortress of Solitude and consummates their relationship. Supes also undergoes an operation to lose his superpowers and subsequently becomes a mortal to spend his life with Lois.

This proves to be bad timing, as the 3 Kryptonians land on Earth and quickly proceed to take over the White House. Superman is forced to reconsider his earlier decision and returns to the Fortress of Solitude to recover his powers.

Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) has escaped from prison and has already trekked to the Fortress of Solitude, along with Eve Tessmacher (Valerie Perrine). He tries to bargain with Zod to acquire Australia by providing about the elusive Man of Steel. Enraged that his jailor's son is still alive, Zod is led by Lex to the Daily Planet. Lex plans to use Lois as a bait to catch Superman.

Supes does not disappoint and a battle royale that takes places in the streets and on air across Metropolis. This is a great fight scene between Supes and 3 equally powerful Kryptonian enemies. Outnumbered, Supes has to use his wits to defeat his opponents.

This movie is as much fun as Superman: The Movie. Having explained Supes' background and powers in the preceding one, this movie focusses on Superman-Lois Lane romance. It also presents a real physical threat to the Man of Steel in the form of Zod and his cohorts.

The actors have comfortably settled in their roles and the newcomers acquit themselves nicely. 

Chris Reeve continues his superlative performance as Supes and his alter ego, Clark Kent. His chemistry with Margot Kidder is palpable. Gene Hackman provides most of the comic relief in the movie and he is an absolute hoot. The script (again) by Mario Puzo gets some nice laughs through the way people on earth react to the Kryptonians' arrival and their costumes.

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Terence Stamp gives a campy but enjoyable turn as General Zod. His "Kneel before Zod" utterance has become part of the pop culture. Sarah Douglas is good as the vamp and Jack O'Halloran is adequate as the brawny but dumb Non.

It will be interesting to see Michael Shannon's take on General Zod. The trailers have indicated that Michael's version will be a more serious one.

 General Zod and Ursa (Superman 2, 1980) vs General Zod and Faora-Ul (Man of Steel, 2013)

Supes and Bats are referred to as "World's Finest" and true to that designation, Superman: The Movie and Superman 2 along with the The Dark Knight Trilogy are at the top of the food chain in the superhero movie genre.

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Image Sources: Warner Bros Pictures, Box Office Mojo, DC Comics, Star Warped, Superhero Shows, SupermanTV.Net, Wikia

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Movie Review - After Earth (2013)

 

The opening scenes give us a quick overview of the preceding events. Earth has undergone drastic changes and humans are being hunted by monsters called "Ursas" released by aliens.
 

Ursas are technically blind but hunt humans by smelling the pheromones secreted out of fear. The "Ghosting" technique involves masking one's fear and thus becoming invisible to Ursas, enabing one to kill it. General Cypher Raige (Will Smith), the "Prime Commander" is the first Ghost and is a legend for his Ursa killing skills.

Sophie Okonedo as Faia Rage and Zoë Kravitz as Senshi Raige

Cypher's son, Kitai Raige (Jaden Smith) has an artistic temparament and suffers from recurring nightmare of witnessing his sister, Senshi Raige (Zoë Kravitz) being killed by an Ursa. Cypher and Kitai are emotionally distant and at Mrs Faia Raige's (Sophie Okonedo) suggestion, Cypher takes Kitai along on his mission. A generic space mishap makes them crash on Earth and only the father-son duo survive (Surprise, Surprise).
 

Cypher informs his son that other lifeforms on Earth have "evolved" to hate human beings. In addition, there are wild climate fluctuations that can put one's life in instant jeopardy. Cypher's legs are badly injured and Kitai has to go on an one man trek in the hostile territory in search of a MacGuffin to save the day (Surprise again).
 

Struck to his seat and left motionless, Cypher starts having flashbacks of his daughter and even shares some anecdotes with his son. Cue a lot of unintentional hilarity.

Jaden Smith as Kitai Raige doing some action hero type things in After Earth

The digitally created creatures on Earth (baboons, tigers) look to be computer generated rather than realistic as they are intended to be and the chase/action scenes are pedestrian.

The scientific aspects of the movie look quite outdated. The displays on Cypher's spaceship are old school and would be right at home in a B movie from the 1980s. If nothing, this movie will serve the purpose of showing the public how tough it is to make a good space movie. I definitely gained a new sense of respect for the recently released Star Trek sequel.

 

One of the shots of human heads strung on a tree reminded me of a similar shot in the Zack Snyder directed 300.
 

The initial prologue is one of the weakest I have seen with the extras running around, like in a low budget sci fi TV show.

Will Smith as General Cypher Raige in After Earth

Will Smith's usual charisma and winsome personality is lost in his performance as an emotionless warrior.

Sophie Okonedo as Faia Rage delivers the best performance, despite her limited screen time. Similarly, Zoë Kravitz is good in her role.

Lacking both imagination and humor (of the intentional kind), this is an assembly line product made with the sole purpose of launching Jaden Smith's career as a leading man.

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Unintentional hilarity abounds, thanks to the movie's self serious tone and cliched script - Kitai's artistic nature vs Cypher's emotionless one, a subordinate asking to be raised on his one leg to salute Cypher, the cheap props in the prologue, the name "Cypher" and his designation "Prime Commander". The cliches are just one too many.
 

Contrast this with Fast & Furious 6, whose lack of self seriousness and the ability to poke fun at the ridiculousness of the premise results in some well-earned laughs.

Jaden Smith as Kitai Raige wears the same expression throughout the movie

Coming back to After Earth, I actually laughed out loud when Kitai spoke his lines for the first time. The accent used by Jaden as Kitai is hilarious. Jaden Smith delivers a one-note performance, comprised mainly of a continuous look of constipation.
 

The final encounter reminded me of the Frodo-Shelob encounter in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Ursa itself looks to be inspired from the titular creature in The Alien and the Kraken from Clash of The Titans.

M. Night Shyamalan continues his descent into cinematic abyss. One wonders how come the director of this insipid movie also made The Sixth Sense. Following the director's footsteps, the rest of the crew have also turned out mediocre work.

Funniest line in the movie - Cypher to Kitai: "Take a Knee! Take a Knee, Cadet!"

In a nutshell: A laughably bad movie, that is typical of M. Night Shyamalan but represents a rare misstep for Will Smith.

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Image Sources: Box Office Mojo, Columbia Pictures, Overbrook Entertainment and Blinding Edge Pictures

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