“I know. I know that, Lois.”

Yeah, Richard Donner’s version of Superman II is better in almost every conceivable way to me. It captures the epicness and grandeur of his first Superman movie, which is immediately obvious from the get-go, where we go back to the classic credits sequence and John Williams’ brilliant score, which is, fortunately, unlike the theatrical cut, present throughout the entire movie. The tone and feel are also a lot more akin to the original, removing the slapstick and just straight-up off humor that Lester’s version had. Before I get too deep into my review, though, I just want to note that most of the positives that I had for the original cut, I will touch upon again here.

The first one would be the villains, of course. Terence Stamp’s General Zod and Sarah Douglas’ Ursa are just awesome, and have a certain iconic screen presence to them. They also pose a much bigger threat to Superman, obviously, which naturally makes this sequel bigger and more grand-scale than the first. They are also introduced in a similar way to the first cut, but I like how it correlates more with the first movie in this one. Lex Luthor also returns, and while he doesn’t really need to be in the movie, Gene Hackman, of course, warrants his being in the film.

Christopher Reeve and Margot Killer yet again kill it as Superman/Clark Kent and Lois Lane, but this time I would argue they are even better. They have more scenes to show off their acting chops, which makes for plenty of pretty emotional scenes. Their relationship development also has a lot more of a natural feeling to it, and doesn’t irk me like it did in the original cut, where they kind of seemed overtly lustful for each other in a way I really didn’t like. You can tell they truly love each other in this version, which makes it a lot more compelling.

What I love about Donner’s cut so much more than Lester’s, though, is that it is a lot more focused and well-paced. There aren’t as many random filler scenes, and it gets straight to the point. Superman and Lois are intercut with Zod and his crew in a more meaningful way that actually adds tension and a sense of urgency, unlike the theatrical version, which was my biggest issue above all with that cut. I never felt bored at any moment, and every scene felt like a natural progression of the plot, instead of again feeling like filler that belongs in an extended cut.

Superman’s character arc is still flawed, which I’ll get to in my more negative section of my review, but it’s overall a massive improvement in every way. Not only does Christopher Reeve get more time and better scenes to convince us of what his character truly wants, but his arc is actually emotionally impactful this time. Some of his scenes are also just so incredibly acted that I don’t remember being in the theatrical cut, and are actually poignant for once. Also, having him interact with a certain someone that wasn’t present in the original certainly helps (wink wink). Superman’s arc resolution, while still not perfect, is also a lot less random.

For how much I love Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, it’s absolutely not without its flaws. They all somewhat stem from the original cut, but are present either way. The first one is the one I just talked about, Superman’s character arc. While it is a lot more emotionally poignant and impactful, it still feels rushed and underdeveloped. We get to see more of why he makes the decision that he does, but it still doesn’t feel quite right, unfortunately. Thankfully, it comes off a lot less selfish, but nonetheless remains unearned.

The ending also isn’t great, still. I like it a lot more than the theatrical, but there’s no denying that it’s a cop out. Even though it was somewhat cut short in the theatrical version, the one thing I will say I miss from Lester’s cut is the emotional scene led by Lois at the end when she is talking to Superman. That’s it, though: everything else about the ending is better. It’s still, yes, a cop out, but it works better than a random superpower that came from nowhere.

So overall, while this cut of Superman II is still not perfect, it manages to capture what made the first movie so special, which is why it remains one of my favorites.