Director Richard Lester injected a much needed irreverence into Superman II, but he lost his way badly with this misfiring third instalment of "the man from Krypton" saga. There are a few neat touches, such as when Christopher Reeve turns nasty, but this proved to be the beginning of the end for the series. The attempt to increase the laughter quotient by introducing Richard Pryor doesn't work, and neither he nor Robert Vaughn prove to be an adequate replacement for Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor. Margot Kidder wanted little to do with this sequel and must have been thankful only to get a look-in as Lois Lane, and Pamela Stephenson would probably rather forget her role as Vaughn's dumb girlfriend. Still, for die-hard fans of the superhero, this is adequate entertainment.

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 in the third installment of the 1980s Superman franchise. Between rekindling romance with his high school sweetheart and saving himself, Superman must contend with a powerful supercomputer.