Last night I continued my Superman movie watching marathon with what is known as the best Superman movie out there: Superman II. For those who don't remember what happened in 2, this is the one where the three Krypton war criminals, led by General Zod, escape from the Phantom Zone and head to Earth. At the same time, Lois Lane finds out who Superman's secret identity is and they express their love for each other. Superman, who wants to be with the woman he loves, gives up his powers and becomes a mortal man only to find out the next day that these war criminals are taking over planet Earth. In the end, Superman, with the double crossing mind of Lex Luthor, misleads the Kryptonian baddies into the Fortress of Solitude and disables their powers. Later on, Clark Kent kisses Lois Lane and makes her forget his secret, and life is back to normal.

Okay, so this movie started out a lot better than the first movie. Simply because, it only took 8 minutes of movie time for Superman to show up on screen. The first movie went the whole first hour without the man in tights showing up. But though I knew what was going to happen, I could tell why this was a great sequel in 1980. You've got these two people, Lois and Superman, who are in love with each other but can't express their love for each other. And finally in this movie, they are able to be together, secrets are finally exposed, everything seems awesome. (Kinda like in Spiderman 2 when Mary Jane finally finds out that Spiderman is Peter Parker. That was just comforting and relieving). However, the life of a superhero is never easy, as that dream lasts only a short time before Clark realizes what a mistake he's made. Whether by luck, or by chance, there is an opportunity for redemption and a chance to repair the damage that has been done. This is done at a great personal sacrifice as he must give up the love of his life and go back to keeping secrets.

Again, while the special effects leave much to be desired for someone in 2006, it is great to see Superman flying around and saving the world. Something about the Superman theme song that plays whenever Superman is being the hero that makes you just want to get out of your chair, pull off your button down shirt and fly away in your cape and red tights to also be a hero.