Superman III (1983)

 This is a bizarre film. Not entirely unenjoyable, but very hit-and-miss, alas. 

See, there is good stuff here, but it is just as much balanced by choices that are suspect, to say the least. But we'll get into that soon enough. 

Gus Gorman is a man who has trouble keeping a job, but one day, he finds out he is a wizard with computers. I guess you just have to find that one skill you're good at and stick with it. His skills get noticed by his boss, an evil corporate overlord (Robert Vaughn), who, of course, wants to make even more money and thus makes Gus reprogram computers around the world to suit his nefarious needs. Gus just wants to get his ultimate computer built, not realizing that this can also be used for evil. 

Meanwhile, Clark Kent makes a trip back to Smallville and gets reacquainted with a high school crush of his: Lana Lang. 

Also, the evil CEO wants to get rid of Superman, so they fabricate a sort of kryptonite, but it doesn't kill Superman, but makes him obnoxious and downright nasty, sort of like a split personality thing. 

Yes, there is a lot going on in this film and sometimes, it doesn't connect all that well. 

Have I mentioned that this one is a bit bizarre?

See, the good stuff here is actually really good. The return to Smallville and the Lana Lang-angle really work wonders for the character of Clark Kent. Yes, Annette O'Toole is just that good in the part and Christopher Reeve gets more opportunity to be his softer self and it is a treat. There are also some action parts that feel good. The fire at the chemical plant is a nice setpiece and it shows off Superman's skills yet again. What also really works, is the evil Superman (even his colours fade) and especially the duel between evil Superman and Clark Kent at the chop shop is well done. It feels as if there actually are stakes here. 

But then there is also a lot of stuff that doesn't mesh well with everything else. Main problem is the inclusion of Richard Pryor as Gus Gorman. Not Pryor himself, as he is always fun to watch and he does elicit a couple of laughs, but the comedy in this one feels terribly forced. Also, the focus is so much on Pryor that you can wonder whether this is actually still a Superman adventure to begin with. Robert Vaughn is okay as the main villain, but he lacks the fun side that Gene Hackman had as Luthor. 

The final showdown with the now sentient computer is also hugely underwhelming, to say the least. Even if it does have that one part where Webster's sister is turned into an automaton, which probably traumatized hordes of young kids when they first saw it (myself included). 

So in the end, I can't say that this is an awful film, and it certainly isn't as bad as many would have you believe. It is, however, a hugely underwhelming entry in the series and the whole feels horribly disjointed, which might be due to the plethora of storylines that don't intersect that much. You can feel that this one is all director Richard Lester, as his strength lies more with comedy and less with superhero-stories. It's watchable, but it's nowhere near as engaging or fun as the first two outings.