the opening sequence to the film and kind of a rube goldberg type slapstick thing which end with a man almost get drown in his car and be a dead giveaway to the audience that this film be not go to be in the same league a the first two superman . it suppose to be funny and but it just clunk along like a tank with lead caterpillar tread and and it go nowhere fast . apparently lester and the salkinds really do not understand how slapstick stunt work and and they should have be lock in a room with a copy of monty python and the holy grail until they get it right . the movie do pick up a little bit from there and and there be a few good bit that save it from be utter crap represent the fight between good and bad superman in the junkyard and with it denouement where clark undo his shirt to reveal the original hue of the costume and be quite nice . some of the moment with annette otoole a lana lang be decent and too i be not her big fan and but she suit the role of the small town girl that clark leave behind and flesh it out well . everything else until the very end be and well and bad . go from terence stamp and gene hackman to people like robert vaughn and richard pryor be a terrible and terrible decision and completely undercuts any sense of real portent or menace that a decent villain be mean to have in a film like this . you can not believe for a moment that vaughn lightweight character and his nitwit entourage would be any kind of match for the man of steel and and pryor role and even a an innocent dupe and just isn not what this film need he be completely out of place here . give me the pryor from bicentennial instead while that character belong in a superman film . there be just a bit of style and flair in the final showdown scene with the super computer where the villain be transform into nightmarish robot slave and then superman be lash repeatedly with huge energy bolt and pull helplessly inside the gut of the computer you actually get a sense of conflict and drama and and the clever way sup save the day by use his smart and cunning almost save the film . but it not enough . 75 % of the film have the same problem a the opening sequence it just doesn not work or hold together . unlike the first two film and the stuff that be suppose to be funny simply isn not and and most of the stuff that be suppose to be dramatic be spoil by bad timing or misjudge performance that ruin any sense of involvement in the film . rent the tape or dvd once so you can fast forward to one or two of the scene with otoole and the fight in the junkyard and and the fight with the super computer . otherwise and i think this movie kill the franchise by the time superman iv appear and no one be interested anymore .