(1980. Dir. Richard Lester. Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman, Terence Stamp. 127 min.) Second outing with Christopher Reeve as the ultimate boyscout and the most memorable of the series, putting Superman in the position where he’ll give his powers away so he can be with Lois. Now that’s a Warner Bros. movie. In a before the titles prequel of sorts, Kyrpton’s three most dangerous criminals are jailed in a flashing triangle by Jor-el and tossed into space. After that logical absurdities abound, like how in a universe this big does General Zod, Ursa, and Non manage to land in Superman’s neighborhood? (And don't ask how Clark sans his powers gets back to The North Pole on foot.) But director Richard Lester (Hard Day’s Night, Help, The Three Musketeers) keeps it all bouncing along rather nicely, with Terence Stamp’s wonderfully menacing Zod as the main reason to watch and the pre-CGI special effects giving off an old school charm. All hail General Zod or he'll put a real hurtin' on you.
