For being one of the greatest comic book movies of all time, Superman gets off to a lousy start. Ten minutes of John Williams’ rousing Superman theme, which sounds suspiciously like the Star Wars theme in some places, against a space background with the credits flying toward you. After that it a boring prologue with Marlon Brando as Superman’s father—its only purpose is to explain Superman’s powers as well as set up the villains in Superman II.

Then we get to the meat of the story, which really isn’t much at all. Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) decides to rule the world with some wacky music theme while Superman (Christopher Reeve) rescues Lois Lane from countless dangers. The plot won’t win any Oscars, but one of the screenwriters was Mario Puzo, author of The Godfather. Superman’s plot mainly just introduces us to the main characters will little time for an actual story, which is fine because Superman conveys the attitude of the comic book so closely that it charms you immediately.

Christopher Reeve is a better Clark Kent than a Superman—Clark Kent is noticeably geeky, which works perfectly. However, as Superman, Reeve seems a bit too timid. Gene Hackman is decent enough as Lex Luthor, although I wish he was bald in the movie. He seems more comic than menacing, more camp than threatening, and more silly than evil. Marlon Brando is lackluster as Superman’s father. I recommend Superman to anybody who wants to see a good comic book movie.

I give Superman ***1/2 out of ****.