Superman III |
  • Netherlands / UK / USA • 1983 • 125m •    • Directed by: Richard Lester. • Starring: Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Annette O'Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Robert Vaughn, Margot Kidder, Gavan O'Herlihy, Nancy Roberts, Graham Stark, Henry Woolf. • Music by: Ken Thorne.      Superman matches wits with an evil mastermind and a computer genius who discovers the one substance that can harm the Man of Steel. Combining the known ingredients of Kryptonite with a guess at the unknown, the genius invents a new Kryptonite that doesn't kill Superman--it turns him evil. Meanwhile, a giant computer has been built for the mastermind that becomes self-aware and cannot be shut off.
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Review:
Superman III is based around a genius inventor named Gus who is recruited by his boss in many of his evil schemes including one of destroying Superman using Kryptonite whilst Clark Kent leaves for a high school reunion party where he meets a former friend, Lana Lang with whom he has an affair for.
Next to Marlon Brando, Christopher Reeve was always the second best actor of this franchise and once more, delivers a fantastic performance in this film, generally bringing the same wit and charm to his character. Further brilliant acting by Reeve is shown during Superman's time of being evil whilst under the influence of Kryptonite. His performance is so brilliant that it is the only thing that is truly fantastic about this film. The rest is all either mediocre or downright terrible
John Williams is my favourite composer of all time and Superman is my second favourite movie score of all time and so, his classic Superman theme is such a memorable one that I happen to love so much. The very start of Superman III was completely wrong and I knew I was in for something bad. The way the cheap looking titles crawl in did not resemble the brilliance of the original and the fact that it wasn't the classic theme playing was downright frustrating. However, when you do get to hear the classic theme play early on when Superman is trying to save the man drowning in his car (in the most ridiculous fashion), I was relieved but later disappointed considering most of the film has an uninteresting musical score that certainly doesn't make the Superman films seem that much better.
There were definitely some great Superman moments, particularly early on when he is saving the man from drowning and the short scene in the photograph booth. That was somewhat of a classic Superman moment but the best moment of the film is most definitely when Superman bad is defeated and the bombastic theme song starts playing. This is brilliant for many reasons and not just because of the music but because of the character of Superman and his determination and love for his country. However, when the film is viewed as a whole, the few great Superman moments really fade considering the film heavily relies on overly goofy scenes, especially with Richard Prior's Gus
Richard Prior's performance in this film is most definitely not a great one but more so, an annoying one. His character is particularly uninteresting and Richard Lester and crew thought it would be appropriate to shove as much lame and unoriginal comedy to his character as possible to the point that he could never be taken seriously, even when he is afraid that Superman may be killed due to his inventions. Not only is Prior's performance ineffective but the story given to Gus is completely ridiculous that it betrays the tone of the first two Superman films.
The worst thing about the film, believe it or not, is not the overuse of comedy which at times seems like a warm welcome when compared to the overall story told in this 2 hour waste of time. Much of the film deals with Gus going to Vulcan Weather Satellite and altering the weather, then building a computer to help rule everything and even steal cheques for himself. The story told in its entirety is more awful than in separate pieces and whilst the Superman story may seem great early on, by the end of the film it most definitely becomes laughable. The first two Superman films exceeded because they had great characters. Part of the reason of Superman III's failure is with all the new characters and how old characters are replaced with much worse characters. This is definitely true as Lana takes over Lois, who was a lovely woman to be around. Lex Luthor, Superman's nemesis is replaced by a man with absurd plans, Webbster. Superman III is full of clichéd new characters that add nothing good to the story.
Whilst Superman: The Movie is a classic and Superman II is a great sequel, Superman III is an utter failure in all aspects suffering from poor writing and directing, overuse of recycled jokes, characters that are NOT endearing, a story that is uninteresting. This brings the film down to a joke which is pretty much the tone of the film, throwing aside the cleverness of the first two and making it a complete comedy film instead of a Superman film. Whilst there were a few Superman like moments, this is soon forgotten under the horrible mess of everything else in this awful picture.
Review by illbebackreviews from the Internet Movie Database.
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