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……..
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……..