​How do you top box office hits such as “Superman: The Movie and “Superman II”? The answer is you don’t. That’s right. We have made it to “Superman III”, the film in the series in which most fans would say in that the series took a nosedive, fell down a tree, and hit every branch on the way down.
        If there was anything the series had done up to this point, is that it always set the perfect mood. The films would start out in space, and have a kickass score to boot. But the third film begins in well an unemployment office. When I saw this for the first time, I literally thought I rented the wrong movie by mistake. I’m like this isn’t a “Superman” movie at all. This just feels like a dumb comedy. (That’s irony at its finest).
        Then the music and credits come on and wow does it miss the mark. It’s like a comedy sequence, but without the laughs in it. I honestly don’t understand what it had to do with the plot. It is just a bunch of slapstick sequences, one of which involves Superman saving a man from drowning in his own vehicle because the driver ran into a fire hydrant.
        So in the film, we are introduced to a slew of new characters. The first is Gus Gorman, played by legendary comedian Richard Pryor. Now we all know Pryor is an icon in his own right. Here he plays Gus Gorman, a down on his luck computer technician who somehow knows how to build a super computer that can control the weather. He says that he just does it. I felt bad watching Pryor in this movie. Some of his dialogue just felt like it was written for a young kid, not an adult.
        The second major character we are introduced to in this film is Ross Webster played by Robert Vaughn. To me, he was the weakest part of this movie. I wasn’t really impressed with this villain. He had weak motivations. It had something to do with being in control of the world’s coffee supply. Oh and of course he wants Superman dead for no real reason.
        Last is Lana Lang, played by Annette O’Toole. To be quite honest, I really enjoyed this character. She is Clark Kent’s friend from back in Smallville. Kent goes back for a high school reunion, and they rekindle their friendship. I really enjoyed the scenes between Reeve and O’Toole. It felt genuine to me. Not knowing all of the behind the scenes drama, I liked the fact that the writers decided to focus on a new possible love interest instead of just relying on the same old Lois and Clark bit we had previously seen.
        Now you as a reader are probably wondering why I haven’t mentioned Christopher Reeve all that much. Well once again he does a great job as both Superman and Clark Kent, but he doesn’t have a whole lot of screen time as much as Richard Pryor does this time around. For a lot of the time, it felt like I was watching two movies.
        But I must say, this film has my favorite scene of the whole Superman franchise, which says a lot because I consider the first one the best. There is a part in the movie where Gorman and Webster come up with a fake Kryptonite and it turns the Man of Steel evil for few scenes. He ignores children, gets drunk, and has sex with random women. Okay the latter is implied, but it is obvious.
        Evil Superman eventually goes to a junkyard, and his personality splits in two. There is a good fight scene between the evil Man of Steel and Clark Kent. I thought this was portrayed very well, and it was great to see Superman have an inner battle with himself. I think the film would have been better if this bit had been a focal point of the movie, rather than a villain trying to get a bunch of coffee.
        Overall, I would still consider “Superman III” a disappointment. With the way the first two films were so well put together, more effort should have been put into this one. But I would still say check it out for the junkyard fight scene.
        Well, before I review “Superman IV”, I feel I owe it to myself to review something a bit more positive. So my next review will be focusing on another movie before we get to that train wreck. Stay tuned……..

​Superman II was released in 1981, and it was a real miracle that it got made all together. There were a lot of problems behind the scenes with the director, Richard Donner, and the producing team of the Salkinds. Donner was fired from the movie and Richard Lester was brought on to complete the project. Lester came from a comedic background while Donner took a more serious tone with Superman. Some of Donner’s footage ended up in the film however. But how is the movie as a whole? Let’s find out.
          The film begins with a recap of part one. Then it takes us to the present time and Superman has to prevent a terrorist attack in Paris and of course save Lois Lane. He throws their bomb into space and it sends a wave that breaks General Zod and his crew from being banished into the Phantom Zone. It paid off that these characters were introduced in the first movie so that we as an audience would know who they are. Could this have possibly been an introduction to how cinematic universes were started?
          The three villains are known as Zod, Ursa, and Non. Their powers are as equal if not greater than that of Superman’s. But they want to use their powers for evil rather than good. And if that isn’t crazy enough, Superman decides to tell Lois that he and Clark Kent are one in the same. He takes her to the Fortress of Solitude, gives up his powers, and they go all the way literally.
          I have to say this movie was a bit more of a mixed bag when I re watched it again for this review. I know that may seem like an unpopular opinion, but it just didn’t leave much of an impression as when I first watched it fifteen years ago. But the pros did outweigh the cons.
          First, Christopher Reeve once again does a great job as Superman and Clark Kent. I could tell he was slowly getting into the role and evolving as a character much like the audience was evolving watching him. Terrence Stamp is perfection as General Zod. I like the approach his character was given by not being so over the top. Instead, he shows no sympathy for the damage he and his crew have done to Earth. Also, the action scenes were good despite some of the effects being a little dated. It was nice to see Superman fight someone in a movie at that time.
          There are however some parts that make the movie stick out and heavily edited. First, Lex Luthor is back again, and there really is no need for him to be in this movie. He breaks out of jail, goes to the Fortress of Solitude, tries to make a deal with Zod, and that’s it. That is not to say Gene Hackman does a good job once again, it is just there was no need for Lex to be in this movie.
          Also, some scenes just make the background characters in this world look stupid. There’s a scene in the movie where Clark and Lois are at Niagara Falls, and there is this kid who is hanging on to the railing trying not to hold onto it. His mother isn’t even paying attention. Like an idiot, he falls and of course Superman saves the day. Then during the big action scene in Metropolis, there is a woman who is trying to use her body as a shield to protect her baby from flying debris. Why she didn’t run away is a mystery to me.
          Despite my problems with this movie, I still thought Superman II was an okay movie. I have to say the last part with Superman carrying the American Flag back to the White House made me feel really patriotic. Who would have thought three months after seeing it, the collapse of the World Trade Center would occur. It was one of the first things that popped into my head and comforted me during that tragic day. Always reminds me how the Man of Steel is part of American culture and always be.

​I have to be honest. I was never a fan of the Man of Steel growing up as a child. My favorite superheroes were Batman and Spider-Man. To me, Superman was a boring character and not that interesting. I thought he was too powerful and couldn’t lose. I remember back in 1998 on Kids WB, there was a contest between Batman and Superman entitled “Who Kicks More Booty?” I’m not kidding. Anyway, kids could call a number and select either Batman or Superman. Batman won in a landslide. But in 2001, I was in a Hollywood Video store and looking for something new to watch. I was surprised that there was a movie made about Superman. So out of curiosity, I decided to give it a chance. Boy, did my views change pretty quickly.
          Right away, I remember being hooked into this film. How could you not pay attention to John Williams’s classic score of this movie? This is easily in my top ten lists of classical movie scores. It motivates me every single time that I listen to it. Then we get introduced to the Man of Steel’s home planet of Krypton. Believe it or not, this was also my introduction to Marlon Brando. I hadn’t seen The Godfather yet (I was 12 and just getting into movies, don’t be mad at me reader). I believe that he was very effective as Jor-El. Even though his role is very small, he leaves a powerful impact.
          After Krypton, we also see Kal-El’s life as a teenager in Smallville, as the Kent’s adopt him and name him Clark. There is a line in this part of the film that his adoptive father Jonathan tells Clark that is very significant. He tells Clark that he is here for a reason. This spoke to me as I was trying to figure out what my purpose in life was. In some ways, I’m still trying to figure that out.
          We then get to see Clark discover his origins, and see him settle in life at Metropolis. This brings me to the best part of this movie, and that is Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent. Even though there have been many incarnations since he donned the cape, to me he is Superman. He embodies not only the Man of Steel, but Clark Kent as well. Yes, some have argued that it’s a silly disguise because he only uses his glasses, but it is the personality as well that separates the two. I still get teary eyed knowing that he suffered such a fatal tragedy in his life. But he made me believe a man could fly.
          The supporting cast turned out to be pretty good as well. Re watching this movie, I thought Margot Kidder was very effective as Lois Lane. She wasn’t as much of a damsel in distress as I remembered her though. With the exception of Superman’s first scene in which he has to save her, she was a pretty strong character. The women’s movement of the 1970s probably influenced this decision to make her a strong independent character, which helped the movie.
          Gene Hackman I thought did a great job as Lex Luthor, or as he put it, the “greatest criminal mind of all time.” He played the character really calm, despite his motivations being really out there. Even though there have been many other depictions of this character, I found this interpretation to be very underrated.
          As I was thinking more and more about this movie, I came to a conclusion about this film. Before viewing this, I had seen many other movies and viewed them as pure entertainment. But this was the first time I actually took a movie seriously. I was able to appreciate the time and effort that it takes to make a movie. It took it’s time to tell its story, and I found the pacing to be quite effective. Because of this film, I was able to appreciate movies as not just a way of entertainment, but as an art form.
          If you’re a fan of Superhero movies, you should thank this movie for being made. Because had this not been released when it was, I don’t think we would have the success of movies like The Avengers or the upcoming Justice League movie. I say give this movie another watch because this is one that I would recommend for any fan of cinema.