Directed by Richard Lester
Expectations: I’m so excited.
On the general scale:
On the “B-movie for Kids” scale:
Superman III is the Superman film that I saw more than any other as a kid. Due to this odd fact, during this re-watch I saw both all the flaws AND loved pretty much every moment. It’s kind of a good thing that Richard Donner didn’t finish Superman II, because if the world went from that slice of awesome to this full-on slapstick, camped-out take on the character, I imagine heads would have exploded in theaters across the world, just on sheer grounds of lunacy. Thankfully(?), director Richard Lester stepped in and added a bunch of slapstick to his scenes in the theatrical Superman II, creating something of a hybrid film between the two directors’ tones and paving the way for this 100% Lester joint.
Having previously fought off human and Kryptonian supervillains, Superman III naturally pits the character against another human supervillain. Oh, but don’t worry because this guy, Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn), is in no way, shape or form like Lex Luthor. Not. At. All. Luthor dealt in land to facilitate his desire to financially control the world; Webster deals in computers and controlling specific industries for financial control of the world. Luthor had a pair of henchpeople; Webster had a pair of henchpeople and Richard Pryor, but one of his henchpeople had a thing for Superman. Oh wait, Ms. Teschmacher had a thing for the Man of Steel also. I could continue listing these “clear differences” in the characters, but honestly, it’s so obvious that the characters are absolutely nothing like each other that it’s kinda of pointless.
But before I get too far down the rabbit hole of despair, I must remind myself of how much fun I had watching this. I’ve always loved slapstick (and always will), so much of Superman III‘s comic, campy moments worked pretty well on me. I wasn’t laughing out loud like I remember doing when I was a kid, but I did sport a pretty healthy smile through most of it. Because this movie takes such a laser-guided nosedive away from the tone of Donner’s work on the series, if you want to get anything out of the experience other than a scowl and a furrowed brow, you just have to roll with it. I’d suggest asking Superman to turn back time (either through spinning the world backwards or through the magic kiss, your choice) so that you can see this movie without knowing about the previous Superman films. I think then, with all expectations and memories removed, it’d be much more apparent what is good about this one.
The actual finale isn’t anything on the level of the previous Superman films, but what’s here is well-beyond either of those films in term of pure camp fun. When I was a kid, I was obsessed with this section of the film, rewinding it over and over again to re-watch it. While I loved the villains firing missiles at Supes with the video game targeting screen, and I equally loved the Kryptonite ray and the bubble shield, nothing can compare to the moment when the computer “pops a cap,” grabs one of the villains with a bunch of cables and proceeds to make them into a robot version of themselves. There are a few things in this world that will make me squeal with joy, and folks, this is one of them. TMI? Probably, but it turns her into a ROBOT! ‘Nuff said.
This is also where I was introduced to Richard Pryor. I had no idea he was anything other than a comic actor at the time (I was about seven years old or so), and I thought his performance in Superman III was pure comic gold. Now, having become a big fan of his stand-up, it’s always weird for me to go back and watch one of his family friendly films. He fits in well, and does a great job with the role he’s given, but knowing what he’s capable of makes it all somewhat disappointing. But that’s the sour wisdom of age talking, and Pryor really does do a great job here. He might not be the best character, and a lot of the writing is really, really questionable (from an adult standpoint), but none of that is Pryor’s fault.
It’s also interesting to note that this is probably closer to what the original two films would have been like if Richard Donner was never involved, as the Superman III screenwriters also crafted the original draft of the first two films… the draft that Donner hated and had severely re-written before shooting began.