Superman III

With Superman II being another big hit, it was a given that there would be a third entry, once again produced by Alexander and Ilya Salkind, with Richard Lester returning to direct and a screenplay by David and Leslie Newman would result in a decidedly mixed third outing, with the tonal problems that plagued the previous film return for this one, Superman III.

Gus Gorman (played by Richard Pryor) is a down on his luck man trying to find a job worthy of his time. After deciding to take a class in computer programming and discovering he has a talent for it, he is able to quickly land a job with Metropolis based corporation, Webscoe. Unsatisfied with his current pay, he reprograms the company computer to redeposit the fractions of cents normally rounded off into another account he set up (a plot point memorably referenced in Mike Judge's Office Space). This catches the attention of CEO Ross Webster (played by Robert Vaughn), who decides rather than fire Gus, he will use his computer talents to his advantage in a bid to rule the world financially. Meanwhile, Clark (played by Christopher Reeve) returns home to Smallville and reunites with fellow classmate Lana Lang (played by Annette O'Toole). Sparks begin to fly between the two as a small romance begins to kindle. When Superman interferes with Webster's attempts to corner the coffee market by manufacturing a huge storm in Colombia, he sets Gus on having the Webscoe labs synthesize some Kryptonite (since they can't find any of the real thing), but the synthetic stuff doesn't have the same impact and instead turns the Big Blue Boy Scout bad. With Superman out of the way, Webster, along with his sister Vera (played by Annie Ross) and girlfriend Lorelai Ambrosia (played by Patricia Stephenson), sets out to create a monster supercomputer that will allow him to gain the global control he desires as Gus finds his loyalties tested. Superman will have to battle his inner dark side to get back to the side of good to be able to stop Webster once and for all.  

This third film in the Superman series is perhaps even more dyslexic tonally than the previous film as it veers from slapstick routines to dark moments, such as an evil Superman trying to make the moves on a confused Lana even though both know he is desperately needed elsewhere. In fact, it is all the gags that work against the more serious and action based aspects of the film, especially the very long and drawn out opening comedy routine that opens the film as we move from one pratfall to the next (although the bit with Superman changing in the photo booth was cute, stopping to take the strip of photos and taking all but the last one, giving the last one to a nearby kid. Fun fact: that kid played the young Clark that emerged from the rocket at the beginning of Superman.). Likewise, the script is fairly thinly written, with only the character of Clark Kent/Superman getting any real attention. Richard Pryor is left adrift in the movie, doing the best he can with a thinly written character (I'd love to be fly on wall of the production meetings just to see who it was that first said, "You know what this movie really needs? Richard Pryor!"). Now don't get me wrong, the guy does the best he can with what he's given, but Pryor was always at his best when he was the guy stirring the pot. Gus is an innocent, naive guy who gets in over his head. There's not much there that plays to Pryor's strengths.

The movie isn't all bad though. Christopher Reeve and Annette O'Toole have some genuine chemistry with one another and their scenes are great. It was a refreshing change of pace from the other Superman films and also to have Lana falling for Clark, rather than Superman. Christopher Reeve also does well as the Evil Superman and the climactic showdown in the junkyard, where Evil Superman and good Clark Kent split entirely into two different people and have a throw down right there until finally Evil Superman is destroyed and Clark emerges as good Superman is a highlight of the film. The climactic showdown between Superman, the supercomputer and Ross and Vera Webster is a plenty of fun, even if it is all a bit over the top. Also, I thought it was a nice touch that Lorelai only played being an airhead blonde while secretly being an intellectual.    

Overall, Superman III isn't a terrible movie, but it's not a particularly great one either. I'm still able to get some enjoyment out of it, but the sharp tonal shifts are still jarring to me and the film doesn't begin to compare to the high adventure stylings of the first two films, nor is it as satisfying overall. But it could be worse...as we found out that one time when Superman went questing for peace...