Superman III – Der stählerne Blitz (1983)

Superman III – Der stählerne Blitz: Directed by Richard Lester. With Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure. Synthetic kryptonite laced with tar splits Superman in two: good Clark Kent and bad Man of Steel.

“Itu0026#39;ll keep you watching, you can say that. Either on the bad levels or the good ones (if you should find some), since most fans are so divided on this third entry. It falls somewhere under fair for me, as the effects continue to be awesome, but the story this time is tremendously lacking. Part two had three villians equally as strong as Superman, plus the romance going with Lois Lane. This one has a Lex Luthor clone (Hackmanu0026#39;s Lex is left off-screen in jail) who also would like to rule the world, a dweeby computer genius (Pryor, as the much debated addition to the cast) and a romance you know will go nowhere with one of Reeveu0026#39;s lost loves. We already saw that he couldnu0026#39;t give things up for Lois, so why bother brining on a new girl? Though Ou0026#39; Toole is gorgeous, a lot more than Kidder, who is featured at the beginning of the film looking aged, then at the end with a bad tan. Rumor has it she outpriced herself which resulted in the character being shipped off to Bermuda. With her out of the picture, Reeve attends a high school reunion where he bumps into Ou0026#39;Toole. Meantime, Vaughn and Pryor are poised for world dominance, though Pryor is realizing the ramifications and is reluctant. But he still goes through it, concocting a kryptonite like impairment for Superman, which results in some of the filmu0026#39;s best scenes. Reeve develops a naughty alter ego, and we get to see Superbad-man get drunk, straighten the Tower of Pisa, even get horny, among other things. Thereu0026#39;s a terrific showdown between Reeve and…well, Reeve in a junkyard where bad Supes confronts his inner goodness, Clark Kent. After this, though, the film sags to itu0026#39;s conclusion, as Reeve goes up against more rockets and missiles, a la part one. Despite missing the tension of part two, the film is interesting in a disjointed kind of way. The flying effects are once again top-notch, and strangely enough, are better than in the next film which came out four years later! And most have mentioned the dopey opening sequence that belonged more in a silent comedy than here, but it wasnu0026#39;t a horrendous mistake. I must note as a kid that when Vaughnu0026#39;s sister is turned into that psycho-robot it FREAKED me out! Biggest annoyance is the kid who plays Ricky, his voice is badly dubbed and incredibly nerve-racking. Also couldu0026#39;ve done without Ou0026#39;Herlihyu0026#39;s drunken antagonist. Most of the music is lifted from part two, but since I liked Ken Thorneu0026#39;s work, I didnu0026#39;t mind. I could even say (Supe fans will kill me) I would rather watch this one than the first movie. So even though the story isnu0026#39;t really there like in the previous films, the movie overall still FLIES (hehe).”