SUPERMAN IV
A film review by Jon Glazer
Copyright 1987 Jon Glazer
I just got back from seeing the new SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE. What a joke! The theatre was anything but peaceful; everyone kept laughing at the unreal circumstances Mr. "man" kept getting into and out of.
As you'll notice in the opening credits (in the end ones too, if you're not in too much of a hurry to get out before anyone recognizes you), Reeve himself co-wrote this epic. Well, it takes guts to write a terrible script and then to act it out. He even had the classic superhero speeches such as his "the subway is still a safe place for people."
Other examples of bad story writing:
+ Straightening the flag on the moon *before* saving the earth.
+ The *stupid* idea of having a "super-clone" created out of the Sun
and a Hair. *And* having a computer "weave" this new super guy's
suit.
+ Turning Lois on and off like a light switch in terms of his identity.
+ Capping a volcano with the top of a mountain. Come on now!! I
thought only He-Man can do that (hmmmm, He-Man vs. Superman?)
(These are only the more prominent parts of the movie I found most dumb.)
Problems with the effects:
+ When Superman is being pounded into the moon, notice, he seems to
lose his footing for a moment on whatever stool he was standing on
and straightens up. This of course would be impossible in chest-
high moon dirt (course not having experienced it, I could be wrong).
+ Using reverse photography in some of the shots where son of the Sun
starts wiping out the city block was a little more than obvious.
And the drawn-in lasers (from the eyes and hands) were nothing like
the first movies.
+ Bringing a human into outer-space (Mariel Hemingway) was extremely
overboard.
+ When Superman was re-forming (?) the Great Wall, it was also quite
obvious that it was a matte painting.
The movie did, however, have the usual moments of good humor, much like the other movies. Clark reveals his true powers briefly and by accident at some good points. And his role reversal (trying to be both Superman and Kent) I thought was pretty humorous too.
There were even parts of the plot I could say were pleasingly surprising such as Superman's turning old and the coincidental retrieval (and even existence) of Krypton's last power--the power module of Kent's spaceship (sure was lucky he got it when he did, eh?).
In general, Chistopher Reeve, I believe, is bucking to get out of the Superman business. I do not think there will be much of an audience for another one. The movie was either very child-oriented or the producers have a hard time seeing us viewers as anything more than children.
* Jon Glazer * * [glazer@osupyr.UUCP] * * [glazer%osupyr@cposgd] *
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