(This review contains potential spoilers)
I'm probably being generous with 3 stars, but for the first 45 minutes or so, Superman IV isn't a bad little film. Granted, it's instantly obvious the budget is a fraction of what had been used for the first 3 films, and Luthor's nephew is a terrible 80s teen "dude!" stereotype. But the opening sequences with Clark visiting the old farm in Smallville and the return of Margot Kidder's Lois Lane are both welcome. Mariel Hemingway provides a sexy third side to the film's romantic triangle ... but it could be argued a film like this didn't need that.
It had been 10 years since the first Superman was filmed, and this gives the regular actors added depth as they played their familiar roles. Gene Hackman is an exception, playing Luthor a bit too low key for the character's own good.
At about the 45-50 minutes mark, things start to collapse as the close-to-an-hour's worth of deleted scenes begin to take their toll on the film -- for example, suddenly Clark looks all grey-haired and dying with no real reason given. And while the battle between Superman and Nuclear Man is clearly inspired by the comic books -- and would have worked well in the comics -- in live action, it just comes off as silly. And when the filmmakers abandon any pretense to reality (by, among other things, having a human character survive hanging around in the vacuum of space) the film just falls apart.
The film is worth seeing, though, for the byplay between Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder. It's a pity the opportunity was lost in Superman III to expand on this more when Kidder was written out of the film.
But, as the fourth entry in a franchise that began with the spectacular Superman I and Superman II, this film is an extreme disappointment -- though, at the same time, it's one of those films that seems ripe for the remastering/directors edition/upgrading routine that has been done with other films.
I'm probably being generous with 3 stars, but for the first 45 minutes or so, Superman IV isn't a bad little film. Granted, it's instantly obvious the budget is a fraction of what had been used for the first 3 films, and Luthor's nephew is a terrible 80s teen "dude!" stereotype. But the opening sequences with Clark visiting the old farm in Smallville and the return of Margot Kidder's Lois Lane are both welcome. Mariel Hemingway provides a sexy third side to the film's romantic triangle ... but it could be argued a film like this didn't need that.
It had been 10 years since the first Superman was filmed, and this gives the regular actors added depth as they played their familiar roles. Gene Hackman is an exception, playing Luthor a bit too low key for the character's own good.
At about the 45-50 minutes mark, things start to collapse as the close-to-an-hour's worth of deleted scenes begin to take their toll on the film -- for example, suddenly Clark looks all grey-haired and dying with no real reason given. And while the battle between Superman and Nuclear Man is clearly inspired by the comic books -- and would have worked well in the comics -- in live action, it just comes off as silly. And when the filmmakers abandon any pretense to reality (by, among other things, having a human character survive hanging around in the vacuum of space) the film just falls apart.
The film is worth seeing, though, for the byplay between Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder. It's a pity the opportunity was lost in Superman III to expand on this more when Kidder was written out of the film.
But, as the fourth entry in a franchise that began with the spectacular Superman I and Superman II, this film is an extreme disappointment -- though, at the same time, it's one of those films that seems ripe for the remastering/directors edition/upgrading routine that has been done with other films.