Superman III is a comic book movie and the third installment of the original Superman film series. It was produced by Dovemead Ltd. and distributed by Warner Bros. Superman III was written by David and Leslie Newman and directed by Richard Lester.
The story is, a business tycoon has tricked down on his luck computer programmer Gus Gorman to use his talents to help him seize control of anything he wants. Superman does find out about this, but before he can put a stop to them, he first must stop a dark change that's happening to himself.
- Negatives
We've got three major issues with the movie, the biggest one being the tone. This is a very campy and comedic movie, and the film itself let's you know that with the opening. It's just one unfunny gag after another. Hell, even Dark Superman felt more like a comedy bit. Because other than destroying an oil tanker, he mainly just does petty stuff like he's a teenager going through a rebellious phase. But when there's thankfully not comedic scenes happening we do get some, only some good serious moments. The best one being Clark and Lana spending time together. Those were really sweet moments. Then there's one pretty scary scene of somebody being forcibly turned into a cyborg. But these scenes clash with the campy tone. So it feels like the movie itself doesn't know what it wants to be.
Now let's move onto the villain, Ross Webster. To put it simply, he's diet Lex Luthor. That's it. Because they couldn't get Gene Hackman, the writers just made a cheap copy of Lex to fill in for Hackman. And that's really all you need to know about Ross.
Then there's my biggest complaint, which is, A LACK OF SUPERMAN! Sure he's still in the movie, but a huge proportion of his story was pushed to the background to make way for Richard Pryor's character, Gus. I'm not joking, Gus had more of a character arc then Superman. We see him at his lowest point in his life, his rise to the top, his guilt for doing bad deeds, and kind of help Superman beat the bad guys. Now I get it, it's Richard Pryor. A legendary comedian before his untimely passing, and I imagine back in 1983 some people went to see this because they were fans of him. But a majority of the audience was there for The Man of Steel. For crying out loud, it's titled Superman III, not Richard Pryor & Superman.
- Mix
Now I know it seems like I just trashed Richard Pryor, but that complaint was mainly based on the writing not him. So what do I think of him? Well honestly I think his performance got way too many harsh criticisms. I think he did pretty alright all things considered. He's got a few truly funny bits, like that whole thing about robbers and rapists, that was a good bit of dark comedy. But I think what probably would've helped was if the filmmakers allowed him to imrov here and there.
Then there's the special effects. It's mainly the same slight issue I had with the previous Superman films. Some good here and there, but sometimes things are just plain noticeable.
- Positives
To the surprise of nobody, Christopher Reeve does an incredible job. Even if there's a lack of Superman on display.
While there are a lot of issues with Superman III, it doesn't drive me crazy like other poorly made comic book movies.
My final rating is, Bad But Harmless.
Now yes, I'll unfortunately be reviewing Superman IV, but that won't be the next stop. What will it be? Well you're gonna have to wait until Sept 12th. But do look forward to my review of the upcoming The Crow starring Bill Skarsgård. That'll be uploaded on Saturday, Aug 24th. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.
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