SUPERMAN IV - THE QUEST FOR PEACE

* ½

STARRING: Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Jon Cryer, Sam Wanamaker, Mark Pillow, Mariel Hemingway, Margot Kidder

1987, 90 Minutes, Directed by: Sidney J Furie

An earnest attempt to recapture some of the magic that made Superman - the Movie and Superman II so special. No hokey out-of-place intro sequences like that at the beginning of Superman III, for example. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work out - somewhere between the cheesy special effects and lame story the whole movie falls flat.

The plot involves criminal mastermind Lex Luthor (again played by Gene Hackman) creating a supervillian called Nuclear Man to get rid of Superman after he has gotten rid of all the world's nuclear missiles. The climactic battle between Superman and Nuclear Man seems disjointed and drawn out - more invented for spectacle than for any tension. Which would perhaps be fine if the special effects were any better - but they aren't. In fact they suck.

What does help, however, is the acting which is earnest and rather good. Let's face up to it: Christopher Reeve is an excellent Clark Kent/Superman. Heck! He even looks like the comic book Superman!

Superman IV may appeal to very small kids - but I think that even they will be disappointed with it.
 

• Read the script.