Superman III (1983)
Directed by Richard Lester
Aiming to defeat the Man of Steel, wealthy executive Ross Webster hires bumbling but brilliant Gus Gorman to develop synthetic kryptonite, which yields some unexpected psychological effects. Between rekindling romance with his high school sweetheart and saving himself, Superman must contend with a powerful supercomputer.
11 connections found
View:
11 connections, in both directions
What critics compared Superman III to
True, the great weapon unleashed in the final act, with all its towers spouting spurts of electrical energy, is a disappointment, reminiscent of that unveiled by villain Robert Vaughn in “Superman III” way back in 1983.
But "Spidey 3" definitely suffers the waning of inspiration that so frequently infects the third installments of great series ("The Godfather III," "Superman III," "Return of the Jedi").
Superman III, X Men: The Last Stand, Batman Forever—three number threes in superhero franchises that paled in comparison to the films that preceded them.
The notion of a superhero whose surly attitude and destructive tendencies have made him a pariah with the very people he has sworn to protect is admittedly not quite as original as the creators of “Hancock” would have you believe--the idea has been previously explored in works ranging from the very first “Underdog” episode to such box-office hits as “The Incredibles” and “Superman III” to the 1983 cult oddity “The Return of Captain Invincible” (a spoof in which alcoholic former superhero Alan Arkin is called back into service two decades after being labeled a Communist sympathizer in order to defeat megalomaniacal villain Christopher Lee--oh, did I mention that the film was also a musical?) with varying degrees of success.
If the first was a modern superhero origin film a la Christopher Reeves’ Superman than the sequel plays out like Superman III — with a little good, some bad and the random silly moments.
The callbacks start with the first scenes set in 1984 – the manner of their presentation stirs memories of the title sequence from Superman III.
After a pretty killer opening sequence set at a local mall (a sequence that isn’t quite as silly as the Superman III opening sequence, but owes some of its style and humor to that) we learn Diana now works at a museum.
A zippy sequence that appears to take some cues from the off-kilter opening of “Superman III” (that’s the one with the flaming toys and an in-car near-drowning) finds things in Washington, D.C. to be going weird in very strange ways, only to be fixed by someone who can’t quite be seen.
Advertisement
This is more like on the level of The Fantastic Four (either the 2005 or 2015 versions; both are equally mediocre), 2003’s Daredevil (the one with Ben Affleck) or 1983’s Superman III (the one with Richard Pryor and where the Man of Steel fights his drunken doppelganger), meaning this latest comic book adventure isn’t without its moments but overall is still nothing short of a misbegotten waste of time.
…before taking a wild third act turn into Superman III territory…
…which stirred nightmarish childhood memories of the automaton woman in Superman III (1983)…
Aliens3 , Superman III , The Hangover Part III …you get the idea.
Advertisement
Superman III did it first, but dare I say, Logan does it better.
On Ant-Man’s origins: Rudd’s Lang robbed a nefarious company pulling a Superman III hack and put stolen money back into the hands of investors.