Superman 4: The Quest for Peace sees the Man of Steel confronting the real world threat of Nuclear War after a 12 year old boy named Jeremy writes to him hoping that he can put an end to the atomic crisis, but while Superman sees this as his chance to help the people of the world, the dastardly arch villain Lex Luthor has other ideas.
To be honest, I really don't know where to start with this movie as the whole thing comes across as a complete mess, but in the mean time, let me count the ways:
1. The Effects: Oh my God, this thing is laughable to look at as there is just no effort put into the special effects work at all as the exact same shot of Superman flying towards the camera is used again and again, the only difference being the background plate be it outer space, somewhere else, the Moon or Metropolis, but then again this film looks as though it had little to no money spent on it and boy does it show on screen.
2. The Story: Dear god is this story so noble and self serving, it just hits you over the head again and again with its moralising about how "there will be peace in our time and when people scream so hard for peace, their governments will have no choice but to give it to them" give me a break.
And to make matters worse on this front, almost all of the main points are borrowed from the earlier films, the battle on the Moon and the chief super villain feel right out of Superman II, Clark on the Farm and the scene of Superman and Lois flying feel right out of the first film, but then again you didn't need another reminder of those two great films now did you.
3. The Cast: Oh god what the hell is Gene Hackman doing in this movie I mean Hackman did a great job in the first two Superman movies and here he just becomes a cartoon character going "I am going to profit from all of this and destroy Superman for good, nehahahahahaha" plus there's also Margot Kidder looking like she's aged 10 years since the first Superman movie where she looked really bright and vibrant, here again everyone seems to be phoning it in.
And yet there is one small positive in this movie, what's that you're saying a positive for this mess well yes there is but as I said it's a small one and that is Chris Reeve himself, proving why he is the one true Superman and that anyone that fills the role will most likely never be as good, Reeve is just great as the Man of Steel but again its just this one very small ray of hope against this plodding mess that stinks all the way to the Moon in its own right.
But what is the worst thing of all is this, that it all could have been avoided if Richard Donner hadn't been fired from Superman II before he had a chance to finish it in 1979 as I fully believe that if he did get the chance to do that, he would've made possibly the best comic book movie of all and been able to continue with future films but alas things change and different creative people come in and think that if we focus on the real world stuff and less on the fantasy and wonder that Donner focused on then people might relate more to this Superman, well sorry to say this but it doesn't quite work that way, sometimes it might but most times it does not.
All in all, unless you're an absolute die hard Superman fan please do not watch this movie, trust me you will feel so much happier that you didn't, .5 out of 5.
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