Superman Movie Reviews

Superman: The Movie: A-

When you first start watching Superman, it’s difficult to imagine that the film is more than thirty years old. Indeed, the opening credits themselves are so impressive, between the visuals and the triumphant score from John Williams, that they could be from almost any era of filmmaking. Put simply, the film looks and sounds phenomenal. But as the movie unfolds through its 150 minute runtime, it begins to show more than a few signs of its age, culminating in a series of sequences which look altogether dated. But by and large, this is as classic of a Hollywood film as you can possibly imagine, with sweeping cinematic visuals, soaring music, high tech special effects, action, and a great deal of character work. It’s no wonder that, for many, many years, this was the gold standard of superhero films, rivaled only by its sequel, Superman II.

Superman II: B-

Superman II is a good film, but it isn’t as good as many might remember it. The narrative can be plodding and disjointed, the characters can be just a bit too campy, and any underlying thematic elements are almost completely buried under action set pieces and now-dated special effects sequences. Quite simply, Superman II looks its age much more than the original Superman movie because its story and cinematography and music aren’t enough to compensate for its shortcomings.

Superman III: C-

Without question, Superman III is step downward for the franchise. Indeed, you could point to this film (as well as Supes IV) as a big reason why it took so long for “comic book” films to be recognized as legitimate once again. In other words, whereas Superman: The Movie put comic book films on the map, Superman III started a trend that turned them into a mockery. That isn’t to say that this film is a total loss. There are, in fact, a number of memorable scenes and, as a whole, the movie is mildly entertaining. But its campy humor, characters and plot do very little to present a film that is worthy of praise, let alone serious discussion.

Superman IV: Quest For Peace: D

About the best thing that can be said for Superman IV: Quest For Peace is that it features the return of Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor. And there are a few enjoyable minor scenes which pay an homage to the original film. Unfortunately, none of these qualities manage to right the ship and it ends up being tossed upon the rocky shoals of cliché, camp, and poor production values. The result is truly abysmal and only the fact that the film is yet another chance to revisit characters which have grown familiar over the years helps it avoid abject failure.

Superman Returns: C

Superman returns after a five year hiatus — much to the joy of Metropolis. Coincidentally, Clark Kent also returns from a five year absence at the exact same time. Too much of a coincidence?  Let’s cut right to the chase: Superman Returns is leaps and bounds better than both Superman III & IV. But the only way it holds a candle to the first two Superman films is in the realm of special effects. And since updated special effects are the expectation for this installment, the end result is a film that barely reaches expectations.