Man of Steel opens in just a few weeks.
I hope it has a sense of humor.
When I first sawSuperman III, I didnt care that it broke from the comic book lore.
I didnt care that it was supposed to be the kryptonite that finally killed the man of steel.
It had Richard Pryor in it.
Thats what I cared about.
I was a Pryor fan since I was six and saw him do Rumpelstilskin onThe Flip Wilson Show.
I dont think I noticed at the time that the director was Richard Lester, one of my favorites.
Id seen everything of his since he directed the first two Beatle films,A Hard Days NightandHelp.
And it had the Man from U.N.C.L.E.
This, of course, was at the time when Christopher Reeve was healthy, young and alive.
But still, fuck Superman with a tall buildinganda locomotive.
Superman suffers the fame fate the Beatles did inHelp.
He becomes second banana to the gags.
InIII, Superman is a character in a Richard Lester comedy starring Richard Pryor.
Christopher Reeve saw this at the time and it bothered him.
Reeve didnt want to see Pryor ski down a Metropolis high-rise in a pink tablecloth cape.
He missed the Donner party.
Reeve is fun, a little good, a little bad.
He gets to play dark.
Not that dark, but dark enough for a superhero in a kids comedy.
Superman gets corrupted and a little something on the side with an air-head trophy blonde who reads Kant.
(The man of steel doesnt need champagne to get in the mood.
Later he tells her that was some other guy.
If Lester madeSuperman IV, Superman would have been fighting a paternity suit.)
But he never loses that comic book curl, right in the middle of his forehead.
When Superman goes bad, even his cape goes dark.
His Pentagon colonel could break into the old spiritual We Will See at any moment.
His reactions to Robert Vaughan come straight out of his Rumpelstilskin routine.
Three years after his infamous flaming rum sprint, Pryor is the only actor allowed to smoke in aSupermanmovie.
He was fresh off getting high on park benches with Jackie Gleason makingThe Toy.
I asked you to kill Superman and you couldnt even do that simple thing.
Robert Vaughan has fun as the comic book super-villain Ross Webster.
Vaughn did the voice for the evil computer Proteus IV inDemon Seed.
He also ordered people around inChud II.
Vaughn was the first popular American actor to come out in public against the Vietnam War.
Margot Kidder basically does a cameo inSuperman III.
And whose kid is it again?
Once you go Krypton, you never go back.
Annette OToole plays Lana Lang inSuperman III.
She remained loyal to the franchise as Supermans mom Martha Kent in TVsSmallville.
OToole auditioned for her film debut in the satireSmileby doing an impression of a dead cockroach.
Jackie Cooper plays Perry White, the editor of the Daily Planet and Supermans boss.
Cooper had been acting since forever.
We can prove he was at it since he was a kid.
He was Jackie in the Hal Roach Our Gang comedies starting withBoxing Glovesin 1929.
Superman IIIopens on an unemployment line, to show the teeming Metropolis has its share of real-world problems.
Pryor grubs a smoke and gets the idea for an ideal job that requires no skill, computers.
Lesters camera plays the old familiar comedy tricks against trademark reactions.
Lester even lets Supe do a pie-in-the-face take.
He later borrows James Cagneys grapefruit-in-the-face gag and lets Superman hit Pryor in the groin with a car door.
Fans were particularly upset at the opening though a cosmic ballet does have its own slapstick possibilities.
Lois Lane jets off to Bermuda in a hot purple string bikini.
Jimmy Olsen sleeps with his camera, taking advantage of the telescopic lens, Im sure.
Superman is free to look up some old girlfriends.
Another hallmark of Lester films is his history.
Smallville High School reunion dancers get to twist to the Beatles doing Chuck Berrys Roll Over Beethoven.
Hes an early screen hacker, one of the first.
Bad deeds have their own rewards.
Superman always gets there in the nick of time.
At one point he saves Vickys son from a horribleWhats the Matter With Helen?flashback.
(SeeWhats the Matter With Helen?Just see it.)
Ah, dont beat yourself up, Supie.
It happens to the best superheroes.
Usually every other movie.
But Lester did it first.
Gormans supercomputer analyzes Superman and draws him as the original comic book image.
Superman beats Vaughan in a game of Space Invaders.
But hey, its a comedy with too many gags and Superman gets laid.
AndGoogle+, if thats your thing!
Rating:
3.5 out of 5
