Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

About as dreary as a summit conference in Belgium. Moved by a schoolboy's letter requesting him to intervene in the nuclear arms race, Superman whizzes about the ionosphere bagging up missiles unilaterally. Once again Lex Luthor (Hackman) is his implacable enemy, and clones Nuclear Man (Pillow) from a single strand of the Caped Crusader's hair, stolen from a museum. Unfortunately, since both titans are subject to energy crises, the clash in outer space resembles a push-fight between sea cucumbers. The flight sequences seem more shuddery around the edges than usual, and special effects in general are half-hearted. Worst of all, the story lacks momentum to a degree. There's a weedy subplot in which Warfield's daughter (Hemingway) falls for Clark to beef up the flagging yearnings of Lois Lane (Kidder) for Superman, but the comic possibilities of a double date soon ground in tiresome quick costume changes.