‘I ask you to kill Superman, and you’re telling me you couldn’t even do that one, simple thing...’
If superhero films have taught us anything, it’s that threequels are very difficult to pull off. Iron Man 3, Spider-Man 3 and The Dark Knight Rises were all various shades of disappointing, but we have to go back to Superman III in 1983 to see the original threequel failure. This is a classic example of throwing everything at the screen, but in a way that is haphazard and careless…
Lex Luthor is gone, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) only appears fleetingly at the start and the end of the film, and Superman (Christopher Reeve) has to face his most formidable enemy yet… himself. Elsewhere, Marc McClure returns as Jimmy Olsen, Annette O’Toole joins the franchise as Superman’s new love interest, Lana Lang, and Robert Vaughan appears as villainous millionaire, Ross Webster. Most pertinently of all, however, is the addition of Richard Pryor as bumbling computer genius, Gus Gorman.
While I can see why longtime producer Alexander Salkind turned to Pryor, he was one of the most sought-after comedic actors of the era, director Richard Lester utilises him in an almost entirely unsuccessful way. His character is annoying, badly written and inconsistent. He also has far too much screen time. This too often feels like a Richard Pryor vehicle that also features Superman.
What’s most frustrating about this third entry is that there are some genuinely great moments here. The slapstick opening sequence is a lot of fun. Superman turning heel produces some lovely moments (not least when he is sat drinking whiskey in a dive bar). But it’s not enough.
Ultimately, Superman III has too many disparate sections that never slot together to form a cohesive whole. It’s a mess.
