Superman II (Richard Donner Cut)

***Superman II*** is the second *Superman* movie by Richard Donner. Donner was fired during production and Richard Lester took over. As a result, there is both a theatrical release and a "Donner Cut", which features different shots and unfinished footage.

### Plot

From a scene in the last part of *Superman: The Movie*, Superman is chasing after the nuclear missile that has been programmed to head toward the East Coast, catching up to just in time to push it into outer space where it will detonate harmlessly. As it does, the shock waves of the explosion causes the gateway to the Phantom Zone to shatter as it passes toward that direction, freeing the three criminals Jor-El had imprisoned in it. As in the Original Theatrical Version, the rogue Kryptonians head toward the moon to kill the three astronauts and then head towards Earth where they further discover and explore their new powers, using them to terrorize a small town in Idaho and eventually take on the military forces that try to oppose them.

At the Daily Planet, Lois suspects that Clark Kent is Superman and makes a daring test to prove that he is by throwing herself out of an office window to the city street below in front of Clark. He instead causes an awning to unfold below and then zips down to the street at superhuman speed to use his super-breath to slow Lois' fall. She bounces off the awning and lands unharmed onto a fruit stand. Clark zips back to the office and looks down from the window, asking Lois if she is all right. Lois looks at Clark rather dumbfoundedly as if what she did was really foolhardy and stupid before she faints.

Luthor breaks out of jail with the help of Eve Tessmacher in a hot-air balloon, then travels the rest of the way to the Fortress of Solitude on a snowmobile before hopping across several ice floes to its entrance. Luthor uses the holographic crystals and learns from Jor-El, Superman's father, about the three rogue Kryptonians in the Phantom Zone while Eve looks for a bathroom.

Clark and Lois travel to Niagara Falls to do an undercover story about their honeymoon suites when they go walking around the falls, seeing a young child fall into the raging waters. Instantly Superman comes to the boy's rescue and returns him safely to his mother, departing before Lois can get his attention. Later on at the hotel, Lois again attempts to have Clark Kent reveal himself as Superman, though this time with a gun. Clark tries to reason Lois into not doing anything foolish, but it is of no use: the gun goes off, and Clark isn't affected by it, which makes him realize it is best to end the charade with Lois. Of course, Lois reveals that the gun she used only fires blanks.

As in the Original Theatrical Version, the three Phantom Zone criminals now head to Washington, D.C., this time causing part of the Washington Monument to topple. They overpower the Secret Service and military staff stationed outside the Oval Office and force the President of the United States to bow down on his knees before Zod and surrender all governmental control to him in exchange for his life.

Superman then takes Lois to his Fortress of Solitude where he confesses his love for her before they spend the night together. He later confides with the hologram of his father Jor-El his desire to be with her. Jor-El criticizes this desire as being selfish, but Kal-El asks how much good has he done would be good enough to allow him some form of happiness with someone else. Unable to sway his son to think otherwise, Jor-El tells him that the only way he can do that is to live as one of the humans, without any of his powers, and shows him the molecular chamber that harnesses the power of Krypton's red sun that will remove his powers forever. Believing that his love for Lois is worth the cost, Superman steps into the chamber as Lois watches it strip away the Kryptonian that he was, leaving him as Clark Kent the human being.

As in the Original Theatrical Version, Clark gets into a fight with a bully trucker named Rocky and ends up learning that the three Phantom Zone criminals have escaped and are taking over the world, with the President pleading for Superman to come to the rescue. Realizing how much the world needs him as Superman, Clark returns to the Fortress alone and pleads with the spirit of Jor-El his father to restore what he had given up. His father's spirit appears again and this time merges with his son, fulfilling what Jor-El had said before he sent his son to Earth: "The son becomes the father, and the father the son."

Lex Luthor comes into contact with the rogue Kryptonians, revealing to them that Superman is the son of Jor-El, their jailer, and that he will help them get their revenge in exchange for his being ruler of Australia. He directs them to the Daily Planet, where as in the Original Theatrical Version he tells them to take Lois hostage. Soon Superman shows up outside the Daily Planet building, and the Kryptonians engage in a fight all around Metropolis that ends up putting its citizens at risk and almost kills Superman. He flees to the Fortress of Solitude, and Lex Luthor directs the Phantom Zone criminals to go there, taking Lois and himself with them. Superman tricks Luthor into having them put him into the molecule chamber to strip away his powers again, though after he comes out and bows before Zod, he crushes the Kryptonian's hand, making Luthor realize that the chamber kept Superman safe while the other three were stripped of their powers. They soon fall into the abyss, and Luthor is handed over to the authorities while Superman takes Lois to her apartment where she begins writing an article about Superman.

However, just as she starts typing, Superman again causes time to take a backward spin by spinning the planet in reverse, undoing all the damage that was caused and reimprisoning the Phantom Zone criminals. When he causes time to go forward again, Lois is totally without any knowledge of Clark Kent being Superman, and Perry White has a moment of deja vu. Lois greets Clark as he enters the Daily Planet office and tells him to get a pizza for her, which he obliges. To close out the story, as in the Original Theatrical Version, Clark returns to the diner to give Rocky a taste of his own medicine.

### Notes

* Richard Donner makes a cameo appearance as a man walking past a diner.

* The original DVD cover art, as well as several shots from the film itself show the World Trade Center towers and the Empire State Building, indicating that the Metropolis of the movies is analogous to New York City.
* Terence Stamp also played Jor-El in the Television Show Smallville. He appears in every single Season other than the 1st.